אם היית גרה בכפר, היית רוצה גינה או רק מרפסת קטנה?

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Breakdown of אם היית גרה בכפר, היית רוצה גינה או רק מרפסת קטנה?

• לרצות: to want
• לגור: to live
• ב: in

Questions & Answers about אם היית גרה בכפר, היית רוצה גינה או רק מרפסת קטנה?

How can I tell that this sentence is addressed to a woman?

Because the sentence uses feminine singular forms.

The clearest clues are:

• גרה = feminine singular living
• קטנה = feminine singular small

Also, רוצה is understood here as feminine singular wants / would want, although without vowel marks its spelling is the same as the masculine form.

So the sentence is speaking to you (singular, female). If it were addressed to a man, it would begin אם היית גר בכפר...

Why isn’t the word for you written anywhere?

Hebrew often drops subject pronouns when the verb already shows who the subject is.

So instead of saying אם את היית גרה... for if you were living..., Hebrew normally just says:

• אם היית גרה...

The pronoun את could be added for emphasis, but it is not necessary.

Why is היית used twice?