בלילה היה לי חלום ארוך על בית ליד הים.

בלילה means at night or during the night.

It is made from the preposition ב־ (in / at) plus הלילה (the night), which contract into one written word in Hebrew: בלילה.

So literally, it is something like in the night, even though in natural English we usually say at night.

A native English speaker may expect two words, but in Hebrew this kind of combination is very common.

Hebrew often puts a time expression at the beginning of a sentence, especially to set the scene.

So:

בלילה היה לי חלום ארוך...
= At night, I had a long dream...

This sounds very natural in Hebrew. Hebrew word order is more flexible than English, so starting with the time phrase is normal and often stylistically smooth.

היה לי literally means there was to me.

But in normal English, that is usually translated as I had.

So:

• היה לי חלום = I had a dream
• literally: There was to me a dream

This is a very common Hebrew way to express possession, especially in the past.

Compare:

• יש לי חלום = I have a dream
• היה לי חלום = I had a dream

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things in structure.

• היה לי חלום = I had a dream
• חלמתי = I dreamed

In this sentence, Hebrew chooses the I had a dream structure, which is very natural.

If you said:

בלילה חלמתי על בית ליד הים
that would also be a correct and natural sentence meaning At night I dreamed about a house by the sea.

So this is not about right vs. wrong; it is just one natural way to say it.

Because היה is not describing I. It is agreeing with חלום.

In היה לי חלום, the word חלום (dream) is grammatically the thing that was. Since חלום is masculine singular, Hebrew uses היה.

That is why:

• היה לי חלום = I had a dream
• הייתה לי מחשבה = I had a thought
• היו לי חלומות = I had dreams

So the form of to be changes according to the thing possessed, not according to the speaker.

Yes.

It would still be היה לי חלום, because היה agrees with חלום, and חלום is masculine singular.

The gender of the speaker does not affect היה here.

So both a man and a woman can say:

היה לי חלום

If the noun changed, then the verb form could change:

• הייתה לי הרגשה = I had a feeling
  because הרגשה is feminine singular.

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

So:

• חלום ארוך = a long dream
• literally: dream long

This is one of the most basic word-order differences between Hebrew and English.

More examples:

• בית גדול = a big house
• ים כחול = a blue sea

Because חלום is a masculine noun.

Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• חלום ארוך = masculine singular
• מחשבה ארוכה = feminine singular
• חלומות ארוכים = masculine plural

Since חלום is masculine singular, the adjective must also be masculine singular: ארוך.

Here, על means about.

So:

חלום ארוך על בית
= a long dream about a house

The basic meaning of על is often on / upon, but very often it also means about, especially when talking about speech, thought, stories, or dreams.

Examples:

• ספר על ירושלים = a book about Jerusalem
• דיברנו על זה = we talked about it
• חלום על בית = a dream about a house

Because the sentence means a house, not the house.

• בית = a house / house
• הבית = the house

So:

על בית ליד הים
means about a house by the sea

If the speaker meant one specific known house, Hebrew would more likely use הבית.

Because the sentence is talking about:

• a house → indefinite → בית
• the sea → definite → הים

In English, we also often say a house by the sea, not a house by sea.

So Hebrew makes the sea definite here: ליד הים = by the sea / near the sea.

ליד means next to, by, or near depending on context.

In this sentence:

בית ליד הים
means a house by the sea or a house near the sea.

It does not always mean directly touching something. Often it just means nearby.

Because Hebrew often connects a noun directly with a phrase that describes it, without adding a word like that is.

So:

בית ליד הים
literally looks like
house near the sea

But naturally it means:

a house that is near the sea
or simply
a house by the sea

This is completely normal in Hebrew.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Ba-layla haya li khalom arokh al bayit leyad ha-yam.

A few notes:

• בלילה = ba-LAY-la
• היה = ha-YA
• לי = lee
• חלום = kha-LOM
  
  • the ח is a throaty sound not found in standard English
• ארוך = a-ROKH
• בית = BA-yit
• ליד = le-YAD
• הים = ha-YAM

Not very naturally.

A more literal breakdown would be:

• בלילה = at night
• היה לי = there was to me / I had
• חלום ארוך = a long dream
• על בית = about a house
• ליד הים = by the sea

So the full literal sense is:

At night, there was to me a long dream about a house by the sea.

But natural English would be:

At night, I had a long dream about a house by the sea.

So yes, you can break it down word by word for learning, but the best English translation is not fully word-for-word.