Breakdown of גם הוא שואל, והמורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית.
Questions & Answers about גם הוא שואל, והמורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית.
גם means also, too, or sometimes even, depending on context.
In גם הוא שואל, it means he also asks or he asks too.
Placing גם before הוא gives the sense of he too. It highlights the subject:
- גם הוא שואל = he also asks
- not just someone else asking, but he as well
Hebrew often places גם right before the word it is emphasizing.
Yes, Hebrew can often leave out subject pronouns, but here הוא is useful.
Without הוא, you could say:
- גם שואל — but this sounds incomplete or unnatural in most normal contexts
Because גם needs something clear to attach to, הוא helps make the meaning natural: he too.
Also, in the present tense, Hebrew verbs do not show person as clearly as English verbs do. שואל tells you masculine singular, but not specifically he by itself in all situations. So adding הוא makes the subject explicit.
שואל is the masculine singular present-tense form of the verb לשאול = to ask.
So שואל can mean:
- asks
- is asking
Hebrew present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive, depending on context.
Related forms are:
- שואל = masculine singular
- שואלת = feminine singular
- שואלים = masculine plural / mixed plural
- שואלות = feminine plural
It can mean either one.
Hebrew present tense usually does not force the same distinction that English does between:
- asks
- is asking
So הוא שואל can mean:
- he asks
- he is asking
The context tells you which English translation sounds best.
This is very common in Hebrew.
- ו־ = and
- ה־ = the
So:
- מורה = teacher
- המורה = the teacher
- והמורה = and the teacher
Hebrew often attaches short words like and, in, to, the, and others directly onto the following word.
The noun מורה can refer to either a male teacher or a female teacher. The form of the noun itself does not tell you.
What tells you the gender here is the verb:
- המורה מסבירה = the teacher is female
- if it were a male teacher, it would be המורה מסביר
So in this sentence, the teacher is feminine because of מסבירה.
מסבירה is the feminine singular present-tense form of להסביר = to explain.
It is feminine because it agrees with המורה in this sentence, and the teacher is understood to be female.
Compare:
- הוא מסביר = he explains / is explaining
- היא מסבירה = she explains / is explaining
- המורה מסבירה = the teacher explains / is explaining, and the teacher is female
In Hebrew, present-tense verbs agree with gender and number.
The prefix ב־ usually means in.
So:
- בעברית = in Hebrew
- באנגלית = in English
In this sentence, these phrases tell you the language in which the explanation is given.
This is very natural Hebrew. When talking about speaking, writing, explaining, or saying something in a language, Hebrew often uses ב־ + language name.
אחר כך means after that, afterward, or then.
It is a two-word expression, and it is very common in Hebrew.
In this sentence:
- בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית means
- in Hebrew and afterward in English
So the teacher explains first in Hebrew, and then in English.
Because it is understood from the first part.
Hebrew, like English, often avoids repeating a verb when the same verb clearly applies to both parts.
So:
- המורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית
literally works like:
- the teacher explains in Hebrew and afterward in English
You do not need to say:
- והמורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך מסבירה באנגלית
That would be grammatical, but unnecessarily repetitive in most contexts.
Some parts can move, but the original order is very natural.
For example, this sentence is smooth and standard:
- גם הוא שואל, והמורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית.
Hebrew does allow flexibility for emphasis, but changing the order can change the focus or make the sentence sound less neutral.
For instance:
- המורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית is the neutral flow
- moving גם or אחר כך to different places may add emphasis
So the word order here is not the only possible one, but it is a very natural everyday version.
The comma is mainly a punctuation choice separating two connected clauses:
- גם הוא שואל
- והמורה מסבירה בעברית ואחר כך באנגלית
It helps readability, especially in a sentence with two actions and two subjects.
In informal writing, Hebrew punctuation can be somewhat flexible, so you may sometimes see similar sentences written without a comma. But with the comma, the structure is especially clear.