פתאום הוא ראה שהפתק שלה עוד בתיק שלו.

he

Breakdown of פתאום הוא ראה שהפתק שלה עוד בתיק שלו.

• ב: in
• לראות: to see
• עוד: still

Questions & Answers about פתאום הוא ראה שהפתק שלה עוד בתיק שלו.

What does פתאום mean, and why is it at the beginning?

פתאום means suddenly or all of a sudden. It is an adverb, and putting it at the beginning is very natural in Hebrew when you want to set the scene right away: Suddenly, ....

What form is ראה?

ראה is the past tense, 3rd person masculine singular form of the verb לראות (to see).

So:

• הוא ראה = he saw
• היא ראתה = she saw

In this sentence, it refers to he saw / he noticed.

Why does the sentence say הוא ראה if ראה already means he saw?

Because Hebrew often allows subject pronouns to be omitted, but they can still be included for clarity, emphasis, or smooth narrative flow.

So both of these are possible:

• פתאום הוא ראה...
• פתאום ראה...

The version with הוא is completely natural and may help keep track of who is doing the action.

What does the ש־ in שהפתק mean?