היא מכינה לילדה כריך קטן ומורחת עליו חמאה וגבינה.

Because the subject is היא (she), both verbs are in the feminine singular present form.

• מכינה = she prepares / she is preparing / she makes
• מורחת = she spreads / she is spreading

In Hebrew present tense, the verb agrees with the subject in gender and number. If the subject were masculine, you would get:

• הוא מכין
• הוא מורח

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

So היא מכינה לילדה כריך קטן can mean:

• She prepares a small sandwich for the girl
• She is preparing a small sandwich for the girl

The exact meaning depends on context.

Because לילדה means for the girl or to the girl.

The prefix ל־ often marks:

• a recipient
• a beneficiary
• someone something is intended for

Here, the girl is the one the sandwich is being made for.

By contrast, את marks a definite direct object. If you said את הילדה, that would mean the girl herself is the direct object of the verb, which is not the meaning here.

So:

• היא מכינה לילדה כריך = She is making the girl a sandwich / making a sandwich for the girl
• not She is making the girl

Hebrew has no indefinite article. There is no separate word for a or an.

So:

• כריך can mean a sandwich or just sandwich
• כריך קטן = a small sandwich

If the sentence meant the small sandwich, Hebrew would normally say:

• הכריך הקטן

So the lack of ה־ here helps show that the sandwich is indefinite.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• כריך קטן = a small sandwich
• literally: sandwich small

Also, the adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and definiteness.

Since כריך is masculine singular, the adjective is also masculine singular:

• קטן

If the noun were feminine, you would use קטנה.

You can tell from the adjective and pronoun agreement in the sentence.

• כריך קטן uses קטן, the masculine singular form of small
• later, the sentence says עליו = on it, and this form is also masculine singular

So both parts show that כריך is a masculine noun.

עליו means on it or on him, depending on context.

It is made from:

• על = on
• ־יו = a pronoun ending meaning him/it in the masculine singular

So:

• עליו = on him / on it

Here it clearly refers to כריך (sandwich), so it means on it.

Hebrew often attaches pronoun endings directly to prepositions:

• עליה = on her / on it (feminine)
• עליהם = on them (masculine or mixed)
• עלי = on me

Because Hebrew normally uses preposition + pronoun suffix as a single unit, not a separate independent pronoun after the preposition.

So Hebrew says:

• עליו = on him / on it
• not על הוא

This is a very common pattern with prepositions:

• לו = to him
• בה = in her / in it
• איתם = with them

English learners often need time to get used to this because English usually keeps the pronoun separate.

Yes, the subject היא applies to both verbs.

Hebrew often uses one subject followed by multiple verbs connected by ו־ (and):

• היא מכינה ... ומורחת ...
• She prepares ... and spreads ...

The second verb still has to agree with the same subject, so it is also feminine singular:

• מורחת

Hebrew does not need to repeat היא here.

Because את is only used before a definite direct object.

Here, חמאה וגבינה means butter and cheese in a general, indefinite sense, not the butter and the cheese.

So Hebrew says:

• מורחת עליו חמאה וגבינה

If the sentence specifically meant the butter and the cheese, you would say:

• מורחת עליו את החמאה ואת הגבינה

In normal everyday Hebrew, when talking about ingredients or substances in a general way, את is usually not used.

Because one עליו is enough for both items.

• מורחת עליו חמאה וגבינה
• literally: She spreads on it butter and cheese

Hebrew, like English, often lets one prepositional phrase apply to two coordinated nouns. Repeating it would be possible for emphasis or clarity, but it is not necessary.

Yes, עושה is possible in everyday speech, but מכינה is more natural here.

• מכינה = prepares
• עושה = does / makes

For food, drinks, or something being prepared for someone, מכינה often sounds more precise and idiomatic.

So:

• היא מכינה לילדה כריך קטן = very natural
• היא עושה לילדה כריך קטן = understandable, but a bit less specific

מכינה comes from the verb הכין = prepared / made ready.

Its root is usually identified as כ־ו/י־נ, and the verb is in the הפעיל (Hif'il) pattern.

That is why the present forms look like:

• מכין = masculine singular
• מכינה = feminine singular
• מכינים = masculine plural
• מכינות = feminine plural

This is useful because many Hebrew learners notice that מכינה does not look exactly like the dictionary form הכין, but they are the same verb.

מורחת comes from מרח = to spread / smear.

It is in the פעל / קל type of pattern in the present tense:

• מורח = masculine singular
• מורחת = feminine singular

So in this sentence, מורחת means she spreads or she is spreading.

Hebrew often allows a more flexible word order than English, but this sentence is actually very natural Hebrew:

• היא מכינה לילדה כריך קטן
• ומורחת עליו חמאה וגבינה

Literally, the second part is closer to:

• and spreads on it butter and cheese

In English, we usually prefer:

• and spreads butter and cheese on it

Hebrew often places the prepositional phrase earlier than English would. That is normal and does not sound strange in Hebrew.

Yes. Grammatically, ל־ can mean both to and for, depending on context.

In this sentence, English naturally translates it as for the girl or the girl as an indirect object:

• She is making the girl a small sandwich
• She is making a small sandwich for the girl

So while לילדה literally can be understood as to the girl, the natural sense here is for the girl.

By itself, גבינה simply means cheese.

In context, because the verb is מורחת (spreads), English might sometimes translate it more naturally as:

• butter and cheese
• or butter and some cheese spread, depending on the real-world situation

But grammatically, the Hebrew word itself is just גבינה = cheese. The sentence does not explicitly say cream cheese or cheese spread.

You would change לילדה to לילד:

• היא מכינה לילד כריך קטן ומורחת עליו חמאה וגבינה.

Everything else can stay the same, because:

• the subject is still היא, so the verbs stay מכינה and מורחת
• כריך is still masculine, so קטן and עליו stay the same

Then the subject and the verb forms would change to masculine singular:

• הוא מכין לילדה כריך קטן ומורח עליו חמאה וגבינה.

Changes:

• היא → הוא
• מכינה → מכין
• מורחת → מורח

The rest stays the same because the sandwich is still כריך and the recipient is still לילדה.