המדבקה על הארגז עזרה לי להבין מה לשים במטבח ומה בחדר העבודה.

Because the subject is המדבקה (the sticker), and מדבקה is a feminine noun in Hebrew.

So in the past tense, the verb agrees with the subject:

• המדבקה עזרה = the sticker helped
• If the subject were masculine, you would expect עזר

This is a very common feature in Hebrew: in the past tense, verbs usually match the subject in gender and number.

Yes. It is a noun phrase:

• המדבקה = the sticker
• על הארגז = on the box

Together: the sticker on the box

The phrase על הארגז describes which sticker we mean. It works like an English modifier:

• the sticker on the box
• the book on the table
• the picture on the wall

So על הארגז is attached to המדבקה, not to the verb.

Because both are definite here:

• המדבקה = the sticker
• הארגז = the box

Hebrew uses ה־ as the definite article, like English the.

So:

• מדבקה = a sticker
• המדבקה = the sticker
• ארגז = a box / box
• הארגז = the box

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific sticker and a specific box.

לי means to me.

So:

• עזרה לי = helped me
  literally, helped to me

This is very common in Hebrew. The verb לעזור (to help) often takes an indirect object with ל־:

• הוא עזר לי = he helped me
• עזרנו להם = we helped them

The forms are:

• לי = to me
• לך = to you
• לו = to him
• לה = to her
• לנו = to us
• להם / להן = to them

Because after עזרה לי (helped me), Hebrew uses an infinitive to express what the help was for.

• עזרה לי להבין = helped me understand
• מה לשים = what to put

So the structure is roughly:

• [subject] helped me [to understand] [what to put...]

This is very similar to English, where we also often use an infinitive:

• helped me understand
• wanted to go
• tried to explain

In Hebrew, infinitives usually begin with ל־:

• להבין = to understand
• לשים = to put

Here מה means what.

• מה לשים במטבח = what to put in the kitchen
• מה בחדר העבודה = what (to put) in the study / office

Even though the sentence is about places, מה is asking about the items/categories, not the location word itself.

So the idea is not where should I put it? but rather:

• what belongs in the kitchen
• what belongs in the study

That is why מה is the correct word.

Because Hebrew often omits repeated words when they are understood from context.

The full version would be:

• מה לשים במטבח ומה לשים בחדר העבודה

But Hebrew naturally shortens this to:

• מה לשים במטבח ומה בחדר העבודה

English does this too sometimes:

• what to put in the kitchen and what in the study

So the second לשים is omitted because it is already understood from the first part.

Both mean in the..., but the preposition ב־ combines differently depending on the word that follows.

1. ב + המטבח becomes במטבח

When ב־ comes before a word with ה־, they often contract:

• ב + המטבח → במטבח

So במטבח = in the kitchen

2. ב + חדר העבודה becomes בחדר העבודה

Here the whole phrase is חדר העבודה = the work room / study / office.

The preposition attaches to the first word:

• ב + חדר העבודה → בחדר העבודה

Why is there no ה on חדר? Because in a construct phrase, definiteness can come from the second word. See the next question.

חדר העבודה is a construct phrase (called סמיכות in Hebrew).

Literally it is:

• חדר = room
• העבודה = the work

Together, חדר העבודה means:

• the work room
• more naturally, the study or the office

In Hebrew construct phrases, the first noun often does not take ה־, even when the whole phrase is definite. The definiteness is carried by the second noun.

Compare:

• חדר עבודה = a work room / study
• חדר העבודה = the work room / the study

So although חדר itself has no ה־, the whole phrase is definite because העבודה is definite.

Yes, and that can be helpful. A fairly literal breakdown is:

• המדבקה = the sticker
• על הארגז = on the box
• עזרה לי = helped me
• להבין = to understand
• מה לשים במטבח = what to put in the kitchen
• ומה בחדר העבודה = and what in the study

So the literal flow is something like:

The sticker on the box helped me understand what to put in the kitchen and what in the study.

That is very close to the natural English meaning, which makes this sentence a nice example of Hebrew structure that maps fairly cleanly to English.

Yes, this is natural Hebrew word order.

The basic flow is:

1. subject: המדבקה על הארגז
2. verb: עזרה
3. object/pronoun: לי
4. infinitive phrase: להבין...

So:

• המדבקה על הארגז עזרה לי להבין...

This is a normal and clear order.

Could it be rearranged? Sometimes, yes, for emphasis. But for a learner, this version is the most straightforward and natural one to use.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ha-mad-BE-ka al ha-ar-GAZ az-ra LI le-ha-VIN ma la-SIM ba-mit-BAkh u-ma be-KHE-der ha-a-vo-DA

A few notes:

• ח in בחדר is the throaty Hebrew kh sound.
• הבין / להבין has stress on the last syllable: le-ha-VIN
• מטבח usually has stress on the last syllable: mit-BAkh
• עבודה is a-vo-DA

If you want to sound natural, try to read it in chunks:

• המדבקה על הארגז
• עזרה לי להבין
• מה לשים במטבח
• ומה בחדר העבודה

That chunking matches the meaning well and helps with rhythm.