אתמול ישבנו על הספה ודיברנו בשקט, כי הילדה כבר ישנה.

אתמול means yesterday. Hebrew often puts a time word near the beginning of the sentence to set the scene right away.

So:

• אתמול ישבנו... = Yesterday we sat...

This is very natural in Hebrew, just like in English. You could sometimes move time expressions around, but starting with אתמול is very common.

ישבנו means we sat or we were sitting, depending on context.

It comes from the root י-ש-ב, related to sitting or dwelling.

Breakdown:

• ישב = he sat
• ישבנו = we sat

The ending -נו often means we in the past tense.

So if you see a past-tense verb ending in -נו, that is a strong clue that the subject is we.

Because in Hebrew, the verb itself usually shows the subject.

For example:

• ישבנו = we sat
• דיברנו = we spoke / we talked

The -נו ending already tells you the subject is we, so Hebrew does not need an extra pronoun like אנחנו.

You could say אנחנו ישבנו, but that would usually add emphasis, like we were the ones who sat.

Both are past-tense verbs:

• ישבנו = we sat / were sitting
• דיברנו = we talked / were talking

Hebrew uses the past tense here because the whole situation happened yesterday.

In English, you might say:

• Yesterday we sat on the sofa and talked quietly
• or Yesterday we were sitting on the sofa and talking quietly

Hebrew often uses the simple past form where English might choose either simple past or past continuous, depending on context.

The letter ו at the beginning of ודיברנו means and.

So:

• דיברנו = we talked
• ודיברנו = and we talked

In Hebrew, very short words like and, in, to, the are often attached directly to the next word.

• על = on
• הספה = the sofa

So על הספה literally means on the sofa.

The ה at the beginning of הספה is the definite article, meaning the.

Compare:

• ספה = a sofa / sofa
• הספה = the sofa

This is very standard Hebrew structure: preposition + noun, with the attached to the noun itself.

בשקט means quietly or literally in quiet.

Breakdown:

• שקט = quiet
• ב־ = in / with / quietly, depending on context
• בשקט = in quiet, which naturally becomes quietly

Hebrew often uses a preposition plus a noun where English uses an adverb.

Other examples of this pattern:

• במהירות = quickly (literally with speed)
• בשמחה = happily / gladly (literally with joy)

So דיברנו בשקט literally means we spoke in quiet, but good English is we spoke quietly.

ישנה here is the feminine singular past form of ישן / ישנה, meaning slept or was asleep, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• כי = because
• הילדה = the girl
• כבר = already
• ישנה = was asleep / had already fallen asleep

So the whole clause means:

• because the girl was already asleep
• or because the girl had already gone to sleep

This is a normal past-tense feminine form. There is no extra ending beyond -ה here because that is the standard 3rd person feminine singular past ending for many verbs.

Great question, because Hebrew learners often confuse similar-looking words.

Here, ישנה comes from the verb לישון = to sleep.

In context:

• הילדה כבר ישנה = the girl was already asleep

The subject הילדה is feminine singular, so the verb is feminine singular past: ישנה.

You may also know ישן as an adjective meaning old:

• ספר ישן = an old book

But context makes the meaning clear. After כבר and with הילדה as the subject, ישנה is understood as the verb slept / was asleep, not the adjective old.

Because the subject is הילדה = the girl, which is feminine singular.

In Hebrew past tense, verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

Examples:

• הילד ישן = the boy slept / was asleep
• הילדה ישנה = the girl slept / was asleep
• הילדים ישנו = the children slept
• הילדות ישנו = the girls slept

So ישנה must be feminine because הילדה is feminine.

כבר means already.

It shows that by the time we were sitting and talking quietly, the girl had already gone to sleep.

So it adds the idea of an earlier completed state:

• הילדה ישנה = the girl was asleep
• הילדה כבר ישנה = the girl was already asleep

This helps explain why they were speaking quietly.

Yes, כי usually means because in sentences like this.

So:

• כי הילדה כבר ישנה = because the girl was already asleep

It introduces the reason for the earlier action:

• We sat on the sofa and spoke quietly
• because the girl was already asleep

Depending on context, כי can sometimes have other meanings, but because is the right one here.

Somewhat, yes. Hebrew word order is more flexible than English, but not completely free.

The given sentence:

• אתמול ישבנו על הספה ודיברנו בשקט, כי הילדה כבר ישנה.

is very natural.

You could also hear variations like:

• ישבנו אתמול על הספה ודיברנו בשקט...
• כי הילדה כבר ישנה, דיברנו בשקט...

But the original order is smooth and easy to follow:

1. time: אתמול
2. action: ישבנו
3. place: על הספה
4. second action: ודיברנו בשקט
5. reason: כי הילדה כבר ישנה

A simple pronunciation guide:

Etmol yashávnu al ha-sapá ve-dibárnu be-shéket, ki ha-yaldá kvar yashná.

A few notes:

• אתמול = et-MOL
• ישבנו = ya-SHAV-nu
• הספה = ha-sa-PA
• ודיברנו = ve-di-BAR-nu
• בשקט = be-SHE-ket
• הילדה = ha-yal-DA
• כבר = kvar
• ישנה = yash-NA

Stress in Modern Hebrew is often on the last syllable, as in sapá, dibárnu, yaldá, yashná.

Yes. In context, Hebrew past tense can often cover both ideas.

So ישבנו על הספה may be understood as:

• we sat on the sofa
• or we were sitting on the sofa

The surrounding context decides which English translation sounds best.

Because the sentence continues with ודיברנו בשקט and gives a background reason, English often prefers:

• Yesterday we were sitting on the sofa and talking quietly, because the girl was already asleep.

But the Hebrew form itself is still just the regular past tense.