כשהייתה הרבה עבודה במשרד, הוא היה אומר לנו לעצור לדקה ולשתות מים.

כש is a shortened form of כאשר, meaning when.

הייתה is the past form of להיות (to be), feminine singular.

In Hebrew, היה / הייתה can also be used in an existential sense, like there was / there were.

So:

• כש = when
• הייתה הרבה עבודה = there was a lot of work

Together, כשהייתה הרבה עבודה means when there was a lot of work.

Because the noun עבודה (work) is grammatically feminine in Hebrew.

Even though English says there was a lot of work, Hebrew treats work as the thing that was, so the verb agrees with עבודה:

• עבודה = feminine singular
• therefore: הייתה

If the noun were masculine, you would expect היה instead.

הרבה + noun is the most common everyday way to say a lot of ... in modern Hebrew.

So:

• הרבה עבודה = a lot of work

You may also see עבודה רבה, which is more formal or literary in tone.

For a learner, it is best to think of הרבה here as a quantity word meaning a lot of.

Hebrew usually does not need a separate word corresponding to English there in expressions like there was or there were.

Instead, Hebrew simply uses היה / הייתה / היו plus the noun:

• היה זמן = there was time
• הייתה בעיה = there was a problem
• היו אנשים = there were people

So הייתה הרבה עבודה is the normal Hebrew way to say there was a lot of work.

In unpointed Hebrew spelling, במשרד can represent either:

• במשרד = in an office
• במשרד = in the office

The difference would be clearer only with vowel marks or from context.

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly in the office.

This happens because Hebrew often attaches prepositions directly to the noun, and with unpointed text, some forms look identical.

הוא היה אומר expresses a habitual or repeated action in the past.

It often corresponds to English:

• he would say
• he used to say

So here the idea is not that he said it once, but that he said it regularly whenever there was a lot of work.

Compare:

• הוא אמר לנו = he told us / said to us once
• הוא היה אומר לנו = he would tell us / used to tell us

לנו means to us.

The verb לומר often takes an indirect object with ל־:

• אמר לי = he said to me
• אמר להם = he said to them
• אמר לנו = he said to us

So:

• הוא היה אומר לנו = he would say to us / he would tell us

In this sentence, it is followed by infinitives that explain what he told us to do.

Hebrew can use אמר ל... + infinitive to mean tell someone to do something.

So:

• הוא היה אומר לנו לעצור = he would tell us to stop

This is very natural Hebrew.

A clause with ש־ would be used more for reported speech or a full statement, for example:

• הוא אמר לנו שאנחנו צריכים לעצור = he told us that we needed to stop

But with instructions or requests, אמר ל... + infinitive is very common and efficient.

Because they describe the actions he told us to do.

The pattern is:

• אמר למישהו + infinitive
• told someone to do something

So:

• לעצור = to stop
• לשתות = to drink

And:

• הוא היה אומר לנו לעצור לדקה ולשתות מים = he would tell us to stop for a minute and drink water

That ל־ is the normal marker of the Hebrew infinitive.

So:

• לעצור = to stop
• לשתות = to drink

When two infinitives are joined by ו־ (and), each one normally keeps its own infinitive form:

• לעצור ... ולשתות ...

This is completely normal Hebrew.

לדקה means for a minute.

Literally, it is ל־ + דקה.

In expressions of this kind, Hebrew often uses ל־ where English uses for:

• לעצור לדקה = to stop for a minute

Also, דקה here does not always have to mean exactly sixty seconds. Very often it just means for a moment or briefly, depending on context.

Because מים is one of those Hebrew nouns that is plural in form even though it refers to a substance and is usually translated as singular water in English.

This is a normal feature of the word:

• מים = water

You should learn it as a fixed word. In everyday Hebrew, you normally do not use a singular form for water.

By itself, לעצור just means to stop.

In this sentence, the object is not stated, so the meaning is understood from context: stop working for a minute or pause for a minute.

Hebrew often leaves such things implicit when they are obvious from the situation.

Yes. This is a very natural Hebrew word order.

Hebrew often uses this kind of structure in existential sentences:

• הייתה הרבה עבודה = there was a lot of work

Then the location can follow:

• במשרד = in the office

So the whole phrase:

• כשהייתה הרבה עבודה במשרד

is a normal way to say when there was a lot of work in the office.