אני רוצה לשמור את הקבלה בתיק.

I want to keep the receipt in the bag.

Breakdown of אני רוצה לשמור את הקבלה בתיק.

• אני: I
• לרצות: to want
• ב: in
• את: direct object marker
• תיק: bag
• קבלה: receipt
• לשמור: to keep

Questions & Answers about אני רוצה לשמור את הקבלה בתיק.

Do I need אני, or can I leave out I?

In this sentence, אני is very natural and often helpful.

One important reason is that רוצה in the present tense does not clearly show the person by itself. Depending on context and pronunciation, it can mean I want, you want, or he/she wants. So אני makes it clear that the subject is I.

That is different from some past and future forms in Hebrew, where the verb often gives clearer information about the subject.

Can both men and women say אני רוצה?

Yes. In normal unpointed Hebrew, both write אני רוצה.

The difference is in pronunciation:

• a man says ani rotzeh
• a woman says ani rotzah

So the spelling is the same, but the spoken form changes.

Why is לשמור written with ל־ at the beginning?

Because לשמור is the infinitive form, roughly to keep / to save.

After רוצה (want), Hebrew normally uses an infinitive:

• רוצה לשמור = want to keep

So the ל־ here is not a separate word meaning to in the English sense; it is part of the Hebrew infinitive form.

What exactly does לשמור mean here?

לשמור is a broad verb. Depending on context, it can mean:

• keep
• save
• store
• guard
• watch over

In this sentence, with the receipt and in the bag, the most natural meaning is keep or store.

Is את here the word for you?

No.

Hebrew also has אַתְּ, which means you when speaking to one female. But that is not what is happening here.

In this sentence, את is the direct object marker. It is usually pronounced et, and it does not have a direct English translation.

Why is את used before הקבלה?

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object.

Here, הקבלה means the receipt, which is definite, so Hebrew says:

• את הקבלה

If the object were indefinite, you normally would not use את:

• לשמור קבלה = to keep a receipt

So את is not optional here if you mean the receipt.

Why does קבלה have ה־ at the beginning?

Because ה־ is the Hebrew word for the attached to the noun.

So:

• קבלה = a receipt / receipt
• הקבלה = the receipt

This is very common in Hebrew: the definite article is usually attached directly to the word.

Does קבלה always mean receipt?

Not always.

The word קבלה can have different meanings depending on context, such as:

• receipt
• acceptance
• receiving
• Kabbalah in some contexts

In this sentence, it clearly means receipt.

Why is it בתיק and not ב תיק?

Because short Hebrew prepositions usually attach directly to the following noun.

So ב־ (in) joins תיק (bag) and becomes:

• בתיק

This is normal Hebrew spelling. You do not usually write a space there.

Does בתיק mean in a bag or in the bag?

It can mean either one in ordinary unpointed Hebrew spelling.

Without vowel marks, בתיק is ambiguous:

• be-tik = in a bag
• ba-tik = in the bag

Both are written the same way: בתיק.

So the exact meaning comes from context, pronunciation, or vowel marks.

Why is the word order לשמור את הקבלה בתיק?

Because this is a very normal Hebrew order:

• verb
• direct object
• place phrase

So:

• לשמור = to keep
• את הקבלה = the receipt
• בתיק = in the bag / in a bag

This is the most neutral way to say it. Hebrew can change word order for emphasis, but this version is standard and natural.

How would I pronounce the whole sentence?

A common pronunciation would be:

• ani rotzeh lishmor et ha-kabalah ba-tik if a man is speaking
• ani rotzah lishmor et ha-kabalah ba-tik if a woman is speaking

If the meaning is in a bag rather than in the bag, then the last word is be-tik instead of ba-tik.