אנחנו אוכלים ארוחת ערב בבית, לא במסעדה.

It breaks down like this:

• אנחנו = we
• אוכלים = eat / are eating
• ארוחת ערב = dinner, literally evening meal
• בבית = at home / in the house
• לא = not
• במסעדה = in/at a restaurant or sometimes in the restaurant, depending on context

So the basic structure is:

subject + verb + object + place + contrast

In Hebrew present tense, there is usually no separate word for am / is / are before a main verb.

So אוכלים by itself can mean:

• eat
• are eating

The exact English translation depends on context. Hebrew does not force the same distinction that English does between we eat and we are eating.

That is a very common question.

In the present tense, Hebrew verb forms usually show gender and number, but not person.
So אוכלים can mean:

• we eat / are eating
• you (plural, masculine/mixed) eat / are eating
• they (masculine/mixed) eat / are eating

Because of that, אנחנו helps make it clear that the subject is we.

So:

• אנחנו אוכלים = we eat / we are eating

If the subject were already obvious from context, a speaker might drop אנחנו, but keeping it is very normal.

אוכלים is the masculine plural present form of לאכול (to eat).

In Hebrew, masculine plural is also used for a mixed group.

So:

• אנחנו אוכלים = we eat / we are eating for a male group or a mixed group
• אנחנו אוכלות = we eat / we are eating for an all-female group

Other related forms:

• אני אוכל = I eat / I am eating (male speaker)
• אני אוכלת = I eat / I am eating (female speaker)

Because this is a construct chain in Hebrew, called סמיכות.

The basic noun is:

• ארוחה = meal

But when it is followed by another noun to mean meal of..., it changes form:

• ארוחת ערב = literally meal of evening = dinner

This is very common in Hebrew.

For many feminine nouns ending in ־ה, the ending changes in construct form:

• ארוחה → ארוחת

So ארוחת ערב is the normal way to say dinner.

Because את is used only before a definite direct object.

Here, ארוחת ערב is not marked as definite. It is just dinner, not the dinner.

So:

• אנחנו אוכלים ארוחת ערב = We are eating dinner
• אנחנו אוכלים את ארוחת הערב = We are eating the dinner

That second version is grammatical, but it means something more specific.

Yes. The prefix ב־ usually means in, at, or sometimes inside depending on context.

Hebrew often attaches short prepositions directly to the noun.

So:

• בבית = at home / in the house
• במסעדה = in/at a restaurant

English uses a separate word like in or at, but Hebrew often uses a prefix instead.

בבית often means at home, especially in everyday speech.
Depending on context, it can also mean in the house.

With במסעדה, there is a spelling issue that confuses many learners: Hebrew is often written without vowel marks, so the same spelling can represent slightly different forms.

Without vowels, במסעדה could mean either:

• in a restaurant
• in the restaurant

Context usually tells you which meaning is intended.

The same general issue can happen after short prefixes like ב־, כ־, and ל־.

Because Hebrew, like English, often leaves out repeated words when the meaning is already clear.

So:

• בבית, לא במסעדה = at home, not in a restaurant

The full version would be something like:

• אנחנו אוכלים ארוחת ערב בבית, לא אוכלים ארוחת ערב במסעדה

But that sounds repetitive and unnatural.

Also, לא is the normal word for not in this kind of present-tense statement.

Yes, sometimes.

A very natural shorter version is:

• אוכלים ארוחת ערב בבית, לא במסעדה

But this works best when the subject is already understood from context. On its own, אוכלים does not clearly tell you whether the subject is we, you all, or they.

You can also move parts of the sentence for emphasis, for example:

• בבית אנחנו אוכלים ארוחת ערב, לא במסעדה

That puts extra emphasis on at home.

The original sentence is a neutral, standard word order.

A common pronunciation is:

Anákhnu okhlím arukhát érev babáyit, lo b'mis'adá.

A few notes:

• kh represents the Hebrew sound of כ/ח, like the sound in Scottish loch or German Bach
• אוכלים is stressed on the last syllable: okh-LIM
• ארוחת is stressed at the end: aru-KHAT
• בבית is commonly pronounced ba-BA-yit when it means at home

Because the sentence is written without vowel marks, the exact pronunciation of במסעדה can vary slightly depending on whether the meaning is understood as in a restaurant or in the restaurant.