לפני המבחן אנחנו עושים עוד תרגיל אחד, כדי להבין אם הוא קל או קשה.

לפני is a preposition meaning before.
המבחן means the test.

So לפני המבחן is literally before the test.

A useful point: the definite article ה־ stays on the noun, not on the preposition. Hebrew says:

• לפני המבחן = before the test

not something like הלפני מבחן.

Also, לפני can mean either before in time or in front of in space. Here, because of המבחן, it clearly means before in time.

In the Hebrew present tense, verbs agree with the gender and number of the subject.

• עושים = masculine plural
• עושות = feminine plural

So אנחנו עושים is used if the group is:

• all male, or
• mixed male and female

If the speakers are all female, you would normally say:

• אנחנו עושות

This is different from English, where we do does not change for gender.

Not completely.

In the present tense, עושים only tells you that the subject is plural masculine. It does not tell you person clearly. Depending on context, עושים could mean:

• we do / are doing
• you (plural masculine) do / are doing
• they do / are doing

So Hebrew often includes the subject pronoun in the present tense for clarity:

• אנחנו עושים = we do / we are doing

In past and future tense, the verb usually shows person more clearly, so pronouns are often less necessary.

It can mean all of those, depending on context.

The verb לעשות is very broad, like English do or make. In this sentence, עושים תרגיל means do an exercise.

Also, Hebrew present tense can often translate as either:

• we do
• we are doing

So אנחנו עושים עוד תרגיל אחד could be understood as:

• we do one more exercise, or
• we are doing one more exercise

English forces you to choose between simple and progressive more often than Hebrew does.

Here עוד means another or one more.

So:

• עוד תרגיל = another exercise / one more exercise

This is a very common use of עוד.

Be careful, because עוד can also mean more or still / yet in other contexts. For example:

• עוד מים = more water
• הוא עוד כאן = he is still here

But in עוד תרגיל אחד, it clearly means one more.

With the number one, Hebrew often puts אחד or אחת after the noun:

• תרגיל אחד = one exercise
• ילדה אחת = one girl

So:

• עוד תרגיל אחד = one more exercise

This word order is very normal in Hebrew.

Also, in many situations, Hebrew can simply say:

• עוד תרגיל

and that already means another exercise. Adding אחד makes the one more explicit.

Because תרגיל is indefinite here.

• תרגיל = an exercise / exercise
• התרגיל = the exercise

In this sentence, the meaning is one more exercise, not the one more exercise, so Hebrew uses the indefinite form:

• עוד תרגיל אחד

If it were definite, you would expect something like התרגיל, but that would change the meaning.

כדי introduces a purpose clause. It means so as to, in order to, or simply to.

• כדי להבין = in order to understand

After כדי, Hebrew usually uses an infinitive, and that infinitive normally has ל־ on it:

• להבין = to understand

So the structure is:

• כדי + infinitive
• כדי להבין = in order to understand

This is a very common Hebrew pattern.

Yes, אם can mean if, but it can also mean whether.

Here it introduces an indirect yes/no question:

• להבין אם הוא קל או קשה = to understand whether it is easy or hard

So this is not really a conditional if like:

• אם ירד גשם, נישאר בבית = if it rains, we will stay home

Instead, it is an embedded question:

• I want to know if / whether it is easy

English also uses if this way.

There is no separate word for is here, because Hebrew usually leaves out the verb to be in the present tense.

So:

• הוא קל literally looks like it/he easy
• but it means it/he is easy

This is very normal in Hebrew.

Important: הוא here is a pronoun meaning he / it, not the verb is.

Compare:

• present: הוא קל = it is easy
• past: הוא היה קל = it was easy
• future: הוא יהיה קל = it will be easy

In past and future, Hebrew does use forms of להיות.

Grammatically, הוא could refer to either:

• המבחן = the test
• תרגיל = the exercise

That is because both nouns are:

• singular
• masculine

So the pronoun הוא matches either one.

In real life, context usually makes the intended meaning clear. If the speaker wants to avoid ambiguity, they might repeat the noun instead of using הוא.

They are adjectives, and they match the thing being described.

Here they are singular forms:

• קל = easy, masculine singular
• קשה = hard/difficult, singular form used here

Because the sentence uses הוא, the thing being described is understood as masculine singular.

A useful detail: קשה looks the same in masculine singular and feminine singular, while קל changes more clearly:

• masculine singular: קל
• feminine singular: קלה

So if the noun were feminine, you would expect a change at least in קל.

It could be either, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• we do
• we are doing

So אנחנו עושים עוד תרגיל אחד can mean:

• we do one more exercise before the test as a usual practice, or
• we are doing one more exercise right now before the test

English usually makes this distinction more explicitly than Hebrew.