כשהקומקום מלא, קשה להרים אותו.

Here כשה־ means when the....

It is built from:

• כש־ = when
• ה־ = the

So כשהקומקום literally means when the kettle.

This is very common in Hebrew: short words like כש־, ב־, ל־, and ה־ often attach directly to the next word.

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted.

So:

• הקומקום מלא literally looks like the kettle full
• but it means the kettle is full

This is completely normal Hebrew grammar.

מלא here is an adjective, meaning full.

It agrees with קומקום, which is a masculine singular noun, so the adjective is also masculine singular:

• קומקום מלא = a full kettle

If the noun were feminine, the form would change, for example:

• כוס מלאה = a full cup

Yes, basically.

• כש־ is the shorter, very common form
• כאשר is more formal

So:

• כשהקומקום מלא = natural everyday Hebrew
• כאשר הקומקום מלא = more formal, but still correct

קשה means hard or difficult.

In the pattern קשה + infinitive, it means:

• it is hard to...
• it is difficult to...

So קשה להרים אותו means it is hard to lift it.

Hebrew does not use a dummy subject the way English does.

English says:

• It is hard to lift it

Hebrew simply says:

• קשה להרים אותו
• literally: hard to lift it

So the first it in English has no separate word in Hebrew here.

להרים is the infinitive, meaning to lift or to raise.

It comes from the verb הרים = he lifted / raised.

So:

• להרים = to lift
• קשה להרים אותו = hard to lift it

This kind of infinitive is very common after words like קשה, אפשר, צריך, and רוצה.

Here אותו means him or it as a direct object pronoun.

In this sentence, it refers back to הקומקום, so in English we translate it as it:

• להרים אותו = to lift it

Hebrew does not make a separate masculine singular form for him versus it in this position; context tells you which one is meant.

Yes, it can, but not here.

For example:

• אותו דבר = the same thing

But in להרים אותו, אותו is clearly the object pronoun it/him, because it follows the verb phrase and refers back to the kettle.

So this is a good example of a word whose meaning depends on context.

Because these are two different words:

• אותו = him / it as a direct object
• איתו = with him / with it

In this sentence, the kettle is the thing being lifted, so you need the direct object form:

• להרים אותו = to lift it

If you said איתו, it would mean with it/him, which would be a different idea.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• קשה להרים אותו = hard to lift it
• קשה להרים את הקומקום = hard to lift the kettle

Using אותו simply avoids repeating הקומקום.

Yes.

This sentence begins with the when-clause:

• כשהקומקום מלא, קשה להרים אותו

But you could also say:

• קשה להרים אותו כשהקומקום מלא

Both are natural. Starting with כשהקומקום מלא puts the condition or situation first, which is very common.

A simple transliteration is:

Ksheha-komkum male, kashe leharim oto.

Approximate stress:

• ksheha-kom-KUM
• ma-LE
• ka-SHE
• le-ha-RIM
• o-TO

You do not need to pronounce every written h strongly; in fast speech it can sound quite smooth and connected.