אני לא יכול להגיע לעבודה בזמן, כי אני עוד בבית.

I can't get to work on time, because I am still at home.

Breakdown of אני לא יכול להגיע לעבודה בזמן, כי אני עוד בבית.

• אני: I
• לא: not
• בית: home
• ל: to
• להיות יכול: to be able
• כי: because
• ב: at
• עבודה: work
• עוד: still
• בזמן: on time
• להגיע: to make it

Questions & Answers about אני לא יכול להגיע לעבודה בזמן, כי אני עוד בבית.

How would I pronounce this sentence?

A common pronunciation guide is:

Ani lo yachol lehagia la'avoda bazman, ki ani od babayit.

A few notes:

• אני = ani = I
• לא = lo = not
• יכול = yachol = can / able
• להגיע = lehagia = to arrive / to get
• לעבודה = la'avoda = to work
• בזמן = bazman = on time
• כי = ki = because
• עוד = od = still
• בבית = babayit = at home / in the house

The ch sound in yachol is like the Hebrew letter כ/ח, not like English ch in chair.

Why does the sentence use יכול? Does that depend on the speaker?

Yes. יכול changes for gender and number.

In this sentence, אני לא יכול means I can't when the speaker is male.

If the speaker is female, it would be:

אני לא יכולה להגיע לעבודה בזמן, כי אני עוד בבית.

So:

• יכול = masculine singular
• יכולה = feminine singular

Hebrew often shows the speaker's gender in words like this, even when English does not.

Why is there no Hebrew word for am in אני עוד בבית?

Because in present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not written or spoken.

So:

• אני בבית literally looks like I at-home
• but it means I am at home

That is completely normal Hebrew.

So אני עוד בבית literally looks like I still at home, but the meaning is I am still at home.

What exactly does להגיע mean here?

להגיע means to arrive, to get to, or to reach, depending on context.

In this sentence, לא יכול להגיע לעבודה בזמן means:

• can't get to work on time
• or more literally, can't arrive at work on time

After יכול (can / able to), Hebrew normally uses the infinitive:

• יכול להגיע = can arrive / can get
• לא יכול להגיע = can't arrive / can't get

This is similar to English can go, can do, can't come, etc.

Why is it לעבודה and not something like אל עבודה?

Because להגיע ל־... is the normal pattern in Hebrew for arrive/get to ...

So:

• להגיע לעבודה = to get to work
• literally: to arrive to-work

The ל־ means to.

Also, ל + עבודה becomes לעבודה in spelling and pronunciation.

This kind of joining is very common in Hebrew.

Why is it לעבודה and not להעבודה or לעבודה with a separate the?

In Hebrew, work in the sense of going to work often appears without the, just like English often says go to work, not go to the work.

So:

• לעבודה = to work
• not necessarily to the work

If you were talking about a specific workplace or a specific job in a more definite sense, the wording might change. But in everyday speech, להגיע לעבודה is the natural way to say get to work.

What does בזמן mean exactly? Is it on time or in time?

In this sentence, בזמן means on time.

So:

• להגיע לעבודה בזמן = to get to work on time

A more literal breakdown is:

• ב־ = in / at
• זמן = time

But as an expression, בזמן often means on time.

English distinguishes:

• on time = not late
• in time = early enough before something happens

Hebrew בזמן here matches on time best.

What does עוד mean here? I thought it meant more.

עוד can mean different things depending on context. Two very common meanings are:

• more / another
• still

In this sentence, it means still:

• אני עוד בבית = I am still at home

That makes sense because the speaker is explaining why they cannot get to work on time.

So yes, עוד often means more, but here it clearly means still.

Could I also say עדיין instead of עוד?

Yes. You could say:

אני לא יכול להגיע לעבודה בזמן, כי אני עדיין בבית.

This also means I can't get to work on time, because I'm still at home.

Difference in feel:

• עוד is very common in everyday speech
• עדיין also means still, and can sound a bit more explicit or slightly more formal in some contexts

In many everyday situations, both are fine.

Why is the negative לא placed before יכול?

Because לא normally comes directly before the word or phrase being negated.

So:

• אני יכול = I can
• אני לא יכול = I can't

This is the standard Hebrew way to negate present and future expressions with לא.

So the structure is:

• אני = subject
• לא = negation
• יכול = can / able
• להגיע = to arrive / get

Is this sentence present tense or future tense?

It is built with a present-tense form of יכול plus an infinitive:

• אני לא יכול להגיע = literally I am not able to arrive
• natural English: I can't get there / I can't get to work

In Hebrew, this often expresses a present situation with immediate future meaning.

So the idea is:

• Right now, I am not able
• therefore I will not be able to get to work on time

This kind of overlap is very normal in both Hebrew and English.

Why is כי used here, and can the order of the clauses be changed?

כי means because.

So the sentence is:

• I can't get to work on time
• because I'm still at home

Yes, you can reverse the order:

כי אני עוד בבית, אני לא יכול להגיע לעבודה בזמן.

That means the same thing, although the original order may sound more natural in many everyday contexts.

So both patterns are possible:

• main statement + כי
  • reason
• כי
  • reason + main statement

Why is אני repeated after כי? Could Hebrew leave it out?

Hebrew usually includes the subject clearly, especially in simple everyday sentences.

So:

כי אני עוד בבית = because I am still at home

Could it be omitted in some contexts? Sometimes Hebrew can leave out words if the meaning is obvious, especially in casual speech, but with a full sentence like this, keeping אני is the normal and natural choice.

Repeating אני makes the sentence clear and complete.

Is בבית literally in the house or does it mean at home?

It can mean both, depending on context.

Here, אני עוד בבית is best understood as:

• I am still at home

Literally, בבית is in the house / at home.

In everyday Hebrew, it very often means at home, just like English.

What is the basic word-by-word breakdown of the sentence?

Here is the structure:

• אני = I
• לא = not
• יכול = can / able (masculine singular)
• להגיע = to arrive / to get
• לעבודה = to work
• בזמן = on time
• כי = because
• אני = I
• עוד = still
• בבית = at home

So a very literal version would be:

I not able to-arrive to-work on-time, because I still at-home.

And the natural English meaning is:

I can't get to work on time, because I'm still at home.