קניתי גם קופסה קטנה של אוכל קפוא, כי אין לי זמן לבשל היום.

A common pronunciation guide is:

Kaníti gam kufsá ktaná shel ókhel kafú, ki ein li zman levashél hayóm.

A more word-by-word guide:

• קניתי — kaníti
• גם — gam
• קופסה — kufsá
• קטנה — ktaná
• של — shel
• אוכל — ókhel
• קפוא — kafú
• כי — ki
• אין לי — ein li
• זמן — zman
• לבשל — levashél
• היום — hayóm

קניתי is the past tense, first person singular form of the verb לקנות (to buy).

So:

• קניתי = I bought

The ending -תי is very common in Hebrew past tense for I:

• כתבתי = I wrote
• אמרתי = I said
• בישלתי = I cooked

גם means also / too.

In this sentence, קניתי גם... means I also bought...

Hebrew is fairly flexible with גם, but its position can slightly affect what it emphasizes. Here it naturally emphasizes the action/object that follows:

• קניתי גם קופסה קטנה... = I also bought a small box...

If you move גם, the sentence may still be understandable, but the emphasis changes a little.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• קופסה קטנה = a small box
• literally: box small

This is normal Hebrew word order. More examples:

• בית גדול = a big house
• ילדה חכמה = a smart girl
• ספר מעניין = an interesting book

Because קופסה is a feminine singular noun, and Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• קופסה = feminine singular
• therefore the adjective must also be feminine singular: קטנה

Compare:

• קופסה קטנה = a small box (feminine)
• ספר קטן = a small book (masculine)

This agreement is one of the most important features of Hebrew adjectives.

Because קפוא describes אוכל, not קופסה.

In the phrase:

• קופסה קטנה של אוכל קפוא

the structure is:

• a small box
• of frozen food

So:

• אוכל is usually treated here as masculine singular
• therefore the adjective is קפוא (masculine singular)

If it were describing a feminine noun, you would use קפואה instead.

של means of or marks a relationship similar to possession.

So:

• קופסה של אוכל קפוא = a box of frozen food

It connects קופסה and אוכל קפוא.

Hebrew often uses של in very natural everyday speech. It is extremely common and useful.

Sometimes Hebrew uses a construct chain instead of של, but in this sentence של is the most natural straightforward choice.

For example:

• קופסת אוכל means something like a food container / lunch box
• but קופסה של אוכל קפוא clearly means a box of frozen food

So using של helps keep the meaning clear and natural here.

Hebrew does not usually use a verb equivalent to to have in the present tense the way English does.

Instead, it uses a structure like:

• יש לי = I have
  literally: there is to me
• אין לי = I don't have
  literally: there is not to me

So:

• אין לי זמן = I don't have time
• literally: there is no time to me

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

• יש לי ספר = I have a book
• אין לי כסף = I don't have money

לבשל is the infinitive form of the verb to cook.

After זמן in a phrase like אין לי זמן..., Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive to express time to do something:

• אין לי זמן לבשל = I don’t have time to cook
• literally: I don’t have time to-cook

This is very similar to English in meaning, even though the Hebrew structure is a bit different.

כי means because here.

It introduces the reason:

• קניתי גם קופסה קטנה של אוכל קפוא, כי אין לי זמן לבשל היום.
• I also bought a small box of frozen food, because I don’t have time to cook today.

It connects the main statement with its explanation.

היום means today, and Hebrew often places time expressions like this at the end of the clause, though other positions are possible.

So:

• אין לי זמן לבשל היום = I don’t have time to cook today

This is very natural word order.

You could sometimes move היום earlier for emphasis, for example:

• היום אין לי זמן לבשל = Today I don’t have time to cook

Both are fine, but the original sentence sounds very natural and neutral.

In modern Hebrew, punctuation is often similar to English, and a comma before כי may appear, especially in longer sentences.

So the comma in:

• ..., כי אין לי זמן לבשל היום

is normal and helps separate the reason clause.

In informal writing, punctuation can be less strict, but the version with the comma is perfectly natural.