הילדה הקטנה בוכה, כי היא עייפה ורוצה לישון.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

• ילדה = a girl
• הילדה = the girl

So הילדה means the girl.

In Hebrew, when a noun is definite, its adjective is usually definite too.

So:

• ילדה קטנה = a small/little girl
• הילדה הקטנה = the small/little girl

Both the noun and the adjective take ה־.

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

So Hebrew says:

• girl little = little girl

That is normal Hebrew word order.

Examples:

• ילד קטן = a small boy
• בית גדול = a big house
• הילדה הקטנה = the little girl

Because הילדה is feminine singular, and the adjective must agree with it.

Hebrew adjectives change for gender and number:

• קטן = masculine singular
• קטנה = feminine singular
• קטנים = masculine plural
• קטנות = feminine plural

Since ילדה is feminine singular, the correct form is קטנה.

בוכה is the present-tense form of the verb לבכות = to cry.

In Hebrew, present-tense verb forms often look adjective-like because they change for gender and number:

• בוכה = crying, for masculine singular or feminine singular in this verb pattern
• בוכים = crying, masculine plural
• בוכות = crying, feminine plural

So הילדה הקטנה בוכה means the little girl is crying.

Notice that Hebrew usually does not use a separate word for is in the present tense.

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

So:

• הילדה הקטנה בוכה literally looks like the little girl crying
• היא עייפה literally looks like she tired

But in natural English, these mean:

• the little girl is crying
• she is tired

This is a very common feature of Hebrew.

כי means because here.

So:

• הילדה הקטנה בוכה, כי היא עייפה = The little girl is crying because she is tired

It introduces the reason.

Be aware that כי can have other meanings in other contexts, but in this sentence it simply means because.

היא means she.

Hebrew often includes the subject pronoun in sentences like this, especially when:

• a new clause begins
• the speaker wants to be clear about who the subject is
• the predicate is an adjective, like עייפה = tired

So כי היא עייפה means because she is tired.

In the first clause, the subject is already the noun הילדה הקטנה, so there is no need for היא there.

For the same reason as קטנה: it must agree with a feminine singular subject.

• עייף = tired, masculine singular
• עייפה = tired, feminine singular

Since היא refers to the girl, Hebrew uses עייפה.

The prefix ו־ means and.

So ורוצה means and wants.

Hebrew often does not repeat the subject if it is still the same subject. In this sentence:

• היא עייפה = she is tired
• ורוצה לישון = and wants to sleep

The subject she is understood for both parts.

You could think of it as:

• because she is tired and she wants to sleep

But Hebrew normally does not need the second היא.

רוצה is the present-tense form of לרצות = to want.

Like many Hebrew present-tense forms, it changes for gender and number:

• רוצה = wants, masculine singular or feminine singular in this pattern
• רוצים = want, masculine plural
• רוצות = want, feminine plural

Here it matches the singular subject she.

So היא רוצה = she wants.

לישון means to sleep.

The prefix ל־ is very common in Hebrew infinitives and often corresponds to English to:

• לישון = to sleep
• לבכות = to cry
• לרצות = to want

So:

• רוצה לישון = wants to sleep

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• ילדה קטנה = a little girl
• הילדה הקטנה = the little girl

So if the sentence began ילדה קטנה בוכה, it would mean a little girl is crying, not the little girl is crying.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ha-yalda ha-ktana bokha, ki hi ayefa ve-rotza lishon

A few notes:

• הילדה = ha-yalda
• הקטנה = ha-ktana
• בוכה = bokha
• כי = ki
• היא = hi
• עייפה = ayefa
• ורוצה = ve-rotza
• לישון = lishon

Depending on accent, some pronunciations may vary slightly, but this is a good standard version.

In writing, the comma helps separate the main clause from the clause giving the reason:

• הילדה הקטנה בוכה, כי היא עייפה ורוצה לישון.

It works much like English punctuation in a sentence such as The little girl is crying, because she is tired and wants to sleep.

In everyday informal writing, punctuation can vary, but the comma here is normal and helpful.