היא לא רוצה הרבה שמן בעוגה, כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה.

Breakdown of היא לא רוצה הרבה שמן בעוגה, כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה.

לרצות
to want
היא
she
לא
not
ב
in
היא
it
להיות
to be
הרבה
a lot of
כדי ש
so that
עוגה
cake
שמן
oil
כבד
heavy

Questions & Answers about היא לא רוצה הרבה שמן בעוגה, כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה.

What does שהיא mean? Is it one word or two?

It is written as one word, but it is really ש־ + היא.

  • ש־ means that
  • היא means she / it (feminine)

So כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה is literally something like so that she/it will not be heavy.

Why is היא repeated after כדי?

Because the second part is a full clause, and Hebrew often states the subject again in that kind of clause. English might say so it won’t be heavy, and Hebrew can say כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה.

In this sentence, the second היא is understood from context as referring to the cake, not necessarily to the woman in the first clause.

Why is it תהיה and not a present-tense form?

After כדי ש־ (so that / in order that), Hebrew commonly uses the future tense to express the intended result.

So:

  • תהיה = will be
  • לא תהיה כבדה = will not be heavy

Even though English might sometimes use isn’t in a similar idea, Hebrew usually uses the future here.

Why is כבדה feminine?

Because it agrees with the thing being described, which is עוגה (cake), a feminine noun.

So:

  • עוגה = feminine singular
  • כבדה = feminine singular adjective

If the noun were masculine, the adjective would normally be masculine too.

Could the second היא mean she rather than the cake?

In isolation, it is a little ambiguous, because היא can mean she or it for a feminine noun. But the context makes the cake the most natural meaning: she does not want a lot of oil in the cake, so that the cake will not be heavy.

If you wanted to make it completely explicit, you could say כדי שהעוגה לא תהיה כבדה.

Why is רוצה written the same way for masculine and feminine?

In unpointed Hebrew, both masculine singular and feminine singular are often written the same in the present tense.

So רוצה can be:

  • rotze = masculine
  • rotza = feminine

Here, because the subject is היא, it is feminine: היא לא רוצה = she does not want.

Why does Hebrew say הרבה שמן? Why not something like many oils?

שמן here is a mass noun, like oil in English, so Hebrew uses הרבה in the sense of a lot of / much.

So:

  • הרבה שמן = a lot of oil / much oil

Also, in modern Hebrew, הרבה is very commonly used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Does שמן mean oil or fat here?

Here it means oil.

The word שמן can also be an adjective meaning fat, but in this sentence it is clearly a noun because of the context:

  • הרבה שמן בעוגה = a lot of oil in the cake

In a baking sentence, oil is the natural interpretation.

What does בעוגה mean, and why is it attached as one word?

It is the preposition ב־ (in) attached directly to עוגה (cake). Hebrew prepositions like ב־, ל־, and כ־ are often written as prefixes.

So:

  • ב + עוגהבעוגה

In unpointed Hebrew, בעוגה can represent either in a cake or in the cake; context tells you which one is meant.

Can this sentence also be said as כדי שלא תהיה כבדה?

Yes. That is very natural Hebrew.

  • כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה
  • כדי שלא תהיה כבדה

Both mean roughly so that it won’t be heavy. The version without היא is a little more compact, and it works when the subject is clear from context.

AI Language TutorTry it ↗
What's the best way to learn Hebrew grammar?
Hebrew grammar becomes intuitive with practice. Focus on understanding the core patterns first — how sentences are structured, how verbs change form, and how words relate to each other. Our course breaks these concepts into small lessons so you can build understanding step by step.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Hebrew

Master Hebrew — from היא לא רוצה הרבה שמן בעוגה, כדי שהיא לא תהיה כבדה to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.

  • Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • AI tutor to answer your grammar questions