בערב אני מדליקה את האור במטבח, ובבוקר אני מכבה אותו.

In the evening I turn on the light in the kitchen, and in the morning I turn it off.

Breakdown of בערב אני מדליקה את האור במטבח, ובבוקר אני מכבה אותו.

• אני: I
• ו: and
• ב: in
• את: direct object marker
• בוקר: morning
• מטבח: kitchen
• ערב: evening
• אותו: it
• להדליק: to turn on
• אור: light
• לכבות: to turn off

Questions & Answers about בערב אני מדליקה את האור במטבח, ובבוקר אני מכבה אותו.

Why is the verb מדליקה feminine?

Because the speaker is female.

In Hebrew present tense, the verb agrees with the subject’s gender and number.
אני מדליקה = I turn on / I am turning on said by a woman.

If a man said it, he would say:

בערב אני מדליק את האור במטבח, ובבוקר אני מכבה אותו.

Notice that מדליק changes, but מכבה is spelled the same in normal unpointed Hebrew.

Why is אני written twice? Can’t Hebrew just leave it out?

Hebrew often can leave subject pronouns out in the past and future, because the verb itself clearly shows the person. But in the present tense, Hebrew verbs usually show gender and number, not person.

So מדליקה could mean something like:

• I turn on (female speaker)
• you turn on (to one female)
• she turns on

Because of that, אני is very helpful and often necessary for clarity.

That is why the sentence says:

• בערב אני מדליקה...
• ובבוקר אני מכבה...

What does את do in את האור?

את marks a definite direct object.

Here, האור means the light, which is definite because of ה־ (the). So Hebrew uses את before it:

• אני מדליקה את האור = I turn on the light

A very important point:

• You use את before a definite direct object
• You do not translate את into English here

Compare:

• אני מדליקה אור = I turn on a light / light
• אני מדליקה את האור = I turn on the light

Why does the second half use אותו instead of repeating את האור?

אותו means it or him, depending on context. Here it means it, referring back to האור.

So instead of saying:

ובבוקר אני מכבה את האור

the sentence says:

ובבוקר אני מכבה אותו = and in the morning I turn it off

This is very natural Hebrew, just like English often says it instead of repeating the light.

Why is אותו masculine?

Because אור is a masculine noun in Hebrew.

Hebrew pronouns must agree with the noun they refer to. Since האור is masculine singular, the pronoun must also be masculine singular:

• אותו = him / it, masculine singular

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

What tense are מדליקה and מכבה? Are they present tense?

Yes. They are present-tense forms.

But in Hebrew, the present tense is also commonly used for habitual actions, not just actions happening right now. So this sentence most naturally means a routine or regular action:

• In the evening I turn on the light in the kitchen, and in the morning I turn it off.

So even though the forms are present tense, the meaning is something like a general habit.

What exactly do בערב and בבוקר mean?

They mean:

• בערב = in the evening / in the evening time
• בבוקר = in the morning

The prefix ב־ usually means in, at, or during, depending on context.

So:

• ב + ערב → בערב
• ב + בוקר → בבוקר

In natural English, you usually translate them as in the evening and in the morning.

Why does ובבוקר have both ו and ב at the beginning?

Because each prefix has its own job:

• ו־ = and
• ב־ = in / at

So:

• ובבוקר = and in the morning

Hebrew often stacks small prefixes onto one word like this. That is very common.

Why is במטבח at the end? Does it mean in the kitchen or the kitchen light?

Here במטבח means in the kitchen.

So את האור במטבח is understood as the light in the kitchen or the light located in the kitchen.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, and this placement is very natural. The sentence means that the speaker turns on the kitchen light in the evening.

You could also hear slightly different word orders in Hebrew, but this one is normal and clear.

Why is it מדליקה את האור and מכבה אותו? Is Hebrew literally saying light the light and extinguish it?

Yes, more or less.

Hebrew commonly uses:

• להדליק את האור = to turn on the light
• לכבות את האור = to turn off the light

Literally, these verbs are close to:

• להדליק = to light / ignite / switch on
• לכבות = to extinguish / switch off

So while the wording is a bit different from everyday English, these are the normal Hebrew expressions for turning lights on and off.

Why doesn’t מכבה show a different feminine ending like מדליקה does?

This is a great question, because it confuses many learners.

In unpointed modern Hebrew writing, מכבה can represent both masculine and feminine singular pronunciation forms. The difference is mainly in the vowels, which are usually not written.

So even though the sentence has a female speaker, the spelling stays:

• אני מכבה

That does not mean the verb is masculine here. It is just one of those cases where standard Hebrew spelling does not show the gender difference clearly.

Is בערב definitely in the evening, or could it also mean at evening?

In practice, בערב is the normal way to say in the evening.

English uses different prepositions depending on the expression, but Hebrew often just uses ב־ for time expressions like this. So you do not need to match English prepositions exactly.

A good way to learn it is simply as a fixed time phrase:

• בערב = in the evening
• בבוקר = in the morning

Could the sentence leave out אותו and just stop at מכבה?

Usually, no, not if you want to say turn it off clearly.

מכבה by itself just means turns off / extinguishes, but it does not say what is being turned off. Since the first half mentions the light, the second half naturally uses אותו to show that the light is the object being turned off.

So:

• אני מכבה אותו = I turn it off

That is the clear, natural version here.