כדאי שלא נשאיר את האופניים בחצר, כי בלילה החצר חשוכה.

Breakdown of כדאי שלא נשאיר את האופניים בחצר, כי בלילה החצר חשוכה.

לא
not
ב
in
את
direct object marker
כי
because
ב
at
לילה
night
ש
that
כדאי
advisable
אופניים
bicycle
להשאיר
to leave
חצר
yard
חשוך
dark

Questions & Answers about כדאי שלא נשאיר את האופניים בחצר, כי בלילה החצר חשוכה.

What does כדאי mean here?

Here כדאי means it’s advisable, it’s a good idea, or it’s better.

So כדאי שלא נשאיר... means something like:

  • We’d better not leave...
  • It’s better not to leave...
  • It’s advisable that we not leave...

In this sentence, כדאי is being used impersonally, not as a normal action verb.

Why is it שלא after כדאי?

שלא is made of:

  • ש = that
  • לא = not

So כדאי שלא נשאיר literally means It’s advisable that we not leave.

Hebrew often uses this pattern when giving advice about not doing something.

A very common alternative is:

  • לא כדאי להשאיר את האופניים בחצר = It’s not a good idea to leave the bicycles in the yard

Both are natural. Very roughly:

  • כדאי שלא נשאיר focuses on the recommended action: we should not leave them
  • לא כדאי להשאיר focuses on the bad idea of leaving them
What form is נשאיר?

נשאיר is:

  • future tense
  • first person plural
  • from the verb להשאיר = to leave something behind / to leave something somewhere

So literally נשאיר means we will leave.

But after words like כדאי, future forms are often translated more naturally in English as:

  • we should leave
  • we leave
  • we not leave

depending on context.

Here it means we should not leave.

Is נשאיר from להשאיר or להישאר? They look similar.

It is from להשאיר, not להישאר.

These two verbs are easy to confuse:

  • להשאיר = to leave something
  • להישאר = to stay / remain

In this sentence, we have a direct object:

  • את האופניים = the bicycles

That shows the verb must be להשאיר, because you are leaving something.

Compare:

  • נשאיר את האופניים בחצר = We’ll leave the bicycles in the yard
  • נישאר בחצר = We’ll stay in the yard
Why is there an את before האופניים?

את is the direct object marker.

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object. Since האופניים means the bicycles, it is definite, so את is required.

So:

  • נשאיר אופניים = we’ll leave bicycles / some bicycles
  • נשאיר את האופניים = we’ll leave the bicycles

Important: את usually is not translated into English.

Why is אופניים plural-looking, even if it means one bicycle?

Because אופניים is one of those Hebrew nouns that normally appear in a plural/dual form even when talking about a single item.

It works a bit like English words such as:

  • scissors
  • glasses

So in everyday Hebrew, one bicycle is still אופניים.

That is why you will also see plural agreement with adjectives:

  • אופניים חדשים = a new bicycle / new bicycles

Learners often expect a simple singular form, but in normal modern Hebrew, אופניים is the standard word.

Why is it בחצר and not בהחצר?

Because Hebrew prepositions like ב, כ, and ל combine with the definite article ה.

So:

  • ב + החצר becomes בחצר

This is very common.

So בחצר can mean:

  • in the yard if it is definite
  • in a yard if it is indefinite

In unpointed Hebrew, those look the same in writing. Context tells you which one is meant.

With vowels, they would be different:

  • בַּחָצֵר = in the yard
  • בְּחָצֵר = in a yard

Here, the meaning is clearly in the yard.

What does בלילה literally mean, and why is it written that way?

בלילה means at night or during the night.

It also contains the preposition ב = in/at, combined with the article:

  • ב + הלילהבלילה

So it is the same kind of contraction you saw in בחצר.

This expression is very common in Hebrew:

  • ביום = in the daytime / by day
  • בלילה = at night

Even though English usually says at night without the, Hebrew often uses the article in these fixed time expressions.

Where is the word is in החצר חשוכה?

There is no separate word for is in a normal present-tense Hebrew sentence like this.

So:

  • החצר חשוכה literally looks like the yard dark
  • but it means the yard is dark

This is completely normal in Hebrew.

Compare:

  • החצר חשוכה = The yard is dark
  • החצר הייתה חשוכה = The yard was dark
  • החצר תהיה חשוכה = The yard will be dark

So Hebrew omits is/am/are in the present tense, but uses forms of to be in the past and future.

Why is it חשוכה and not חשוך?

Because חשוכה has to agree with החצר.

חצר is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

  • חצר חשוכה = a dark yard
  • החצר חשוכה = the yard is dark

Compare the masculine form:

  • חדר חשוך = a dark room

So:

  • חשוך = masculine singular
  • חשוכה = feminine singular
Why is the word order בלילה החצר חשוכה instead of החצר חשוכה בלילה?

Hebrew word order is more flexible than English.

Starting with בלילה puts the time first:

  • בלילה החצר חשוכה = At night, the yard is dark

That sounds very natural in Hebrew, especially when setting the scene or explaining a reason.

You could also say:

  • כי החצר חשוכה בלילה

That is also grammatical and natural. The difference is mostly one of emphasis and flow, not basic meaning.

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