בבית המרקחת שאלו אם יש לי שיעול ואם יש לי חום.

בית מרקחת is the standard Hebrew expression for pharmacy.

It is historically built from:

• בית = house
• מרקחת = compounding/mixing of medicines

So literally it is something like house of medicine-mixing, but in modern Hebrew it simply means pharmacy.

Then ב־ means in / at, so:

• בבית המרקחת = in/at the pharmacy

In English, at the pharmacy is usually the most natural translation, even though ב־ often literally means in.

This is because בית מרקחת is a construct phrase in Hebrew.

In many construct phrases, when the whole expression is definite, the definite article appears only on the second noun, not the first.

So:

• בית מרקחת = a pharmacy
• בית המרקחת = the pharmacy

Then with the preposition ב־:

• בבית המרקחת = in/at the pharmacy

So it is not הבית המרקחת. The definiteness of the whole phrase is carried by המרקחת.

שאלו is the past tense, 3rd person plural form of the verb לשאול = to ask.

So literally it means:

• they asked

Hebrew often uses this plural form when the people are not specifically named, similar to English they in sentences like:

• They asked if I had a cough.

In this sentence, it could mean:

• the pharmacy staff asked
• someone there asked
• they asked me there

Hebrew often leaves the subject unspoken if it is obvious from context.

Good question. Hebrew can omit אותי = me when it is clear from context.

So:

• שאלו אם יש לי שיעול = They asked if I had a cough
• שאלו אותי אם יש לי שיעול = They asked me if I had a cough

Both are natural. The version without אותי is a little more concise and very common.

It does mean if, but in Hebrew it also commonly means whether in indirect yes/no questions.

So here:

• שאלו אם יש לי שיעול = They asked whether I had a cough
• very natural English translation: They asked if I had a cough

This is not a conditional if like If it rains, I’ll stay home.
Here it introduces the content of the question.

Hebrew usually expresses possession with יש plus a prepositional pronoun.

So:

• יש לי literally = there is to me
• natural English = I have

Examples:

• יש לי ספר = I have a book
• יש לי שיעול = I have a cough
• יש לי חום = I have a fever

The negative version is:

• אין לי = I don’t have

So this is a very basic and important Hebrew pattern.

This is a very common point for English speakers.

Hebrew does not backshift tenses in reported speech as strongly as English does.

So if the original question at the pharmacy was:

• יש לך שיעול?
• יש לך חום?

then it is very natural to report it as:

• שאלו אם יש לי שיעול ואם יש לי חום

Even though שאלו is past, the reported question keeps יש because that was the tense of the original question.

In English, we often shift it to:

• They asked if I had a cough and if I had a fever.

So the Hebrew is normal. It does not sound like bad tense agreement.

The repetition makes the sentence clear and balanced:

• שאלו אם יש לי שיעול ואם יש לי חום

This is very natural Hebrew.

You could also shorten it to:

• שאלו אם יש לי שיעול וחום

That is also correct. But repeating אם יש לי:

• sounds a bit more explicit
• mirrors two separate yes/no questions
• is very natural in speech

So the repetition is not required, but it is perfectly normal.

• שיעול = cough
• חום literally = heat / temperature, but in a medical context it means fever

So:

• יש לי שיעול = I have a cough
• יש לי חום = I have a fever

With חום, context matters. Outside a medical context, it can refer to heat or body temperature more generally. But in a sentence about symptoms at a pharmacy, fever is the natural meaning.

Hebrew often uses bare nouns in this kind of medical expression.

So:

• יש לי שיעול
• יש לי חום

are the normal ways to say:

• I have a cough
• I have a fever

English usually needs a, but Hebrew often does not.

Adding ה־ would make it definite:

• השיעול = the cough
• החום = the fever

That would usually suggest a specific known cough or fever, which is not what this sentence is doing.

Yes, שיעול is a noun: a cough / cough.

So:

• יש לי שיעול = I have a cough

Hebrew can also use a verb:

• אני משתעל = I am coughing or I cough (masculine speaker)
• אני משתעלת = I am coughing (feminine speaker)

The difference is roughly:

• יש לי שיעול = I have the symptom / condition
• אני משתעל/ת = I am actively coughing

Both are useful, but the noun phrase is especially common in medical questions.

Yes, it could come later. Hebrew often moves a place expression to the beginning to set the scene.

So:

• בבית המרקחת שאלו אם יש לי שיעול...
  means something like
• At the pharmacy, they asked if I had a cough...

That first phrase gives the context right away.

You could also say something like:

• שאלו אותי בבית המרקחת אם יש לי שיעול...

That is also correct, but the original sentence feels very natural as a narrative sentence because it starts with the setting.