לפני שהאורחים מגיעים, אני עומדת להרתיח עוד מים לתה.

This is very common in Hebrew. After time words like לפני ש־ (before), אחרי ש־ (after), or כש־ (when), Hebrew often uses the present tense to talk about a future event.

So:

לפני שהאורחים מגיעים
literally: before the guests are arriving / arrive

In natural English, we would usually say before the guests arrive, but in Hebrew the present form מגיעים is normal here.

לפני means before.

When it is followed by a full clause, Hebrew usually adds ש־:

• לפני השיעור = before the lesson
• לפני שהשיעור מתחיל = before the lesson starts

So in your sentence:

לפני שהאורחים מגיעים = before the guests arrive

You can think of ש־ here as something like that, although in English we usually do not translate it.

This is a very useful Hebrew structure:

עומד / עומדת + ל־ + infinitive

It often means:

• be about to...
• be going to...
• be on the verge of...

So:

אני עומדת להרתיח = I am about to boil / I’m going to boil

It suggests a near-future intention, not just a simple future fact.

Compare:

• אני ארתיח מים = I will boil water
• אני עומדת להרתיח מים = I’m about to boil water / I’m going to boil water

The second one sounds more immediate.

Because the speaker is grammatically feminine.

With אני (I), Hebrew often shows the speaker’s gender in adjectives, participles, and some verb-related structures.

• A woman says: אני עומדת להרתיח
• A man says: אני עומד להרתיח

English does not mark this, but Hebrew does.

להרתיח is the infinitive form: to boil / more literally to cause to boil.

The root is ר־ת־ח, connected to boiling.
The verb הרתיח means boiled or made something boil.

So:

• להרתיח מים = to boil water
• היא מרתיחה מים = she is boiling water
• אני עומדת להרתיח מים = I’m about to boil water

This is the normal verb you use for boiling water in Hebrew.

Here עוד means more / additional.

So:

עוד מים = more water

In this sentence:

אני עומדת להרתיח עוד מים לתה
= I’m about to boil some more water for tea

Depending on context, עוד can also mean:

• still
• yet
• another
• again (in some contexts)

But here the meaning is clearly more/additional.

מים is the normal Hebrew word for water. It has a plural-looking form, but it functions as a basic mass noun.

So even though it looks plural, it usually just means water, not waters.

Examples:

• מים קרים = cold water
• אני שותה מים = I drink water
• להרתיח מים = to boil water

This is just something learners have to get used to: some Hebrew nouns have forms that do not match English expectations.

Because לתה means for tea, not the tea as a direct object.

Breakdown:

• ל־ = for / to
• תה = tea

So:

מים לתה = water for tea

This expresses purpose: the water is being boiled for making/drinking tea.

You would use את only with a definite direct object, for example:

• אני מכינה את התה = I am preparing the tea

But here the direct object is עוד מים, and לתה is a prepositional phrase telling you what the water is for.

Yes. האורחים means the guests.

• אורחים = guests
• האורחים = the guests

So the sentence is talking about specific guests that both speaker and listener know about.

If you said לפני שאורחים מגיעים, that would sound more general and less natural in this context. Here the sentence clearly means before the guests arrive.

Yes. You could say:

לפני שהאורחים מגיעים, אני ארתיח עוד מים לתה.

That means roughly:

Before the guests arrive, I will boil some more water for tea.

But there is a nuance:

• אני ארתיח = simple future
• אני עומדת להרתיח = I’m about to / I’m going to, with more immediacy

So the original sentence sounds a little more like the speaker is on the point of doing it.

Yes, both orders are possible.

Original:

לפני שהאורחים מגיעים, אני עומדת להרתיח עוד מים לתה.

You could also say:

אני עומדת להרתיח עוד מים לתה לפני שהאורחים מגיעים.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly one of emphasis and flow:

• Starting with לפני שהאורחים מגיעים emphasizes the time frame first.
• Starting with אני עומדת להרתיח... emphasizes the action first.

The original version sounds very natural because it sets the scene first: before the guests arrive...

Strictly speaking, להרתיח is causative, so it is closer to to make boil. But in normal English translation, להרתיח מים is simply to boil water.

So you do not need to overthink the literal structure. In everyday Hebrew:

• להרתיח מים = to boil water

That is the standard expression.