Word
הוא מעתיק את מה שהמורה כותבת מהלוח למחברת, כי אין לו זמן לכתוב לאט.
Meaning
He copies what the teacher writes from the board into the notebook, because he does not have time to write slowly.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of הוא מעתיק את מה שהמורה כותבת מהלוח למחברת, כי אין לו זמן לכתוב לאט.
הוא
he
אין
there is no
מה
what
את
direct object marker
Questions & Answers about הוא מעתיק את מה שהמורה כותבת מהלוח למחברת, כי אין לו זמן לכתוב לאט.
Why are מעתיק and כותבת present-tense forms? Does Hebrew not use a word like is here?
In Hebrew, the present tense is usually expressed with a single word, not with a separate word like is.
So:
- הוא מעתיק = he copies / he is copying
- המורה כותבת = the teacher writes / is writing
Hebrew present tense can cover both the simple present and the present continuous, and the exact meaning comes from context.
Why does the sentence include הוא? Could it just say מעתיק?
It could sometimes omit הוא, but in the present tense Hebrew verbs do not clearly show person the way English does.
For example, מעתיק only tells you:
- masculine
- singular
- present
It does not by itself tell you whether the subject is he, you, or something like a man/student in context. So adding הוא makes the subject clear: he.
Why is כותבת feminine if the sentence starts with הוא?
Because הוא and המורה are two different subjects.
- הוא מעתיק = he is copying