אני לא מוצאת את המשקפיים שלי, ואולי השארתי אותם ליד המראה.

Because the speaker is female. In Hebrew present tense, the verb agrees with the speaker’s gender and number.

• מוצא = masculine singular
• מוצאת = feminine singular

So:

• אני לא מוצא... = said by a male speaker
• אני לא מוצאת... = said by a female speaker

Yes, literally it is closer to I am not finding. But in natural English, we usually say I can't find.

In Hebrew, לא + present tense can often describe a current failure to do something, not only a simple negation. So אני לא מוצאת את המשקפיים שלי naturally means I can’t find my glasses.

If you want to be more explicitly literal about ability, you could also say:

• אני לא יכולה למצוא... = I can’t find... (female speaker)

But the version in your sentence is very natural.

Here, את is the direct object marker. It has no English equivalent.

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object, such as:

• a noun with ה־
• a name
• a noun with a possessive, like שלי

So in:

• אני לא מוצאת את המשקפיים שלי

the phrase המשקפיים שלי is definite, so Hebrew uses את.

Also, this את is not the pronoun meaning you (feminine singular). It is a different word with a different grammatical job.

Because in Hebrew, possessive words like שלי usually come after the noun.

So:

• המשקפיים שלי = my glasses
• literally: the glasses of mine

This is the normal Hebrew word order.

A few notes:

• שלי = my / mine
• It usually follows the noun it belongs to.
• With something specific like my glasses, המשקפיים שלי is the most natural phrasing.

Yes. משקפיים is treated as a plural/dual noun in Hebrew, much like glasses is plural in English.

The ending ־יים is historically a dual ending, often used for things that come in pairs. In modern Hebrew, nouns like this usually behave grammatically like plurals.

So Hebrew treats משקפיים as plural, which affects words connected to it, such as pronouns and adjectives.

For example:

• משקפיים חדשים = new glasses
• השארתי אותם = I left them

Because אותם means them for a masculine plural object, and משקפיים is grammatically masculine plural.

So:

• השארתי אותם = I left them

This matches משקפיים.

Because משקפיים is grammatically masculine plural.

Hebrew distinguishes between:

• אותם = them for masculine plural nouns
• אותן = them for feminine plural nouns

Since משקפיים is masculine plural, the correct pronoun is אותם.

השארתי is the past tense, first person singular form of להשאיר, which means to leave or to leave behind.

So:

• השארתי = I left

A useful point for learners: in the past tense, first person singular is the same for male and female speakers.

So both a man and a woman say:

• השארתי

That is why the speaker’s gender shows up in מוצאת, but not in השארתי.

Because Hebrew often leaves out a repeated subject when it is already clear from the context.

The sentence already starts with אני, so in the second clause Hebrew does not need to repeat it:

• אני לא מוצאת... ואולי השארתי...

This is very natural.

You could say:

• ואולי אני השארתי אותם...

but that would usually add emphasis, as if you are stressing I.

Because אותם is already a direct object pronoun.

You say:

• השארתי אותם = I left them

not:

• השארתי את אותם

The separate object marker את is used before a full definite noun phrase, like:

• את המשקפיים שלי

But when the object is a pronoun such as אותו / אותה / אותם / אותן, no extra את is added.

Because המראה means the mirror — a specific mirror.

• ליד = near / beside
• המראה = the mirror

So:

• ליד המראה = near the mirror

If you said:

• ליד מראה

that would mean near a mirror, which is less specific.

Not with the same meaning.

• מחפשת = looking for
• מוצאת = finding

So:

• אני לא מחפשת את המשקפיים שלי = I’m not looking for my glasses
• אני לא מוצאת את המשקפיים שלי = I can’t find my glasses

If you want both ideas, you could say:

• אני מחפשת את המשקפיים שלי אבל לא מוצאת אותם
• I’m looking for my glasses, but I can’t find them