המורה נותנת תשובה קצרה ומסבירה לאט.

The teacher gives a short answer and explains slowly.

Breakdown of המורה נותנת תשובה קצרה ומסבירה לאט.

• ו: and
• לתת: to give
• לאט: slowly
• מורה: teacher
• תשובה: answer
• קצר: short
• להסביר: to explain

Questions & Answers about המורה נותנת תשובה קצרה ומסבירה לאט.

What does המורה mean here, and is it masculine or feminine?

המורה means the teacher.

By itself, מורה can refer to either a male teacher or a female teacher. The word form does not change here.

You know it is feminine in this sentence because the verbs are feminine:

• נותנת = gives / is giving (feminine)
• מסבירה = explains / is explaining (feminine)

So this sentence is talking about a female teacher.

Why is it נותנת and not נותן?

Hebrew verbs in the present tense agree with the subject in gender and number.

Since the subject is a female teacher, the verb must be feminine singular:

• masculine singular: נותן
• feminine singular: נותנת

So:

• המורה נותנת = the female teacher gives
• המורה נותן = the male teacher gives

Why doesn’t the sentence use a separate word for she?

In Hebrew, you often do not need to say the subject pronoun if the subject is already stated.

Here, המורה already tells you who is doing the action, so there is no need to add היא (she).

Natural Hebrew:

• המורה נותנת תשובה קצרה ומסבירה לאט.

You could say המורה היא נותנת..., but that would sound wrong here. Hebrew does not use pronouns the same way English sometimes does.

What is the basic structure of תשובה קצרה?

תשובה קצרה means a short answer.

This is a noun + adjective structure:

• תשובה = answer
• קצרה = short (feminine singular)

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun, unlike in English.

So:

• English: a short answer
• Hebrew: תשובה קצרה = literally answer short

Also, the adjective must match the noun:

• תשובה is feminine singular
• so the adjective is קצרה, also feminine singular

Why is there no a before תשובה קצרה?

Hebrew does not have a separate word for a or an.

So:

• תשובה can mean an answer or answer, depending on context
• תשובה קצרה = a short answer

If Hebrew wants to say the short answer, it would usually mark that with ה־ on both the noun and adjective:

• התשובה הקצרה = the short answer

In your sentence, it is indefinite:

• נותנת תשובה קצרה = gives a short answer

Why is it ומסבירה? What does the ו do?

The prefix ו־ means and.

So:

• מסבירה = explains / is explaining
• ומסבירה = and explains / and is explaining

Hebrew often attaches small words like and, in, to, the directly to the next word.

So instead of writing a separate word for and, Hebrew writes:

• ו + מסבירה = ומסבירה

Why is מסבירה also feminine?

Because it has the same subject: המורה.

The sentence has one subject, the teacher, doing two actions:

• נותנת = gives
• ומסבירה = and explains

Since the teacher is female, both verbs must be feminine singular:

• נותנת
• מסבירה

If the teacher were male, you would get:

• המורה נותן תשובה קצרה ומסביר לאט.

What does לאט mean, and why doesn’t it change form?

לאט means slowly.

Here it works like an adverb, describing how she explains:

• מסבירה לאט = explains slowly

Unlike adjectives, words like לאט do not change here for masculine, feminine, singular, or plural.

Compare:

• תשובה קצרה — adjective, so it agrees with תשובה
• לאט — adverb, so it stays the same

Is this sentence in the present tense?

Yes. Both verbs are in the present tense:

• נותנת
• מסבירה

Hebrew present tense can cover several English ideas, depending on context:

• The teacher gives a short answer and explains slowly
• The teacher is giving a short answer and explaining slowly

Hebrew present tense does not always clearly separate simple present from present progressive the way English does.

Does this sentence mean a general habit or something happening right now?

It could mean either one, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense often allows both readings:

1. Habitual / general

   • The teacher gives a short answer and explains slowly.

2. Right now / ongoing

   • The teacher is giving a short answer and explaining slowly.

You need context to know which one is meant.

How would this sentence change if the teacher were male?

You would change the verbs to masculine singular:

• המורה נותן תשובה קצרה ומסביר לאט.

Changes:

• נותנת → נותן
• מסבירה → מסביר

The rest stays the same:

• המורה can still mean the teacher
• תשובה קצרה stays the same because תשובה is still a feminine noun
• לאט stays the same because it is an adverb

Why doesn’t קצרה agree with the teacher? Why does it agree with תשובה?

Because קצרה describes תשובה, not המורה.

In Hebrew, an adjective agrees with the noun it describes.

Here:

• תשובה is feminine singular
• so קצרה is feminine singular

It does not describe the teacher. The teacher is the one doing the actions, but the adjective belongs to answer.

So:

• המורה נותנת תשובה קצרה = The teacher gives a short answer
• קצרה = describing the answer, not the teacher

Can I think of the sentence as two linked actions?

Yes, that is a very good way to understand it.

The sentence is basically:

• המורה נותנת תשובה קצרה
• ומסבירה לאט

So the same subject, the teacher, is doing two actions:

1. giving a short answer
2. explaining slowly

Hebrew often leaves the subject unstated in the second part when it is obviously the same subject as before. So you do not need to repeat המורה.