אם הכלים לא נקיים, אני שוטפת אותם במים חמים עם קצת סבון.

הכלים means the dishes / the utensils / the tools, with the definite article ה־.

Hebrew often uses the definite article when talking about a specific set of things already understood from context, such as the dishes in the sink. So הכלים here is not just tools/dishes in general, but the dishes.

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted.

So instead of saying something like the dishes are not clean, Hebrew simply says:

הכלים לא נקיים
literally: the dishes not clean

This is completely normal Hebrew sentence structure.

Because נקיים has to agree with הכלים in gender and number.

• כלי / כלים is grammatically masculine
• כלים is plural
• so the adjective must also be masculine plural

That is why you get:

• masculine singular: נקי
• feminine singular: נקייה
• masculine plural: נקיים
• feminine plural: נקיות

Since the noun is הכלים, the correct form is נקיים.

אם means if.

It introduces a conditional clause:

אם הכלים לא נקיים = If the dishes are not clean

Then the second part gives the result or action:

אני שוטפת אותם... = I wash them...

So the structure is:

אם + condition, + result

Very similar to English.

In the present tense, Hebrew verb forms usually show gender and number, but not always person clearly enough in context.

שוטפת tells you:

• singular
• feminine
• present tense

But it does not by itself clearly mean I wash rather than she washes unless the context already makes that obvious. So Hebrew often includes the pronoun:

אני שוטפת = I wash / I am washing

If a man were speaking, he would say:

אני שוטף

Because the speaker is female.

Hebrew present-tense verb forms agree with the subject in gender and number:

• אני שוטף = I wash / am washing (male speaker)
• אני שוטפת = I wash / am washing (female speaker)

So this sentence is being said by a woman or girl.

אותם means them and refers back to הכלים.

It is the direct object pronoun:

אני שוטפת אותם = I wash them

Since הכלים is grammatically masculine plural, the matching pronoun is אותם.

Compare:

• masculine plural: אותם
• feminine plural: אותן

Even if כלים means dishes, the grammar is still masculine plural, so Hebrew uses אותם.

Because אותם itself is already the object pronoun form.

With a full definite noun, Hebrew often uses את before a direct object:

• אני שוטפת את הכלים = I wash the dishes

But when the object is replaced by a pronoun, Hebrew uses forms like:

• אותו = him/it
• אותה = her/it
• אותם = them (masculine)
• אותן = them (feminine)

So אותם already does the job, and you do not add another את before it.

The prefix ב־ usually means in, with, or by, depending on context.

In this sentence:

במים חמים = with hot water / in hot water

Both are close in meaning here. In natural English, with hot water is probably the best translation, but Hebrew uses ב־ for this kind of idea very naturally.

So:

• מים = water
• במים = in/with water

Because חמים agrees with מים.

The noun מים is grammatically masculine plural in Hebrew, even though in English water is not plural. So the adjective must also be masculine plural:

• מים חמים = hot water

This is one of those places where Hebrew grammar does not match English grammar directly.

מים is one of a few Hebrew nouns that look plural and behave like plural forms, even though they refer to something that English treats as a mass noun.

So although מים means water, grammatically it takes plural agreement:

• מים קרים = cold water
• מים חמים = hot water

You simply have to learn מים as a special noun with plural form and plural adjective agreement.

קצת means a little, a bit, or some.

So:

עם קצת סבון = with a little soap / with some soap

This is a very common everyday way to express a small amount.

Also, סבון here is used as an indefinite mass noun, so there is no ה־:

• סבון = soap
• הסבון = the soap

Here the sentence means some soap, not the soap, so סבון is correct.

It can naturally be understood as a habitual/general action:

If the dishes aren’t clean, I wash them with hot water and a little soap.

Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• I wash
• I am washing
• sometimes a general repeated action

Context decides which meaning is intended. In this sentence, it sounds most like a general rule or routine.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• מים חמים = water hot = hot water
• כלים נקיים = dishes clean = clean dishes

This is normal Hebrew word order.

In הכלים לא נקיים, the adjective is part of the predicate, not directly inside a noun phrase, but the basic idea is still the same: Hebrew uses the adjective form נקיים to describe הכלים.

Yes.

Both are correct, but they mean slightly different things stylistically:

• אני שוטפת את הכלים = I wash the dishes
• אני שוטפת אותם = I wash them

The second version uses a pronoun because the dishes were already mentioned in the first clause. That makes the sentence flow naturally and avoids repeating הכלים.

So אותם works like English them after the noun has already been introduced.