אתה לא חייב לחכות לי; אני יכולה להגיע לבד.

Because the sentence is speaking to a man but the speaker is a woman.

• אתה = you addressed to one male
• יכולה = can / am able to in the feminine singular

So this sentence would naturally be said by a woman to a man.

If a man said it to a man, it would be:

אתה לא חייב לחכות לי; אני יכול להגיע לבד.

If a woman said it to a woman, it would be:

את לא חייבת לחכות לי; אני יכולה להגיע לבד.

חייב means obligated, required, or must/have to.

So:

• אתה חייב = you must / you have to
• אתה לא חייב = you don’t have to / you’re not required to

This is a very common way to express lack of necessity in Hebrew.

Hebrew often expresses don’t have to by simply negating must / have to.

So:

• חייב = must
• לא חייב = not obligated / don’t have to

This is different from must not, which in English means prohibition.
In Hebrew, לא חייב usually means it isn’t necessary, not you are forbidden.

Because לחכות is the infinitive form, meaning to wait.

In Hebrew, infinitives usually begin with ל־, which often corresponds to English to:

• לחכות = to wait
• להגיע = to arrive / to get there

So the pattern here is:

• חייב + infinitive
• יכול/יכולה + infinitive

For example:

• אני יכולה להגיע = I can arrive / get there
• אתה לא חייב לחכות = you don’t have to wait

Yes, לי literally means to me, but after some Hebrew verbs, the preposition ל־ is just the normal one to use.

The verb לחכות works like this:

• לחכות ל... = to wait for...

So:

• לחכות לי = to wait for me
• לחכות לך = to wait for you
• לחכות להם = to wait for them

This is just how the verb is constructed in Hebrew.

Not completely. In the present tense, Hebrew forms like יכול / יכולה / יכולים / יכולות show gender and number, but not clearly person the way English does.

So יכולה could mean:

• I can (if the speaker is feminine)
• she can

Because of that, Hebrew often includes the subject pronoun in the present tense for clarity:

• אני יכולה = I can
• היא יכולה = she can

So אני helps make the subject unmistakable.

They express two different ideas:

• חייב = must / have to
• יכולה = can / am able to

So the sentence contrasts necessity with ability:

• אתה לא חייב לחכות לי = you don’t have to wait for me
• אני יכולה להגיע לבד = I can get there by myself

This is a very natural combination in Hebrew.

Both can sometimes work, but they are not exactly the same.

• להגיע = to arrive / to get there
• לבוא = to come

In this sentence, להגיע focuses on the idea of reaching the destination.
It sounds very natural in a sentence like I can get there on my own.

If you used לבוא, the meaning would shift a bit more toward come rather than arrive/get there.

לבד means alone or by oneself.

So:

• להגיע לבד = to arrive alone / to get there by myself

This is the most common everyday form.

You may also see more literary forms like לבדי = by myself / alone, but לבד is the normal modern spoken choice.

The word order here is very natural, but Hebrew does allow some flexibility.

Normal order:

אתה לא חייב לחכות לי; אני יכולה להגיע לבד.

You could also reverse the two clauses if the context changes:

אני יכולה להגיע לבד; אתה לא חייב לחכות לי.

That would put slightly more emphasis on I can get there by myself first.

Inside each clause, though, the current order is the most straightforward and idiomatic.

The semicolon separates two closely connected full clauses:

• אתה לא חייב לחכות לי
• אני יכולה להגיע לבד

It shows that the second clause explains or supports the first one.

In everyday writing, many people might also use a comma or even split it into two sentences. The semicolon is just a neat way to connect the two related ideas.

A common pronunciation guide is:

Ata lo chayav lechakot li; ani yechola lehagia levad.

A few notes:

• אתה = ata
• חייב = chayav
• לחכות = lechakot or l'chakot
• יכולה = yechola
• להגיע = lehagia
• לבד = levad

Pronunciation can vary a little depending on accent, but this will be understood well.