אני רוצה ללבוש את השמלה האדומה, כי היא יפה.

I want to wear the red dress, because it is beautiful.

Breakdown of אני רוצה ללבוש את השמלה האדומה, כי היא יפה.

• אני: I
• לרצות: to want
• היא: it
• את: direct object marker

Questions & Answers about אני רוצה ללבוש את השמלה האדומה, כי היא יפה.

Why is רוצה used here, and how can I tell whether the speaker is male or female?

In modern Hebrew, the present tense is often built with a form that looks like an adjective or participle, not with a separate fully conjugated verb the way English does.

So אני רוצה means I want, but רוצה also agrees with the speaker’s gender:

• masculine singular: pronounced rotze
• feminine singular: pronounced rotza

In normal unpointed Hebrew writing, both are spelled exactly the same: רוצה.

So from spelling alone, you often cannot tell whether the speaker is male or female. You would know from context, pronunciation, or vowel marks.

Why is there a ל־ at the start of ללבוש?

The ל־ is the normal marker for the infinitive in Hebrew, similar to English to in to wear.

So:

• ללבוש = to wear / to put on

The basic verb is לָבַשׁ = he wore / put on.

Because the verb itself begins with the letter ל, adding the infinitive prefix gives you two ל letters:

• ל + לבוש → ללבוש

That is completely normal. The word is pronounced roughly lilbósh.

What is את doing in the sentence?