Breakdown of הדרך לבנק לא רחוקה; אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות.
Questions & Answers about הדרך לבנק לא רחוקה; אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות.
הדרך means the way / the road / the route. The prefix ה־ is the definite article, meaning the.
So:
- דרך = a way / a road / a route
- הדרך = the way / the road / the route
In this sentence, Hebrew is talking about a specific route: the way to the bank.
לבנק is made from:
- ל־ = to
- בנק = bank
But because bank here is definite, the meaning is to the bank, not just to a bank.
In Hebrew, when ל־ combines with ה־ (the), they usually merge into one form. So:
- ל + הבנק becomes לבנק
This is very common in Hebrew:
- לבית = to the house
- לעיר = to the city
- לבנק = to the bank
So even though you do not see a separate ה, the definite meaning is still there.
Because דרך is a feminine noun in Hebrew.
Adjectives in Hebrew usually match the noun in gender and number. Since הדרך is feminine singular, the adjective also has to be feminine singular:
- masculine singular: רחוק
- feminine singular: רחוקה
So:
- הבנק רחוק = the bank is far
- הדרך רחוקה = the הדרך is far
In your sentence, the subject is הדרך, so רחוקה is the correct form.
Hebrew often expresses this idea with far / not far, just like English can say The way to the bank isn’t far.
So:
- הדרך לבנק לא רחוקה = The way to the bank is not far
You could sometimes say something with short in other contexts, but לא רחוקה is very natural when talking about distance.
אפשר is a very common impersonal word meaning:
- it is possible
- one can
- you can (in a general sense)
So:
- אפשר להגיע = it’s possible to get there / one can arrive / you can get there
Hebrew often uses this kind of impersonal structure without a subject like it. English needs it is possible, but Hebrew can simply say אפשר.
After אפשר, Hebrew normally uses the infinitive, also called שם הפועל.
So:
- אפשר להגיע = it is possible to arrive / to get there
- literally: possible to arrive
This is similar to English, where we also say possible to reach or possible to arrive.
The verb להגיע means to arrive / to reach / to get to depending on context.
Yes. Here ב־ means something like in / within when talking about time needed.
So:
- עשר דקות = ten minutes
- בעשר דקות = in ten minutes / within ten minutes
In this sentence, it means the trip takes about ten minutes.
A useful comparison:
- הגעתי בעשר דקות = I got there in ten minutes
- חיכיתי עשר דקות = I waited ten minutes
So ב־ is common when expressing how long it takes to complete something.
Because it is already clear from the first clause.
First clause:
- הדרך לבנק לא רחוקה = The way to the bank is not far
Second clause:
- אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות = You can get there in ten minutes
Hebrew often leaves out information that is obvious from context. Here, להגיע is understood as להגיע לבנק.
So the full idea is:
- אפשר להגיע לבנק בעשר דקות
But saying just אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות sounds natural because לבנק is already understood.
A simple pronunciation guide would be:
ha-DEREKH le-BANK lo re-kho-KA; ef-SHAR le-ha-GI-a be-E-ser da-KOT
A few notes:
- דרך has the guttural sound kh in the middle.
- רחוקה also has that kh sound.
- אפשר is usually stressed on the second syllable: ef-SHAR
- להגיע is often pronounced in careful speech as le-ha-GI-a
Exact pronunciation can vary a little, especially in fast everyday speech.
The semicolon separates two closely related ideas:
- הדרך לבנק לא רחוקה
- אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות
The second clause explains or supports the first one. In English, you might also write this with a period, or sometimes a comma depending on style. In Hebrew, the semicolon here simply shows a stronger pause than a comma.
It does not change the grammar; it just helps organize the sentence clearly.