Breakdown of המוכרת נותנת ללקוחה קבלה אחרי שהיא משלמת.
Questions & Answers about המוכרת נותנת ללקוחה קבלה אחרי שהיא משלמת.
A common pronunciation is:
ha-mokhéret noténet la-lakokhá kabalá akharéy she-hí meshalémet
A few notes:
- kh represents the throaty sound of כ/ח, like ch in Scottish loch.
- מוכרת = mokhéret
- נותנת = noténet
- קבלה = kabalá
- משלמת = meshalémet
One small complication: ללקוחה is written without vowels, so its exact pronunciation depends on whether it means to the customer or to a customer. In this sentence, if the meaning shown is to the customer, it would usually be read la-lakokhá.
Because the sentence uses feminine singular forms throughout:
- המוכרת = the saleswoman / the female clerk
- לקוחה = female customer
- נותנת = feminine singular form of gives / is giving
- משלמת = feminine singular form of pays / is paying
So Hebrew is marking both people as female, and the verbs agree with that.
That is a very common question. מוכרת can indeed be either:
- a noun: saleswoman / female clerk
- or a present-tense participle/verb form: selling (feminine singular)
In this sentence, המוכרת has the definite article ה־ and clearly functions as the subject, so it is understood as the saleswoman.
Compare:
- המוכרת נותנת קבלה = The saleswoman gives a receipt
- היא מוכרת בגדים = She sells clothes
Same form, different function.
Here ל־ means to and marks the recipient of the action.
So:
- נותנת = gives
- ללקוחה = to the customer
- קבלה = a receipt
Hebrew often uses ל־ for the person receiving something, just like English uses to:
- give a receipt to the customer
- לתת קבלה ללקוחה
In unpointed Hebrew, ללקוחה can be ambiguous.
It can represent either:
- לְלָקוּחָה = to a female customer
- לַלָּקוּחָה = to the female customer
Without vowel marks, both are written the same way: ללקוחה.
So the exact meaning usually comes from context, from the translation shown to the learner, or from vowel marks if they are present.
Because את is used only before a definite direct object.
Here, קבלה means a receipt, not the receipt, so it is indefinite. That is why there is no את.
Compare:
- המוכרת נותנת קבלה = The saleswoman gives a receipt
- המוכרת נותנת את הקבלה = The saleswoman gives the receipt
So the lack of את is completely normal here.
They are in the present tense form.
In Hebrew, these present-tense forms can express several ideas, depending on context:
- something happening now
- a habitual action
- a general fact or routine
In this sentence, the most natural reading is often a routine/general one, something like what normally happens in a store transaction.
Here ש־ is a linking word that introduces a subordinate clause. After אחרי, Hebrew often uses the pattern:
אחרי ש־... = after ...
So:
- אחרי שהיא משלמת = after she pays / after she is paying
The form שהיא is really:
- ש
- היא
English sometimes says after paying, but Hebrew usually prefers a full clause here, such as after she pays.
Grammatically, it is ambiguous, because there are two feminine singular people in the sentence:
- המוכרת = the saleswoman
- הלקוחה / לקוחה = the female customer
So היא could, in theory, refer to either one. In real-world context, though, it is most naturally understood as the customer, because the customer is usually the one who pays.
If you want to remove the ambiguity, you can say:
המוכרת נותנת ללקוחה קבלה אחרי שהלקוחה משלמת.
Yes. קבלה can mean different things depending on context.
Common meanings include:
- receipt — in everyday shopping/business contexts
- acceptance / receiving
- Kabbalah — in religious/mystical contexts
In this sentence, because we are talking about a seller, a customer, and paying, קבלה clearly means receipt.
Yes. Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible.
This sentence uses a very normal order:
המוכרת נותנת ללקוחה קבלה אחרי שהיא משלמת.
But you could also hear:
המוכרת נותנת קבלה ללקוחה אחרי שהיא משלמת.
Both are understandable. The original version sounds natural and places the recipient ללקוחה right after the verb נותנת, which is very common with verbs like give.