כשהילדים ישנים, הבית שקט יותר, ואפשר לעבוד בשקט.

When the children are sleeping, the house is quieter, and it is possible to work quietly.

Breakdown of כשהילדים ישנים, הבית שקט יותר, ואפשר לעבוד בשקט.

• בית: house
• ו: and
• לעבוד: to work
• אפשר: possible
• ילד: child
• יותר: more
• כש: when
• לישון: to sleep
• בשקט: quietly
• שקט: quiet

Questions & Answers about כשהילדים ישנים, הבית שקט יותר, ואפשר לעבוד בשקט.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

A rough pronunciation is:

Ksheha-yeladim yeshenim, ha-bayit shaket yoter, ve-efshar la'avod be-sheket.

A few notes:

• כשהילדים = ksheha-yeladim
• ישנים = yeshenim
• הבית = ha-bayit
• שקט יותר = shaket yoter
• ואפשר = ve-efshar
• לעבוד = la'avod
• בשקט = be-sheket

What does כש mean, and why is it attached to the next word?

כש־ means when or as/while.

In Hebrew, it is very common for כש־ to be attached directly to the following word as a prefix:

• כש + הילדים → כשהילדים

So כשהילדים ישנים means when the children are sleeping/asleep.

A more formal alternative is כאשר, but כש־ is extremely common in everyday Hebrew.

Why does הילדים have ה־ at the beginning?

The ה־ is the definite article, meaning the.

• ילדים = children
• הילדים = the children

So the sentence is talking about specific children, not children in general.

Why is it ישנים and not some other form?

ישנים agrees with הילדים.

Here is the grammar:

• הילדים is masculine plural
• so the matching form is ישנים, also masculine plural

Related forms:

• ישן = sleeping / asleep, masculine singular
• ישנה = sleeping / asleep, feminine singular
• ישנים = masculine plural
• ישנות = feminine plural

If the subject were הילדות (the girls), you would say:

• כשהילדות ישנות

Does ישנים mean sleeping or asleep?

It can mean either, depending on context.

In Hebrew, the present-tense form here often covers both ideas:

• הילדים ישנים can mean the children are sleeping
• or the children are asleep

English often distinguishes these more sharply than Hebrew does.

Why is there no word for are in הילדים ישנים or is in הבית שקט יותר?

Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• הילדים ישנים = the children are sleeping/asleep
• הבית שקט יותר = the house is quieter

But in the past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be:

• הילדים היו ישנים = the children were asleep
• הבית יהיה שקט יותר = the house will be quieter

Why is it הבית שקט and not הבית שקטה?

Because בית is a masculine singular noun, and the adjective has to agree with it.

• בית = house, masculine singular
• so the adjective is שקט = quiet, masculine singular

If the noun were feminine singular, you would use שקטה.

For example:

• הדירה שקטה = the apartment is quiet

How does שקט יותר mean quieter?

Hebrew usually forms comparatives with:

adjective + יותר = more + adjective

So:

• שקט = quiet
• שקט יותר = more quiet = quieter

Hebrew does not usually add an ending like English -er.
Instead, it uses יותר.

More examples:

• גדול יותר = bigger
• מהיר יותר = faster
• יפה יותר = more beautiful / prettier

What is the difference between שקט and בשקט?

They are related, but they do different jobs in the sentence.

• שקט = quiet
  This is describing the house: הבית שקט יותר = the house is quieter

• בשקט = quietly / in quiet
  This describes how the work is done: לעבוד בשקט = to work quietly

The prefix ב־ often means in, so בשקט is literally something like in quiet.

Why does the sentence use אפשר with no subject?

אפשר is often used as an impersonal expression meaning:

• it is possible
• one can
• you can

So:

• אפשר לעבוד בשקט = it is possible to work quietly
• more naturally in English: you can work quietly

There is no need for an explicit subject like it or one.

Why is it לעבוד after אפשר?

Because לעבוד is the infinitive, to work, and אפשר is commonly followed by an infinitive.

• אפשר לעבוד = it is possible to work
• אפשר לאכול = it is possible to eat / you can eat
• אפשר לחכות = it is possible to wait / you can wait

The ל־ at the beginning of לעבוד is the normal marker used in Hebrew infinitives.

What does the ו־ in ואפשר mean?

It means and.

So the second part of the sentence is:

• ואפשר לעבוד בשקט = and it is possible to work quietly

In natural English, that and might sometimes sound like so or may even be left untranslated, but in Hebrew it links the ideas smoothly.

Why is the time clause placed first: כשהילדים ישנים?

Putting the when clause first is very natural in Hebrew, just as it is in English:

• כשהילדים ישנים, הבית שקט יותר...
• When the children are asleep, the house is quieter...

This order sets the situation first, then gives the result.

You could rearrange the sentence in some contexts, but this version sounds very natural and clear.