אני רוצה לקנות תפוחי אדמה, בצל ומלפפון לסלט ולמרק.

I want to buy potatoes, an onion, and a cucumber for the salad and the soup.

Breakdown of אני רוצה לקנות תפוחי אדמה, בצל ומלפפון לסלט ולמרק.

• אני: I
• לרצות: to want
• ו: and
• לקנות: to buy

Questions & Answers about אני רוצה לקנות תפוחי אדמה, בצל ומלפפון לסלט ולמרק.

Why is אני included? Could it be left out?

Usually, אני is included here because present-tense Hebrew does not clearly show person the way English does.

The form רוצה can mean:

• I want
• you want
• he wants

It only shows gender and number, not person. So אני makes it clear that the subject is I.

In some contexts, Hebrew can drop pronouns, but with present-tense forms like רוצה, the pronoun is often helpful or necessary.

How do I know whether the speaker is male or female from רוצה?

In unpointed Hebrew, רוצה is spelled the same for both masculine singular and feminine singular.

In speech, they sound different:

• masculine: rotze
• feminine: rotza

So:

• אני רוצה can mean I want said by a man
• אני רוצה can also mean I want said by a woman

You usually know from pronunciation or context.

Why are there two verbs in אני רוצה לקנות?