יש תור ארוך בבנק, ולכן אנחנו מחכים הרבה זמן.

יש is the Hebrew way to say there is or there are. It introduces the existence of something.

So יש תור ארוך בבנק literally means there is a long queue at/in the bank.

A useful point: יש does not change for singular vs. plural.

• יש תור = there is a queue
• יש תורים = there are queues

Here, תור means line or queue.

It is a very common word in places like banks, post offices, clinics, and stores. Depending on context, תור can also mean turn, as in it’s my turn. But in this sentence, because of ארוך and בבנק, it clearly means queue/line.

Hebrew does not have an indefinite article. In other words, there is no separate word for a or an.

So תור ארוך can mean a long queue.
If you wanted the long queue, you would normally say התור הארוך.

In Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• תור ארוך = a long queue
• literally: queue long

This is the normal Hebrew word order for noun + adjective.

Because תור is a masculine singular noun, the adjective has to match it.

So:

• masculine singular: ארוך
• feminine singular: ארוכה
• masculine plural: ארוכים
• feminine plural: ארוכות

Since תור is masculine singular, the correct form is תור ארוך.

בבנק is made from:

• ב־ = in / at
• הבנק = the bank

When ב־ is attached to a word with ה־, they combine:

• ב + הבנק → בבנק

So בבנק means in the bank or at the bank, depending on what sounds natural in English. In this sentence, English usually prefers at the bank, but the Hebrew preposition ב־ covers both ideas.

ולכן means and therefore, and so, or simply so.

It connects the cause and the result:

• יש תור ארוך בבנק = the cause
• ולכן אנחנו מחכים הרבה זמן = the result

The ו־ at the beginning means and, and לכן means therefore / so.

Compared with אז, ולכן can sound a little more formal or more explicitly logical.

In the present tense, Hebrew verb forms often show gender and number, but not always person clearly enough by themselves.

מחכים can mean:

• we wait
• you all wait
• they wait

So adding אנחנו makes it clear that the meaning is we are waiting.

In real Hebrew, speakers sometimes omit the pronoun if the context is obvious, but including it is very common and often helpful.

מחכים is the present masculine plural form of לחכות, which means to wait.

Because the subject is אנחנו = we, the verb must be plural. Hebrew present-tense forms also reflect gender:

• אני מחכה = I wait/am waiting (masculine speaker)
• אני מחכה can also be spelled the same without vowels for feminine in everyday writing, though with vowels it differs in pronunciation
• אנחנו מחכים = we wait/are waiting, for a masculine or mixed group
• אנחנו מחכות = we wait/are waiting, for an all-female group

So מחכים suggests that the speakers are either male or a mixed group.

הרבה זמן literally means much time, but in natural English it usually corresponds to a long time.

This is a very common Hebrew expression:

• חיכיתי הרבה זמן = I waited a long time
• זה לוקח הרבה זמן = it takes a long time

Hebrew can also say זמן רב, which also means a long time / much time, but הרבה זמן is very common and natural in everyday speech.

Yes, but the meaning shifts a little.

• יש תור ארוך בבנק = there is a long queue at the bank
  • this introduces the existence of a queue
• התור בבנק ארוך = the queue at the bank is long
  • this refers to a more specific, definite queue

So both are grammatical, but יש תור ארוך בבנק is better if you are introducing the situation for the first time, while התור בבנק ארוך sounds more like you are talking about a known or specific queue.