את רואה את החולצה? כן, אני רואה אותה, אבל היא לא נקייה.

Do you see the shirt? Yes, I see it, but it is not clean.

Breakdown of את רואה את החולצה? כן, אני רואה אותה, אבל היא לא נקייה.

• אני: I
• את: you
• אבל: but
• לא: not
• היא: it
• לראות: to see
• את: direct object marker
• כן: yes
• חולצה: shirt
• נקי: clean
• אותה: it

Questions & Answers about את רואה את החולצה? כן, אני רואה אותה, אבל היא לא נקייה.

Why does את appear twice in את רואה את החולצה? Are those the same word?

No. They are spelled the same in normal Hebrew writing, but they are different words.

• The first את = you (feminine singular). It is pronounced at.
• The second את is the direct object marker. It is pronounced et.

So:

• את רואה... = You (female) see...
• את החולצה = the shirt as the direct object of the verb

This is very common in Hebrew, and learners often find it confusing at first because both words are written את without vowel marks.

Why is רואה feminine here, and how can I tell if it is masculine or feminine?

In the first clause, you can tell it is feminine because the subject is את, which means you for one female person.

So:

• את רואה = you (female) see

A tricky point is that in unpointed Hebrew, רואה is spelled the same for:

• masculine singular: ro'eh
• feminine singular: ro'ah

So the spelling does not change, but the pronunciation does. You usually know which one it is from the subject or from context.

In this sentence, the first רואה must be feminine because of את. In אני רואה אותה, the spelling is still the same, and the context suggests the speaker is the same female person answering.

Why is there no special word order for the question? How do I know את רואה את החולצה? is a question?

In Hebrew, yes/no questions often use the same word order as statements. The difference is shown by:

• intonation in speech
• a question mark in writing
• sometimes context

So:

• את רואה את החולצה. = You see the shirt.
• את רואה את החולצה? = Do you see the shirt?

Unlike English, Hebrew does not need a helping verb like do.

Why do we have את before החולצה? Can I leave it out?

Here את is the direct object marker, and it is normally used before a definite direct object.

החולצה means the shirt, and because it is definite, Hebrew uses את:

• אני רואה את החולצה = I see the shirt

If the noun were indefinite, you would usually not use את:

• אני רואה חולצה = I see a shirt

So in this sentence, את is there because the speaker is talking about the specific shirt.

Why is החולצה feminine?

Hebrew nouns have grammatical gender, and חולצה (shirt) is a feminine noun.

You can often recognize feminine nouns because many of them end in -ה or -ת, though this is not a perfect rule.

Because חולצה is feminine, words referring to it also become feminine:

• אותה = it / her as a feminine object
• היא = it / she as a feminine subject
• נקייה = clean in the feminine singular form

So the gender of חולצה affects several other words in the sentence.

Why does Hebrew use אותה for it? Why not a special neutral word?

Hebrew does not have a separate neutral pronoun like English it. Instead, Hebrew uses masculine or feminine pronouns depending on the grammatical gender of the noun.

Since חולצה is feminine, it becomes feminine too:

• אני רואה אותה = I see it
• literally: I see her, but for a feminine noun

If the noun were masculine, you would use אותו:

• אני רואה אותו = I see it / him

So Hebrew treats it according to the noun’s grammatical gender.

What is the difference between אותה and היא?

They are both feminine pronouns, but they do different jobs in the sentence.

• היא = she / it as a subject
• אותה = her / it as a direct object

In this sentence:

• אני רואה אותה = I see it
  • אותה is the object of see
• היא לא נקייה = It is not clean
  • היא is the subject

So Hebrew, like English, uses different forms for subject and object pronouns.

Why is נקייה feminine?

Because adjectives in Hebrew usually agree with the noun they describe in gender and number.

The noun here is החולצה, which is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• masculine singular: נקי
• feminine singular: נקייה

So:

• היא לא נקייה = it is not clean
  literally, she/it not clean-feminine

If the noun were masculine, you would say לא נקי instead.

Where is the word is in היא לא נקייה?

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not stated.

So Hebrew says:

• היא לא נקייה
• literally: she/it not clean

But in natural English, that becomes:

• it is not clean

This is normal Hebrew grammar. In the present tense, Hebrew usually leaves out is / am / are.

For example:

• אני עייף = I am tired
• היא בבית = She is at home

Do I have to say אני in כן, אני רואה אותה? Could Hebrew just say כן, רואה אותה?

You can sometimes omit אני in casual speech if the meaning is clear from context, so כן, רואה אותה may be heard conversationally.

But אני is very natural here, and often useful, because Hebrew present-tense verb forms do not clearly show person the way English does. רואה tells you gender and number better than person.

So:

• כן, אני רואה אותה = clear, neutral, natural
• כן, רואה אותה = more casual, more dependent on context

For learners, it is usually safest to include אני.

How would this sentence change if I were speaking to a man, or if the noun were masculine?

There are two different things that could change:

1. If you are speaking to a man, the first word changes:

• אתה רואה את החולצה?
• Do you (male) see the shirt?

2. If the noun is masculine, the pronouns and adjective change to masculine.

For example, with הספר (the book):

• את רואה את הספר? כן, אני רואה אותו, אבל הוא לא נקי.
• Do you (female) see the book? Yes, I see it, but it is not clean.

Notice the masculine forms:

• אותו = it/him as masculine object
• הוא = it/he as masculine subject
• נקי = clean masculine

So Hebrew keeps matching the gender of the noun throughout the sentence.