אני שואלת את השוטרת אם תחנת המשטרה קרובה לתחנת הדלק.

I ask the policewoman whether the police station is close to the gas station.

Breakdown of אני שואלת את השוטרת אם תחנת המשטרה קרובה לתחנת הדלק.

• אני: I
• ל: to
• את: direct object marker
• לשאול: to ask
• אם: whether
• קרוב: close
• שוטרת: policewoman
• תחנת משטרה: police station
• תחנת דלק: gas station

Questions & Answers about אני שואלת את השוטרת אם תחנת המשטרה קרובה לתחנת הדלק.

Why is it שואלת and not שואל?

Because שואלת is the feminine singular form of ask in the present tense.

• אני שואלת = I am asking / I ask said by a woman
• אני שואל = the same thing said by a man

Hebrew present-tense verbs agree with the gender and number of the subject, even when the subject is אני.

Why is there an את before השוטרת?

Here את is the direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

So:

• אני שואלת את השוטרת = I ask the policewoman

Why is השוטרת definite? Because it has ה־ = the.

Compare:

• אני שואלת שוטרת = I ask a policewoman
• אני שואלת את השוטרת = I ask the policewoman

This את does not mean you here. It is just a grammar marker.

What does אם mean here?

Here אם means if or whether.

So:

• אני שואלת את השוטרת אם... = I ask the policewoman if/whether...

A useful point: אם is spelled with א, while עם means with and is spelled with ע. They are often pronounced similarly, so learners commonly confuse them.

Why is תחנת המשטרה translated as the police station?

This is a construct phrase in Hebrew, called סמיכות.

• תחנה = station
• משטרה = police
• תחנת המשטרה literally = station of the police

In natural English, that becomes the police station.

The first noun changes form:

• תחנה becomes תחנת when it is followed by another noun in this pattern.

Why is it תחנת הדלק and not just דלק תחנה or something similar?

Because Hebrew usually expresses combinations like gas station, police station, school bus, etc. with a construct phrase.

So:

• תחנת הדלק = the gas station
• literally: station of the fuel

Again, תחנה becomes תחנת because it is the first word in the construct phrase.

Why is it קרובה and not קרוב?

Because קרובה agrees with תחנת המשטרה, which is a feminine singular noun.

• תחנה is feminine
• therefore the adjective must also be feminine singular:
  • קרובה = close/near

Compare:

• הבית קרוב = the house is near
• התחנה קרובה = the station is near

Why is there no word for is in תחנת המשטרה קרובה?

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense.

So:

• תחנת המשטרה קרובה literally looks like the police station near
• but it means the police station is near

This is completely normal Hebrew.

Compare:

• אני עייפה = I am tired
• הוא בבית = he is at home
• התחנה קרובה = the station is near

Why is it לתחנת הדלק and not אל תחנת הדלק?

Because the adjective קרוב / קרובה normally takes the preposition ל־, meaning to.

So:

• קרובה לתחנת הדלק = close to the gas station

The ל־ attaches directly to the noun:

• ל + תחנת הדלק = לתחנת הדלק

Using אל would sound unnatural here, because קרוב ל־ is the standard pattern.

Does אני שואלת mean I ask or I am asking?

It can mean either one. Hebrew present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive.

So אני שואלת את השוטרת can mean:

• I ask the policewoman
• I am asking the policewoman

The exact meaning depends on context.

Why does השוטרת mean the policewoman and not the police?

Because שוטרת is a noun meaning female police officer / policewoman.

Breakdown:

• שוטר = policeman / male police officer
• שוטרת = policewoman / female police officer

But:

• משטרה = police, police force

So in the sentence:

• השוטרת = the policewoman
• המשטרה = the police

They are related in meaning, but they are different words.

Is the word order in this sentence normal?

Yes. This is a very natural word order in Hebrew:

• אני שואלת את השוטרת = main clause
• אם תחנת המשטרה קרובה לתחנת הדלק = embedded if/whether clause

So the full structure is:

• I ask the policewoman whether the police station is close to the gas station

Hebrew word order is often flexible, but this version is straightforward and standard.

How would the sentence change if the speaker were male?

Only the present-tense verb would need to change:

• אני שואל את השוטרת אם תחנת המשטרה קרובה לתחנת הדלק.

Everything else stays the same.

So:

• שואלת = feminine speaker
• שואל = masculine speaker

Can אם here be translated as both if and whether?

Yes. In this sentence, English often prefers whether, because it introduces an indirect yes/no question.

So:

• אני שואלת את השוטרת אם תחנת המשטרה קרובה לתחנת הדלק can be translated as:
• I ask the policewoman if the police station is close to the gas station
• I ask the policewoman whether the police station is close to the gas station

Both are correct.

Why do both תחנת המשטרה and תחנת הדלק have the in Hebrew?

In a construct phrase, the definiteness is usually shown on the second noun, but the whole phrase becomes definite.

So:

• תחנת המשטרה = the police station
• תחנת הדלק = the gas station

Even though תחנת itself does not have ה־, the phrase is definite because the second noun does:

• המשטרה = the police
• הדלק = the fuel

That makes the whole expression definite.