החודש אני מנסה לשנות הרגל ישן.

In time expressions, Hebrew often uses the definite article ה־ in a way that English translates as this.

So:

• היום = today
• השבוע = this week
• החודש = this month
• השנה = this year

So in this sentence, החודש is a natural adverbial time expression meaning this month.

Yes. בחודש הזה also means this month, but it is more explicit and can sound a little more pointed or contrastive.

• החודש = the usual, compact everyday way to say this month
• בחודש הזה = in this month / this month specifically

In most ordinary situations, החודש is the more natural choice.

It is present tense.

Literally, אני מנסה is I try / I am trying.

Hebrew present tense usually does not make the same clear distinction that English does between:

• I try
• I am trying

Both can be expressed by the same Hebrew present form, and context tells you which meaning is intended.
Here, because of החודש, the most natural English translation is This month I’m trying...

Not in this sentence.

With this verb form, אני מנסה can be used by either a male or a female speaker. So the sentence itself does not tell you the speaker’s gender.

That can be confusing for English speakers because many Hebrew present-tense forms do show gender, but some forms are identical.

For example:

• אני כותב = said by a male
• אני כותבת = said by a female

But here, מנסה works for both.

Because after לנסות = to try, Hebrew normally uses another verb in the infinitive.

So:

• מנסה = tries / am trying
• לשנות = to change

Together:

• מנסה לשנות = tries to change / am trying to change

The ל־ at the beginning of לשנות is the normal marker of the infinitive and often corresponds to English to.

Here, לשנות means to change.

So לשנות הרגל ישן means to change an old habit.

This is the normal verb you would use for changing something, altering something, or making it different.

Because את is used before a definite direct object, and הרגל ישן is indefinite here.

This sentence means:

• an old habit

not

• the old habit

So:

• לשנות הרגל ישן = to change an old habit
• לשנות את ההרגל הישן = to change the old habit

A very useful rule:

• definite object -> use את
• indefinite object -> no את

Because in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• הרגל ישן = an old habit

not the English order old habit.

This is a very basic Hebrew word-order pattern:

• noun + adjective

For example:

• בית גדול = a big house
• ספר מעניין = an interesting book
• הרגל ישן = an old habit

Because the whole noun phrase is indefinite.

In Hebrew, adjectives must match the noun in definiteness as well as gender and number.

So:

• הרגל ישן = an old habit
• ההרגל הישן = the old habit

If the noun has ה־, the adjective usually does too.

That is why הרגל הישן is not correct by itself: the noun and adjective would not be matching in definiteness.

Here it means old.

Hebrew ישן can mean different things depending on context:

• ספר ישן = an old book
• הרגל ישן = an old habit
• הילד ישן = the child is sleeping

So with הרגל, the meaning is clearly old, not sleeping.

Because Hebrew often puts a time expression at the beginning to set the scene or frame the statement.

So starting with החודש gives the sense:

• As for this month...
• This month, ...

That is very natural in Hebrew.

You could move it later, but the given order sounds smooth and normal:

• החודש אני מנסה לשנות הרגל ישן.

It highlights the time period first, which is common in everyday speech.

It is talking about one habit.

• הרגל = habit singular
• הרגלים = habits plural

So the sentence means the speaker is trying to change an old habit, not several habits.

If it were plural, you might see something like:

• החודש אני מנסה לשנות הרגלים ישנים = This month I’m trying to change old habits