בבוקר אני יוצאת למרפסת ושותה קפה, ובערב אנחנו יושבים בסלון.

Breakdown of בבוקר אני יוצאת למרפסת ושותה קפה, ובערב אנחנו יושבים בסלון.

אני
I
קפה
coffee
ו
and
ב
in
לשתות
to drink
ל
to
בוקר
morning
אנחנו
we
לשבת
to sit
ערב
evening
סלון
living room
מרפסת
balcony
לצאת
to go out

Questions & Answers about בבוקר אני יוצאת למרפסת ושותה קפה, ובערב אנחנו יושבים בסלון.

What tense are יוצאת, שותה, and יושבים?

They are Hebrew present-tense forms. In Modern Hebrew, these forms can cover both:

  • a general/habitual meaning: I go out, I drink, we sit
  • an ongoing meaning: I am going out, I am drinking, we are sitting

In this sentence, the time words בבוקר and בערב make it sound like a routine or habit.

Why is יוצאת feminine?

Because Hebrew present-tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

  • אני יוצאת = I go out, said by a female speaker
  • אני יוצא = I go out, said by a male speaker

So this sentence tells you the speaker is female.

Why is שותה not visibly feminine too?

Some Hebrew present-tense forms look the same in writing for masculine and feminine singular, especially in everyday unpointed Hebrew. שותה is one of those forms.

So:

  • masculine singular: שותה
  • feminine singular: שותה

In speech, the pronunciation differs, and in context the gender is clear. Here it is understood as feminine because it continues the same subject from אני יוצאת.

Why does the sentence use אני and אנחנו? Aren’t Hebrew subject pronouns often omitted?

Yes, Hebrew often drops subject pronouns, but in the present tense the verb usually shows only gender and number, not person.

For example, יוצאת by itself could mean:

  • I go out
  • you go out, feminine singular
  • she goes out

So אני makes the meaning clear. The same is true for אנחנו יושבים.

Why isn’t אני repeated before ושותה?

Because the subject stays the same. Hebrew commonly omits a repeated subject when two verbs share it.

So אני יוצאת למרפסת ושותה קפה means:

  • I go out to the balcony and drink coffee

The second I is simply understood.

Why does בבוקר start with two ב letters?

The first ב is the preposition in / at.
The second ב is the first letter of the noun בוקר.

So בבוקר is basically ב־ + בוקר, meaning in the morning.

Likewise, בערב is ב־ + ערב, meaning in the evening.

Does בבוקר mean this morning or in the morning?

It depends on context.

In this sentence, because the whole sentence sounds habitual, בבוקר is most naturally understood as in the morning or in the mornings.

But in another context, בבוקר can also mean this morning. The same is true of בערב, which can mean in the evening or this evening depending on context.

Why is it למרפסת and not אל המרפסת?

The prefix ל־ often means to, and it is very natural with movement verbs.

So יוצאת למרפסת means goes out to the balcony / onto the balcony.

You can also sometimes use אל, but ל־ is very common and natural here. Also, יוצאת already contains the idea of going out, so the phrase as a whole feels very idiomatic.

Does למרפסת mean to a balcony or to the balcony?

In everyday Hebrew spelling, forms with attached ל־, ב־, and כ־ often do not show clearly whether English the is present.

So למרפסת can look the same whether the meaning is:

  • to a balcony
  • to the balcony

The same issue exists with בסלון.

Usually context tells you which meaning is intended. In this sentence, it is most naturally understood as to the balcony and in the living room.

Why is there no את before קפה?

Because את is used only before a definite direct object.

Here קפה means just coffee in a general or indefinite sense, so there is no את.

Compare:

  • שותה קפה = drinks coffee
  • שותה את הקפה = drinks the coffee
Why is it יושבים and not יושבות?

Because אנחנו takes:

  • יושבים for a masculine plural group, or a mixed group, or when the group’s gender is not specified
  • יושבות for an all-female group

So אנחנו יושבים suggests either a mixed group or a masculine/default plural.

What does יושבים mean here exactly: sit, are sitting, or something like hang out?

All of those are possible depending on context.

Literally, יושבים means sit / are sitting. But in natural Hebrew it can also sound like we sit around or we spend time sitting in a place.

In this sentence, the simplest understanding is just we sit / we are sitting in the living room.

Is the word order special? Why do בבוקר and ובערב come first?

Yes, Hebrew often puts time expressions at the beginning of the clause. This helps set the scene and highlight the contrast:

  • בבוקר ... = in the morning ...
  • ובערב ... = and in the evening ...

You could move them later, but the original order sounds very natural and neatly contrasts morning and evening activities.

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