לפני שהיא הולכת לישון, היא קוראת לילדה סיפור על ילד שנוסע באופניים בגשם.

לפני means before, but when Hebrew says before she... / before he... / before they..., it often uses:

• לפני ש... = before that... / before...
• so לפני שהיא = before she...

Breaking it down:

• לפני = before
• ש = that / which / a linker introducing a clause
• היא = she

So לפני שהיא הולכת לישון is literally something like before that she goes to sleep, but in natural English it is simply before she goes to sleep.

Because the subject is היא (she).

In the present tense, Hebrew verbs behave a lot like adjectives and change for gender and number:

• הולך = going (masculine singular)
• הולכת = going (feminine singular)
• הולכים = going (masculine plural / mixed plural)
• הולכות = going (feminine plural)

Since the subject here is she, Hebrew uses הולכת.

הולכת לישון is a very common Hebrew expression meaning goes to sleep or goes to bed.

It is built from:

• הולכת = goes / is going
• לישון = to sleep

So literally: goes to sleep

Hebrew also has the verb ישנה = sleeps / is sleeping, but that would mean she is already sleeping, not that she is going to sleep.

So:

• היא ישנה = she is sleeping
• היא הולכת לישון = she is going to sleep

לישון is the infinitive, meaning to sleep.

The ל־ at the beginning often corresponds to English to before a verb:

• לישון = to sleep
• לקרוא = to read
• ללכת = to go

So in הולכת לישון, the second verb is in the infinitive, just like English go to sleep.

Because the sentence starts with a time clause:

• לפני שהיא הולכת לישון = before she goes to sleep

After that introductory clause, Hebrew often uses a comma before the main clause:

• לפני שהיא הולכת לישון, היא קוראת...

This is similar to English:

• Before she goes to sleep, she reads...

You may sometimes see punctuation used a bit flexibly in informal writing, but this comma is very normal.

Good question, because קוראת can come from two different verbs:

• לקרוא = to read
• לקרוא = to call

In the present feminine singular, both can look the same: קוראת.

You tell from context.

Here we have:

• קוראת לילדה סיפור

That pattern means reads a story to the girl, not calls.

Why?

Because:

• סיפור is something you read
• לילדה marks the person the story is being read to

If it were call, you would expect something like:

• היא קוראת לילדה = she calls the girl
• היא קוראת לילדה בשם... = she calls the girl by the name...

So the surrounding words make it clear that קוראת here means reads.

Because the girl is not the direct object here. She is the person receiving the reading, so Hebrew uses ל־ (to).

Compare:

• היא קוראת סיפור = she reads a story
• היא קוראת לילדה סיפור = she reads a story to the girl

So:

• סיפור = the thing being read
• לילדה = to the girl

Hebrew commonly uses ל־ for the person something is given, said, shown, or read to.

Because סיפור is indefinite: a story, not the story.

Hebrew uses את only before a definite direct object.

So:

• היא קוראת סיפור = she reads a story
• היא קוראת את הסיפור = she reads the story

In your sentence, it is סיפור without ה־, so it is indefinite, and there is no את.

לילדה is ל־ + הילדה = to the girl.

When certain prepositions attach to a word with ה־ (the), the ה usually disappears and the vowel changes.

So:

• ל + הילדה → לילדה
• ב + הגשם → בגשם
• כ + הילד → כילד in some structures

This is a very common Hebrew contraction.

So לילדה already includes the idea of to the girl, not just to a girl.

Because על means about, while של means of / belonging to.

So:

• סיפור על ילד = a story about a boy
• סיפור של ילד = a story of / belonging to a boy, or a story written/told by a boy depending on context

Here the meaning is clearly a story about a boy, so על is the correct preposition.

The ש־ here introduces a relative clause, like English who, that, or which.

So:

• ילד שנוסע באופניים = a boy who is riding a bicycle / who rides a bicycle

Breaking it down:

• ילד = boy
• ש־ = who / that
• נוסע = rides / is traveling

Hebrew often uses ש־ where English would use who/that/which.

Examples:

• האישה ששרה = the woman who sings
• הספר שקניתי = the book that I bought
• ילד שנוסע באופניים = a boy who rides a bicycle

Because it refers back to ילד (boy), which is masculine singular.

So Hebrew matches the verb form to the noun it describes:

• ילד שנוסע = a boy who rides
• ילדה שנוסעת = a girl who rides
• ילדים שנוסעים = boys / children who ride
• ילדות שנוסעות = girls who ride

Since ילד is masculine singular, נוסע must also be masculine singular.

Because Hebrew normally uses the verb לנסוע with ב־ for the vehicle or means of transport:

• נוסע באוטובוס = travels by bus
• נוסע ברכבת = travels by train
• נוסע במכונית = drives / travels by car
• נוסע באופניים = rides a bicycle / travels by bicycle

So Hebrew does not usually say the equivalent of rides bicycles with no preposition here. It uses ב־, literally something like travels by/on bicycle.

Because אופניים is one of those Hebrew nouns that appears in a plural/dual form even though it often refers to one item: a bicycle.

Like some body-part words and paired objects, it has a form ending in ־יים.

So:

• אופניים = bicycle / bicycles, depending on context

In this sentence, באופניים means by bicycle / on a bicycle.

Learners often expect a singular form, but אופניים is the normal word.

Because בגשם comes from ב + הגשם = in the rain.

Just like with לילדה, when ב־ attaches to a noun with ה־, the ה usually disappears and the vowel changes:

• ב + הגשם → בגשם

So בגשם means in the rain.

This contraction is extremely common:

• בבית = in the house
• בספר = in the book
• בשולחן = on/at the table
• בגשם = in the rain

In normal English, in the rain is the natural translation.

Hebrew uses ב־ very broadly, and in weather expressions it often corresponds to English in:

• ללכת בגשם = to walk in the rain
• לרוץ בגשם = to run in the rain
• לנסוע באופניים בגשם = to ride a bicycle in the rain

So בגשם is exactly the normal way to say this.

Hebrew often includes subject pronouns for clarity or emphasis, even though the verb form already shows gender and number.

Your sentence has:

• לפני שהיא הולכת לישון, היא קוראת...

The second היא is perfectly natural. It clearly starts the main clause after the introductory clause.

In some contexts, Hebrew can omit subject pronouns, especially in less formal or more fluid speech, but keeping היא here is standard and clear.

It has two main parts:

1. לפני שהיא הולכת לישון
   = a time clause: before she goes to sleep

2. היא קוראת לילדה סיפור על ילד שנוסע באופניים בגשם
   = the main clause: she reads the girl a story about a boy who rides a bicycle in the rain

Inside the main clause:

• היא קוראת = she reads
• לילדה = to the girl
• סיפור = a story
• על ילד = about a boy
• שנוסע באופניים בגשם = who rides a bicycle in the rain

So the sentence is layered, but very logically:

• time clause first
• then main clause
• then a relative clause describing ילד