אם את יוצאת מהבית עכשיו, את יכולה להגיע לפגישה בזמן.

If you leave home now, you can get to the meeting on time.

Breakdown of אם את יוצאת מהבית עכשיו, את יכולה להגיע לפגישה בזמן.

• את: you
• עכשיו: now
• בית: home
• ל: to
• להיות יכול: to be able
• אם: if
• בזמן: on time
• פגישה: meeting
• מ: from
• לצאת: to leave
• להגיע: to arrive

Questions & Answers about אם את יוצאת מהבית עכשיו, את יכולה להגיע לפגישה בזמן.

Why is the sentence using את? Is it talking to a woman?

Yes. את is the singular you used when speaking to a female.

That is why the sentence is addressed to one woman, not to a man and not to a group.

If you were speaking to a man, it would be:

אם אתה יוצא מהבית עכשיו, אתה יכול להגיע לפגישה בזמן.

So one of the first things to notice in Hebrew is that you changes by gender in the singular.

Why do יוצאת and יכולה end with -ת?

They are both feminine singular forms, matching את.

In this sentence:

• יוצאת = feminine singular present form of לצאת (to go out / to leave)
• יכולה = feminine singular form of יכול (able / can)

Hebrew words often agree with the subject in gender and number, so because the subject is את, the predicate forms are feminine singular too.

A masculine version would be:

• יוצא
• יכול

Is this sentence in the present tense or the future?

Formally, יוצאת and יכולה are present-tense forms. But in actual use, Hebrew often uses present forms to talk about an immediate future situation, especially in everyday speech.

So here the idea is something like:

• If you leave now, you can get to the meeting on time
• or If you’re leaving now, you can make it to the meeting on time

Because of עכשיו (now) and the context, the meaning points forward, even though the verb forms are present.

Could this also be said with future-tense verbs?

Yes. A very common alternative would be:

אם תצאי מהבית עכשיו, תוכלי להגיע לפגישה בזמן.

That version uses future forms:

• תצאי = you will leave
• תוכלי = you will be able to

Both versions are natural, but they feel slightly different:

• אם את יוצאת... את יכולה... feels immediate, conversational, and practical
• אם תצאי... תוכלי... is a more straightforward future conditional

Why is את repeated after the comma? Couldn't Hebrew leave it out?

It could sometimes be left out, but repeating it is very natural and clear.

So:

אם את יוצאת מהבית עכשיו, את יכולה להגיע לפגישה בזמן.

sounds balanced and explicit: first clause, then second clause, each with its own subject.

Hebrew often repeats the subject in this kind of sentence more than English would. English might say If you leave now, you can arrive on time with just one you, but Hebrew commonly repeats את in the second clause.

What exactly is מהבית?

מהבית means from the house / from home.

It is made of:

• מ־ = from
• הבית = the house / the home

Together: מהבית

This is very common in Hebrew: prepositions attach directly to the following word.

Also, הבית can mean not only the house but also home, depending on context. So יוצאת מהבית is often best understood as leaving home.

Why is it להגיע לפגישה? Why is there a ל־ before פגישה?

Because the verb להגיע normally takes ל־ before the destination or target.

So Hebrew says:

• להגיע לבית = to arrive at the house
• להגיע לעבודה = to arrive at work
• להגיע לפגישה = to arrive at the meeting / to a meeting

This is one of those verb patterns you simply learn with the verb. In English we often say arrive at or arrive to only in limited cases, but in Hebrew להגיע ל־ is the normal pattern.

Does לפגישה mean to a meeting or to the meeting?

Without vowel marks, it can look the same in writing.

Hebrew spelling without ניקוד often does not show the difference clearly here:

• לפגישה can be read as lefgisha = to a meeting
• or lapgisha = to the meeting

The exact meaning usually comes from context.

So if the learner was shown the meaning as the meeting, that is perfectly possible. If the context were more general, it could also mean a meeting.

What does יכולה mean here? Is it exactly the same as English can?

It works very much like English can, but literally it is closer to is able to.

So:

את יכולה להגיע
literally: you are able to arrive

In natural English, that usually becomes you can get there / you can arrive.

Hebrew often expresses ability or possibility with יכול / יכולה + infinitive.

What does בזמן mean here?

Here בזמן means on time.

Literally, it is built from:

• ב־ = in
• זמן = time

But as a phrase, להגיע בזמן means to arrive on time.

So this is an idiomatic expression you should learn as a chunk:

• להגיע בזמן = to arrive on time

Is there an implied then in the sentence?

Yes, in terms of meaning, the second clause functions like then in English:

If you leave home now, (then) you can arrive at the meeting on time.

Hebrew usually does not need a separate word for then in this structure. The conditional relationship is already clear from אם at the beginning.

So the sentence is complete and natural without adding anything else.

What is the basic structure of the sentence?

It has a very common if-clause + result clause structure:

• אם את יוצאת מהבית עכשיו = the condition
• את יכולה להגיע לפגישה בזמן = the result

So the pattern is:

אם + condition, result

This is one of the most useful sentence patterns in Hebrew, and you can reuse it with many other verbs. For example:

• אם את לומדת כל יום, את משתפרת מהר.
• אם את ממהרת עכשיו, את יכולה להספיק.

So beyond this sentence itself, it is a good model for building many everyday Hebrew sentences.