לפני שאנחנו אוכלים, אני תמיד טועמת את המרק ובודקת אם יש מספיק מלח.

In Hebrew, לפני means before, and it is often followed by a clause introduced by ש־ meaning that / when / the fact that in a broad grammatical sense.

So:

• לפני = before
• שאנחנו אוכלים = that we eat / we eat

Together, לפני שאנחנו אוכלים literally feels like before we eat or before the fact that we eat.

This is a very common Hebrew structure:

• אחרי שאנחנו אוכלים = after we eat
• כשהוא מגיע = when he arrives
• לפני שהיא יוצאת = before she goes out

So even though English does not use an extra word like that here, Hebrew usually does.

שאנחנו is made of two parts:

• ש־ = a connecting word, often meaning that, which, or introducing a subordinate clause
• אנחנו = we

So שאנחנו אוכלים means that we are eating / that we eat, depending on context.

In this sentence, it helps connect לפני to the clause we eat.

Because the subject of אוכלים is אנחנו = we, not I.

Hebrew verbs agree with their subject. Here, the subject is plural, so the verb must be plural too.

• אנחנו אוכלים = we eat / we are eating
• אנחנו אוכלות = we eat / we are eating, but specifically if the group is all female

If the group is mixed or its gender is unknown, Hebrew normally uses the masculine plural form, so אוכלים is the default.

Because their subject is אני = I, and the speaker is female.

In Hebrew, verbs in the present tense behave a lot like adjectives: they change for gender and number.

So:

• אני טועמת = I taste, said by a woman
• אני טועם = I taste, said by a man
• אני בודקת = I check, said by a woman
• אני בודק = I check, said by a man

This sentence tells us the speaker is female because of טועמת and בודקת.

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

Here:

• המרק = the soup
• Since the soup is definite, Hebrew uses את:
  • טועמת את המרק = tasting the soup

Important: את does not mean the. It is a grammatical marker that shows the noun is the direct object.

Compare:

• אני טועמת מרק = I taste soup
• אני טועמת את המרק = I taste the soup

You use את only with definite direct objects.

Because the sentence means there is enough salt, not there is enough of the salt.

מלח here is an indefinite mass noun, used in a general sense. In English, this is like saying:

• enough salt not
• enough the salt

So Hebrew says:

• יש מספיק מלח = there is enough salt

If you added ה־, it would sound unnatural in this context.

יש means there is / there are or there exists.

So:

• יש מים = there is water / there are water supplies
• יש זמן = there is time
• יש מספיק מלח = there is enough salt

In your sentence:

• אם יש מספיק מלח = if there is enough salt

This is a very common Hebrew structure. Hebrew does not need a separate word for there the way English does.

It is functioning like whether in English, even though Hebrew uses the same word אם.

Here:

• בודקת אם יש מספיק מלח = checks whether there is enough salt

In natural English, whether is often the best translation after verbs like check, see, ask, or know.

Examples:

• אני לא יודעת אם הוא בבית = I don’t know whether he is at home
• תבדוק אם הדלת סגורה = Check whether the door is closed

So yes, אם literally often corresponds to if, but in this sentence whether is the better English explanation.

Hebrew word order is flexible, but אני תמיד טועמת is a very natural way to say I always taste.

Here the order is:

• אני = I
• תמיד = always
• טועמת = taste

This is similar to English, where always often comes before the main verb:

• I always taste the soup

Other word orders may be possible in Hebrew for emphasis, but אני תמיד טועמת is the normal, neutral phrasing.

Because Hebrew, like English, can leave out the repeated subject when two verbs share the same subject.

So:

• אני תמיד טועמת את המרק ובודקת... means
• I always taste the soup and check...

The subject אני applies to both verbs:

• טועמת
• בודקת

You could repeat it, but it would usually sound unnecessary:

• אני תמיד טועמת את המרק ואני בודקת...

That version is possible, but less smooth unless you want emphasis.

It is grammatically in the present tense, but in context it expresses a habit or routine.

• אני תמיד טועמת = I always taste
• בודקת = and check

So the meaning is not necessarily right now I am tasting. It means this is something the speaker regularly does.

This is very common in Hebrew: the present tense can describe

• something happening now
• a general habit
• a routine
• a general truth

The word תמיד strongly pushes it toward a habitual meaning.

Yes. Hebrew present-tense forms can often correspond to both the simple present and the present progressive in English.

So אוכלים can mean:

• eat
• are eating

In this sentence, because of לפני and the overall meaning, English usually says before we eat rather than before we are eating.

So the Hebrew form is the same, but English chooses the version that sounds natural in context.

The main verbs here are:

• אוכלים → infinitive: לאכול = to eat
• טועמת → infinitive: לטעום = to taste
• בודקת → infinitive: לבדוק = to check
• יש does not really behave like a normal verb in the same way; it is a common existential word meaning there is / there are

So if you want to look them up in a dictionary, use:

• לאכול
• לטעום
• לבדוק

The comma separates the introductory clause from the main clause.

Structure:

• לפני שאנחנו אוכלים = before we eat
• אני תמיד טועמת את המרק... = I always taste the soup...

So the comma helps mark:

1. the time clause
2. the main statement

This is similar to English:

• Before we eat, I always taste the soup...

In short, the comma is there because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause.