בבוקר הוא שותה קפה, אבל בערב אני שותה קפה עם קצת סוכר.

בבוקר means in the morning.

The prefix ב־ means in / at. When ב־ is attached to a noun with the definite article ה־ (the), the two usually combine. So:

ב־ + ה־ + בוקר → בבוקר

The same thing happens in בערב:

ב־ + ה־ + ערב → בערב

So בבוקר is literally in the morning, and בערב is in the evening.

Because Hebrew often puts a time expression first, just like English can do:

In the morning, he drinks coffee...

This is very natural in Hebrew. Starting with בבוקר and later בערב helps organize the sentence by time and makes the contrast clearer.

In this sentence, the pronouns are helpful for two reasons:

1. Present-tense Hebrew often does not clearly mark person the way English does.
2. The sentence is contrasting he and I, especially because of אבל (but).

So הוא and אני make the contrast very clear:

In the morning he drinks coffee, but in the evening I drink coffee...

In some Hebrew sentences, pronouns can be omitted, but here keeping them is very natural.

Because in Modern Hebrew, the present tense does not work like English I drink / he drinks.

The form שותה is a present-tense form, and Hebrew often relies on the pronoun or context to show who the subject is. So:

• הוא שותה = he drinks / is drinking
• אני שותה = I drink / am drinking

The verb form itself does not change for person the way English does.

Also, in unpointed Hebrew spelling, some masculine and feminine present forms can look the same in writing, even if pronunciation differs.

Yes. In Modern Hebrew, the present tense is built from forms that historically behave like participles, so a form like שותה can cover both ideas:

• drinks
• is drinking

In this sentence, because of בבוקר and בערב, the meaning is habitual:

• he drinks coffee in the morning
• I drink coffee in the evening

So it is best understood here as ordinary present/habitual action.

Because את is used before a definite direct object.

Here, קפה means coffee in a general, indefinite sense, not the coffee. So you do not use את.

• הוא שותה קפה = He drinks coffee
• הוא שותה את הקפה = He drinks the coffee

That is a very common rule in Hebrew.

Word by word:

• עם = with
• קצת = a little / a bit
• סוכר = sugar

So עם קצת סוכר means:

with a little sugar

or more naturally,

with a bit of sugar

Because in Hebrew, קצת is normally followed directly by the noun:

• קצת סוכר = a little sugar
• קצת מים = a little water
• קצת זמן = a little time

Hebrew does not need a separate word like English of here.

So קצת סוכר is the normal, natural way to say a little sugar.

אבל means but.

It connects the first part of the sentence with the second part and shows a contrast:

• In the morning he drinks coffee,
• but in the evening I drink coffee with a little sugar.

So אבל is a straightforward contrast word, just like English but.

Because the sentence has two coordinated parts, and אבל introduces a contrast.

This is similar to English punctuation:

He drinks coffee in the morning, but I drink coffee in the evening.

Modern Hebrew punctuation is not always identical to English punctuation, but a comma here is very normal and expected.

Sometimes Hebrew can omit repeated words if the meaning is obvious, but here repeating קפה is natural and clear.

If you simply said:

אבל בערב אני שותה עם קצת סוכר

it would sound incomplete, because the listener may ask: drink what?

So keeping קפה is the best and most natural choice in this sentence.

In ordinary unpointed spelling, it is usually still written אני שותה.

However, the pronunciation can differ depending on gender. In other words, the written form may stay the same, even when the spoken form changes.

So a learner should know that Hebrew spelling without vowel marks sometimes hides distinctions that exist in pronunciation.

A useful pronunciation guide is:

ba-BÓ-ker hu sho-TÉ ka-FÉ, a-VÁL ba-É-rev a-NÍ sho-TÉ ka-FÉ im ktsÁT SU-kar

A smoother English-style transliteration would be:

Baboker hu shote kafe, aval ba'erev ani shote kafe im ktsat sukar.

Notes:

• בבוקר sounds like baboker
• בערב sounds like ba'erev
• קצת begins with a consonant cluster that English speakers may find tricky: ktsat

Here it most naturally describes a habit or usual pattern.

The time expressions בבוקר (in the morning) and בערב (in the evening) strongly suggest routine behavior, not just a one-time event.

So the sentence is understood as something like:

He drinks coffee in the morning, but in the evening I drink coffee with a little sugar.