הילדה מציירת יפה, אבל כשהיא מנסה להעתיק מהלוח, היא לפעמים טועה.

Because ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

• ילדה = a girl / girl
• הילדה = the girl

Hebrew attaches the directly to the noun as a prefix, instead of using a separate word.

מציירת is the feminine singular present-tense form of the verb לצייר (to draw / to paint).

Since the subject is הילדה (the girl), the verb has to match it in gender and number.

For comparison:

• הוא מצייר = he draws
• היא מציירת = she draws

So the ־ת ending is a common sign of feminine singular in the present tense.

Here יפה means nicely / well.

Hebrew often uses an adjective in a way that English would express with an adverb. So:

• הילדה יפה = the girl is beautiful
• הילדה מציירת יפה = the girl draws nicely / well

So even though יפה is literally the word for beautiful / nice, in this sentence it functions like an adverb.

כשהיא means when she.

It is made of:

• כש־ = when
• היא = she

So:

• כשהיא מנסה = when she tries

You can think of כש as a shortened everyday form related to כאשר, which also means when.

After a verb like מנסה (tries), Hebrew usually uses an infinitive for the next verb, often with ל־.

So:

• מנסה = tries
• להעתיק = to copy

Together:

• מנסה להעתיק = tries to copy

This works very much like English try to do something.

להעתיק means to copy.

In this sentence, it means copying something from the board, like a student copying written material into a notebook.

It can also mean to move / transfer in other contexts, but here the meaning is clearly to copy because of מהלוח (from the board).

מהלוח is built from:

• מ־ = from
• הלוח = the board

So:

• לוח = board
• הלוח = the board
• מהלוח = from the board

This is a very common Hebrew pattern: a preposition joins directly to the noun, and if the noun has ה־ (the), the forms combine.

The second היא is natural and helps mark the subject clearly in the new clause:

• אבל כשהיא מנסה להעתיק מהלוח, היא לפעמים טועה

Literally: But when she tries to copy from the board, she sometimes makes mistakes.

Hebrew often repeats the subject pronoun, especially after a longer introductory clause like כשהיא מנסה.... Even if the meaning would still be understandable without it, keeping היא makes the sentence smoother and clearer.

לפעמים means sometimes.

Its position is fairly flexible. In this sentence:

• היא לפעמים טועה = she sometimes makes mistakes

But Hebrew can also say:

• לפעמים היא טועה
• היא טועה לפעמים

All of these are possible, though the emphasis may shift slightly depending on placement.

Good question. Some Hebrew present-tense verb forms are the same for masculine singular and feminine singular.

With לטעות (to make a mistake / to be mistaken), the singular present form is:

• הוא טועה = he is mistaken / he makes mistakes
• היא טועה = she is mistaken / she makes mistakes

So in the singular, the form טועה stays the same. The gender is understood from the subject.

In the plural, the forms do differ:

• הם טועים
• הן טועות

It can mean both, depending on context.

• לטעות can mean to make a mistake
• It can also mean to be mistaken / wrong

In this sentence, היא לפעמים טועה is best understood as she sometimes makes mistakes.

So Hebrew uses one verb where English may choose slightly different expressions depending on context.

Hebrew dictionaries usually list verbs in the infinitive, not in the present-tense form you see in the sentence.

Here are the main ones:

• מציירת → לצייר = to draw
• מנסה → לנסות = to try
• להעתיק → להעתיק = to copy
• טועה → לטעות = to make a mistake / to be mistaken

This is useful because Hebrew present-tense forms often look quite different from the dictionary form.