אם השחקן החדש יבוא מוקדם, נתחיל את המשחק בזמן.

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Breakdown of אם השחקן החדש יבוא מוקדם, נתחיל את המשחק בזמן.

• את: direct object marker
• לבוא: to come
• מוקדם: early

Questions & Answers about אם השחקן החדש יבוא מוקדם, נתחיל את המשחק בזמן.

Why does the sentence start with אם?

אם means if. It introduces a condition:

• אם השחקן החדש יבוא מוקדם = if the new player comes early

It works much like English if at the beginning of a conditional sentence.

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Why are both verbs in the future tense: יבוא and נתחיל?

In Hebrew, when you talk about a real future condition, it is very common to use the future tense in both parts of the sentence:

• אם ... יבוא = if ... comes / will come
• נתחיל = we will start

So Hebrew says, literally, something like:

• If the new player will come early, we will start the game on time

Even though English usually says if he comes, not if he will come, Hebrew normally uses the future here.

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What form is יבוא?