Breakdown of המסך מקולקל, ולכן צריך לתקן אותו.
Questions & Answers about המסך מקולקל, ולכן צריך לתקן אותו.
Why is there no word for is in המסך מקולקל?
In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense.
So:
- המסך מקולקל = The screen is broken
- literally, it looks more like the screen broken
This is completely normal Hebrew. In past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be when needed, but in the present it is normally omitted.
What does המסך mean, and what is the ה־ at the beginning?
מסך means screen.
The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.
So:
- מסך = a screen / screen
- המסך = the screen
What kind of word is מקולקל?
מקולקל means broken, damaged, or out of order.
In this sentence, it functions like an adjective describing המסך.
Because מסך is masculine singular, the adjective also appears in the masculine singular form:
- masculine singular: מקולקל
- feminine singular: מקולקלת
- masculine plural: מקולקלים
- feminine plural: מקולקלות
Why is מקולקל masculine singular?
Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in gender and number.
Since מסך is a masculine singular noun, the adjective must also be masculine singular:
- המסך מקולקל
If the noun were feminine, the adjective would change. For example:
- הטלוויזיה מקולקלת = The television is broken
What does ולכן mean?
ולכן means and therefore, and so, or therefore.
It is made of:
- ו־ = and
- לכן = therefore / so
So the sentence moves from the problem to the conclusion:
- The screen is broken, therefore...
Why is there a comma before ולכן?
The comma separates the two parts of the sentence:
- המסך מקולקל
- ולכן צריך לתקן אותו
This is similar to English punctuation in a sentence like:
- The screen is broken, so it needs to be fixed.
The comma helps mark the logical connection between the statement and its result.
Why does the sentence use צריך and not צריכים?
Here צריך is being used in an impersonal way, meaning something like:
- it is necessary
- one needs to
- there is a need to
So צריך לתקן אותו means it is necessary to fix it or it needs to be fixed.
This does not mean a specific masculine singular person needs to fix it. It is just a common Hebrew way to express necessity.
Who is the hidden subject of צריך לתקן אותו?
There is no specific subject stated. That is why this part feels impersonal.
Hebrew often says צריך + infinitive without naming who exactly must do the action. In English, we might translate it in several natural ways:
- it needs to be fixed
- someone needs to fix it
- one needs to fix it
The Hebrew leaves the doer unspecified.
Why is לתקן written with ל־ at the beginning?
The ל־ prefix is the normal marker of the infinitive in Hebrew, similar to English to in to fix.
So:
- לתקן = to fix / to repair
After צריך, Hebrew usually uses an infinitive:
- צריך לתקן = need to fix / it is necessary to fix
What does אותו mean here?
אותו means him or it, depending on the context.
Here it means it, referring back to המסך.
So:
- לתקן אותו = to fix it
Because מסך is a masculine singular noun, the pronoun is also masculine singular: אותו.
Why is it אותו and not אותה?
Because מסך is masculine.
Hebrew pronouns must agree with the noun they refer to. So:
- masculine singular noun → אותו
- feminine singular noun → אותה
For example:
- המסך מקולקל, ולכן צריך לתקן אותו = The screen is broken, so it needs to be fixed
- הטלוויזיה מקולקלת, ולכן צריך לתקן אותה = The television is broken, so it needs to be fixed
Why isn’t there an את before אותו?
A very common learner question.
Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object noun, such as:
- לתקן את המסך = to fix the screen
But when the direct object is already expressed as an object pronoun like אותו, you do not add another את.
So:
- correct: לתקן אותו
- not: לתקן את אותו in this sentence
Could this sentence also be written as המסך מקולקל, ולכן צריך לתקן את המסך?
Yes, that is grammatically correct.
It would mean essentially the same thing:
- The screen is broken, therefore one needs to fix the screen
But using אותו is more natural because it avoids repeating המסך. English does the same thing:
- less natural: The screen is broken, so we need to fix the screen
- more natural: The screen is broken, so we need to fix it
Is לתקן more like fix or repair?
It can mean both fix and repair, depending on context.
לתקן is a very common verb used for making something work properly again or correcting something.
Examples:
- לתקן מסך = to repair/fix a screen
- לתקן טעות = to correct a mistake
So it is a broad verb, wider than English repair.
How would you pronounce the whole sentence?
A common pronunciation would be:
ha-masakh mekulkal, ve-lakhen tsarikh letaken oto
A few helpful notes:
- המסך = ha-masakh
- מקולקל = mekulkal
- ולכן = ve-lakhen
- צריך is often pronounced tsarikh
- לתקן = letaken
- אותו = oto
Is this sentence more like it needs to be fixed or someone needs to fix it?
It can naturally correspond to both, depending on how you choose to express it in English.
Hebrew says:
- צריך לתקן אותו
That literally leans toward it is necessary to fix it, without naming who will do it.
So in natural English, you might translate it as:
- it needs to be fixed
- someone needs to fix it
- we need to fix it
The Hebrew itself stays more neutral and impersonal.
Could מקולקל also mean something other than physically broken?
Yes. מקולקל can describe something that is:
- broken
- damaged
- out of order
- not functioning properly
It can even be used more broadly in some contexts, depending on what has gone wrong. In this sentence, with screen, the natural meaning is that the screen is not working properly or is damaged.
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