אני אחכה כאן עד שהמזכירה תחזור.

A common transliteration is ani akhake kan ad sheha-mazkira tachsor / tachzor.

A more careful pronunciation guide:

• אני = a-NI
• אחכה = a-kha-KE
• כאן = kan
• עד = ad
• שהמזכירה = she-ha-maz-KI-ra
• תחזור = takh-ZOR / tach-ZOR

A few sounds English speakers often notice:

• ח is a throaty sound, like the ch in German Bach
• צ/ז? Here in תחזור, the ז is a regular z sound
• Stress is usually near the end in אחכה, המזכירה, and תחזור

אחכה is the first-person singular future form of לחכות = to wait.

So:

• אני אחכה = I will wait
• I’ll wait

Hebrew often uses this future form in exactly the same kind of situation where English says I’ll wait.

Yes. The verb אחכה already tells you the subject is I.

So both of these are possible:

• אני אחכה כאן עד שהמזכירה תחזור
• אחכה כאן עד שהמזכירה תחזור

Including אני can make the sentence feel:

• a little clearer
• a little more explicit
• sometimes slightly more emphatic

In everyday Hebrew, subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb already makes the subject clear.

כאן means here.

Yes, you could also say פה, which also means here:

• אני אחכה כאן...
• אני אחכה פה...

Both are natural. Very generally:

• כאן can sound a bit more neutral or slightly more formal
• פה is very common in everyday speech

עד ש־ means until when it is followed by a whole clause.

So:

• עד
  • noun/time expression
    
    • עד מחר = until tomorrow
• עד ש־
  • clause
    
    • עד שהמזכירה תחזור = until the secretary returns

In this sentence, עד ש־ introduces the event that marks the end of the waiting.

There are two parts here:

• ש־ = a connecting word meaning something like that/when
• המזכירה = the secretary

Together:

• ש + ה + מזכירה → שהמזכירה

So עד שהמזכירה תחזור literally works like:

• until that the secretary returns but in natural English it is simply:
• until the secretary returns

Also, המזכירה has ה־, the definite article, so it means the secretary, not just a secretary.

This is a very common question.

In English, after until, you usually use the present:

• I’ll wait until she returns

In Hebrew, after עד ש־ for a future event, Hebrew normally uses the future tense:

• עד שהמזכירה תחזור

So even though English says returns, Hebrew says the equivalent of will return.

That is normal Hebrew grammar.

תחזור is the third-person feminine singular future form of לחזור = to return / to come back.

So it means:

• she will return
• she will come back

Because המזכירה is a feminine noun, the verb is feminine too.

Because המזכירה = the secretary is grammatically feminine.

Hebrew verbs in the future agree with the subject in person, number, and often gender.

So:

• המזכירה תחזור = the secretary (feminine) will return
• המזכיר יחזור = the secretary (masculine) will return

The ת־ at the beginning of תחזור is what you expect for a she form in the future.

In standard Hebrew, מזכירה is the feminine form and normally refers to a female secretary.

The masculine form is:

• מזכיר = male secretary / secretary

With the definite article:

• המזכירה = the female secretary
• המזכיר = the male secretary

So in this sentence, the person returning is understood to be female.

Not exactly.

אני אחכה כאן עד שהמזכירה תחזור means:

• I’ll wait here until the secretary returns

It focuses on how long the waiting will continue.

If you want to say I’ll wait for the secretary, Hebrew would more naturally use ל־:

• אני אחכה למזכירה = I’ll wait for the secretary

So עד שהמזכירה תחזור is not the same as למזכירה.

The sentence as given is very natural:

• אני אחכה כאן עד שהמזכירה תחזור

You can also omit אני:

• אחכה כאן עד שהמזכירה תחזור

And sometimes כאן can move depending on emphasis, but the original order is the safest and most natural for learners.

So the main core is:

• אחכה = I’ll wait
• כאן = here
• עד שהמזכירה תחזור = until the secretary returns

Yes. It depends on what follows.

Use עד by itself before a noun or time expression:

• עד מחר = until tomorrow
• עד הערב = until the evening

Use עד ש־ before a full clause:

• עד שהיא תחזור = until she returns
• עד שהמזכירה תחזור = until the secretary returns

So in this sentence, ש־ is needed because a whole clause follows.

It breaks down like this:

• אני = I
• אחכה = will wait
• כאן = here
• עד = until
• שהמזכירה = the secretary
• תחזור = returns / will return

So the structure is:

subject + future verb + place + until-clause

That makes it a very useful model sentence for building similar Hebrew sentences, for example:

• אני אשאר כאן עד שהוא יבוא = I’ll stay here until he comes
• נחכה פה עד שהאוטובוס יגיע = We’ll wait here until the bus arrives