הסכין על הצלחת, והמזלג על השולחן.

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense in simple sentences like this.

So Hebrew says:

הסכין על הצלחת
literally: the knife on the plate

but it means:

the knife is on the plate

This is completely normal Hebrew. In the past or future, Hebrew would use forms of to be, but not usually here.

ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• סכין = a knife / knife
• הסכין = the knife
• צלחת = a plate / plate
• הצלחת = the plate

Unlike English, Hebrew does not use a separate word for the. It adds ה־ to the beginning of the noun.

Because the sentence is talking about specific objects:

• the knife
• the plate
• the fork
• the table

In Hebrew, definiteness has to be marked on each noun individually. So if English says the knife on the plate, Hebrew marks both knife and plate as definite:

הסכין על הצלחת

If you removed the ה־, the meaning would become more like a knife on a plate or knife on plate, depending on context.

In Hebrew, the word and is usually the prefix ו־ attached directly to the following word.

So:

• מזלג = fork
• והמזלג = and the fork

This is very common in Hebrew. The conjunction is normally written as part of the next word, not as a separate word like English and.

Because it means and the fork, not just and fork.

It is built like this:

• ו־ = and
• ה־ = the
• מזלג = fork

Together: והמזלג

So Hebrew keeps both pieces:

• the conjunction
• the definite article

This is very normal.

Because על does not combine with ה־ the way some other Hebrew prepositions do.

For example, some common prepositions can merge with ה־, such as:

• ב + ה → בַּ
• ל + ה → לַ
• כ + ה → כַּ

But על usually stays separate:

• על הצלחת
• על השולחן

So the structure is simply:

על + ה־ + noun

Yes. This is a very normal way to say it.

The basic structure is:

[noun] + [prepositional phrase]

So:

• הסכין על הצלחת
• המזלג על השולחן

This is the standard, neutral order for a simple location statement.

Hebrew can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but this version is the most straightforward one for learners.

A rough pronunciation is:

ha-sakin al ha-tsalakhat, ve-ha-mazleg al ha-shulkhan

A few useful sound notes:

• צ sounds like ts in cats
• ח is a throaty sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch
• ש here sounds like English sh

So:

• הסכין = ha-sakin
• הצלחת = ha-tsalakhat
• והמזלג = ve-ha-mazleg
• השולחן = ha-shulkhan

Yes, all Hebrew nouns have grammatical gender.

In this sentence:

• סכין is usually feminine
• צלחת is feminine
• מזלג is masculine
• שולחן is masculine

In this particular sentence, gender does not visibly affect anything, because there is no adjective or present-tense verb form showing agreement.

But if you added adjectives, gender would matter:

• הסכין חדה = the knife is sharp
• המזלג חדש = the fork is new

Not always. על often means on, but its exact meaning depends on context.

Common uses include:

• on a surface
• about a topic
• sometimes over or onto, depending on the sentence

In הסכין על הצלחת, the natural meaning is clearly on the plate.
In המזלג על השולחן, it means on the table.

So here, on is the right interpretation.

You would usually remove the definite article ה־:

סכין על צלחת

That gives the basic idea of a knife on a plate.

Hebrew does not have a separate word for a/an.
So:

• סכין can mean a knife
• צלחת can mean a plate

The absence of ה־ usually makes the noun indefinite.

Not always. Hebrew punctuation can be a bit flexible here.

Because the sentence has two parallel parts:

• הסכין על הצלחת
• והמזלג על השולחן

a comma is acceptable and helps readability. But in many contexts, Hebrew writers might also omit it:

הסכין על הצלחת והמזלג על השולחן

So the comma is not the main grammatical issue; it is mostly a punctuation choice.