אחרי ההפסקה אנחנו חוזרים לכיתה, פותחים את המחברת ומתחילים לכתוב.

אחרי means after and works as a preposition here. So אחרי ההפסקה means after the break / after recess.

Hebrew often puts a time expression like this at the beginning of the sentence, just like English can do: After the break, we return to the classroom...

The ה־ makes the noun definite, so ההפסקה means the break.

That fits the sentence because it is talking about a specific break that both speaker and listener know about, for example the regular school break.

• אחרי ההפסקה = after the break
• אחרי הפסקה = after a break or after break in a more general sense

Yes, Hebrew could sometimes omit אנחנו, but here it is useful because present-tense Hebrew verb forms do not clearly show person the way English does.

For example, חוזרים by itself only tells you masculine plural. Depending on context, it could go with:

• אנחנו חוזרים = we return
• אתם חוזרים = you (masculine plural) return
• הם חוזרים = they return

So אנחנו makes it clear that the subject is we.

Because the subject is אנחנו = we, and in Hebrew present tense the verb agrees with the subject in gender and number.

So with we, the form depends on who we refers to:

• אנחנו חוזרים / פותחים / מתחילים = masculine plural form
• אנחנו חוזרות / פותחות / מתחילות = feminine plural form

The masculine plural is used for:

• a group of males
• a mixed group
• sometimes a general/default group

In Hebrew, the present-tense forms are commonly used for:

• actions happening now
• habitual actions
• routines
• stage directions or instructions

So אנחנו חוזרים לכיתה, פותחים את המחברת ומתחילים לכתוב can mean something like:

• We go back to the classroom, open the notebook, and start writing
• or After the break, we return to class, open the notebook, and start writing

It is very natural Hebrew for describing what normally happens.

Because לחזור ל־ means to return to a place.

So:

• חוזרים לכיתה = return to the classroom
• בכיתה means in the classroom

Compare:

• אנחנו חוזרים לכיתה = we go back to the classroom
• אנחנו בכיתה = we are in the classroom

The preposition ל־ marks direction or destination here.

Hebrew can list actions with commas, and it does not always need ו־ before every verb.

So this structure is similar to English: We return to the classroom, open the notebook, and start writing.

Hebrew: חוזרים לכיתה, פותחים את המחברת ומתחילים לכתוב

Only the last verb has ו־ here:

• ומתחילים = and start

This is a very natural way to sequence actions.

Because המחברת is a definite direct object.

In Hebrew, when the direct object is definite, you usually put את before it.

So:

• פותחים מחברת = open a notebook
• פותחים את המחברת = open the notebook

Here המחברת has ה־, so it is definite, and that is why את is required.

This is a very common classroom-style way of speaking in Hebrew. Even though the subject is plural, the object can stay singular when the meaning is each person opens their own notebook.

So פותחים את המחברת naturally means: we open our notebooks / each of us opens the notebook

Hebrew often does this in instructions and routines. A plural form could also exist in some contexts, but the singular here sounds very normal.

Because מתחילים לכתוב means start writing, while כותבים simply means write / are writing.

The verb להתחיל = to begin / to start is commonly followed by an infinitive with ל־:

• מתחילים לכתוב = start to write
• מתחילים ללמוד = start studying
• מתחילים לעבוד = start working

So the sentence is showing the beginning of the next action, not just the action itself.

Yes. לכתוב is the infinitive, meaning to write.

After מתחילים, Hebrew normally uses the infinitive:

• מתחילים לכתוב = begin to write

This is similar to English verbs like:

• start to write
• begin to read

So the pattern is: מתחילים + infinitive

Yes. In modern Hebrew, these are the standard present-tense forms.

A useful thing to know is that Hebrew present tense is historically based on participle forms, which is why these verbs behave a bit differently from past and future forms. In particular, they agree with gender and number, but not clearly with person on their own.

That is why a subject like אנחנו is often important:

• אנחנו חוזרים
• אנחנו פותחים
• אנחנו מתחילים

So for a learner, the simplest way to think about them is: these are the normal Hebrew present-tense forms.