זה לא רק הרגל ישן, אלא גם פחד קטן משינוי.

Yes — from an English point of view, it can feel like a verb is missing.

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not written in the present tense in sentences like this. So:

• זה לא רק הרגל ישן, אלא גם פחד קטן משינוי.

literally looks like:

• This/it not only an old habit, but also a small fear of change.

But the natural English meaning is:

• It’s not just an old habit, but also a small fear of change.

So Hebrew often leaves out is / are in the present tense.

Here זה means something like this or it.

It often points to the situation, behavior, or thing being talked about. In English, we often use it in the same way:

• It’s not only...
• This is not only...

So זה is introducing the statement and functioning like the subject of the sentence.

This is a very common Hebrew structure meaning:

• not only ... but also ...

So in your sentence:

• לא רק הרגל ישן = not only an old habit
• אלא גם פחד קטן משינוי = but also a small fear of change

This pattern is worth memorizing as a chunk:

• לא רק X, אלא גם Y
  = not only X, but also Y

It is one of the most useful contrast/addition structures in Hebrew.

Because אלא is the normal word used in the fixed pattern:

• לא רק ... אלא גם ...

Even though both אלא and אבל can relate to but, they are not interchangeable here.

• אבל is the ordinary word for but
• אלא is used in more specific contrast structures, especially after negation and in set patterns like this one

So:

• זה לא רק..., אלא גם... = correct
• זה לא רק..., אבל גם... = not natural in standard Hebrew

Because הרגל is a masculine noun.

In Hebrew, adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

So:

• הרגל = a habit, masculine singular
• ישן = old, masculine singular

That is why you get:

• הרגל ישן = an old habit

not:

• הרגל ישנה

A learner might expect a feminine form because some nouns do not look obviously masculine or feminine, so this is mostly something you learn with the noun.

For the same reason: פחד is also masculine singular.

So the adjective must match:

• פחד = fear, masculine singular
• קטן = small/little, masculine singular

Together:

• פחד קטן = a small fear or a slight fear

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would need the feminine form.

Because the sentence is talking about them indefinitely, not definitely.

Compare:

• הרגל ישן = an old habit
• ההרגל הישן = the old habit

and:

• פחד קטן = a small fear
• הפחד הקטן = the small fear

In your sentence, the idea is general:

• not just an old habit, but also a small fear of change

So the indefinite form fits naturally.

Because in Hebrew, the noun פחד and the verb related to fear often go with the preposition מ־.

So:

• פחד משינוי literally looks like fear from change
• but in natural English it means fear of change

This is just how Hebrew expresses it.

Other examples:

• פחד מכלבים = fear of dogs
• הוא מפחד מהחושך = he is afraid of the dark

So this is a good vocabulary pattern to remember:

• פחד מ־... = fear of...
• לפחד מ־... = to be afraid of...

משינוי is made of:

• מ־ = a preposition here meaning of / from, depending on context
• שינוי = change

So:

• משינוי = of change / literally from change

In this sentence, the natural translation is:

• fear of change

If the noun were definite, you would usually see:

• מהשינוי = of the change

So:

• פחד משינוי = fear of change
• פחד מהשינוי = fear of the change

Literally, yes: קטן means small.

But in a sentence like this, it often has a more natural English sense like:

• slight
• minor
• little

So פחד קטן משינוי does not necessarily mean a physically small fear, of course. It means something more like:

• a small fear of change
• a slight fear of change
• a bit of fear of change

It softens the idea and makes it sound less dramatic.

Not very naturally.

A very literal version would be:

• This not only old habit, but also small fear from change.

But good English would be:

• It’s not just an old habit, but also a small fear of change.

So the main differences are:

• Hebrew leaves out is
• Hebrew uses זה where English often prefers it
• Hebrew uses מ־ where English says of
• English usually says just instead of a literal only in this kind of sentence, though both are possible

The core structure is fairly fixed, especially the pairing:

• לא רק ... אלא גם ...

That said, Hebrew does allow some flexibility depending on emphasis. But the version you have is very standard and natural.

The most important thing to keep in the same relationship is:

• לא רק X
• אלא גם Y

So learners should treat that pair as a unit.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• ze lo rak her-gel ya-shan, e-la gam pa-khad ka-tan mi-shi-nui

A few notes:

• זה = ze
• הרגל = hergel
• ישן = yashan
• אלא = ela
• פחד = pakhad or pachad, depending on how you represent ח
• משינוי = mishinui

The main stress is usually toward the end of these words:

• herGEL
• yaSHAN
• eLA
• paKHAD
• kaTAN
• shiNUI

It is fairly neutral and natural Hebrew.

The structure לא רק ... אלא גם ... is common in:

• writing
• speech
• formal explanation
• everyday educated language

It sounds a little more structured than very casual speech, but it is absolutely normal and useful to know.