לפני שאני מבשלת, אני מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה וקוצצת בצל לסלט.

Because the speaker is feminine singular.

In Hebrew, the present tense usually looks like an adjective/participle, and it agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Here:

• אני מבשלת = I cook / I am cooking said by a woman
• אני מקלפת = I peel / I am peeling said by a woman
• אני קוצצת = I chop / I am chopping said by a woman

If the speaker were male, these would be:

• מבשל
• מקלף
• קוצץ

So the -ת ending is a strong clue that the speaker is female.

Only the present-tense verbs would change to the masculine singular forms:

• לפני שאני מבשל, אני מקלף את תפוחי האדמה וקוצץ בצל לסלט.

Changes:

• מבשלת → מבשל
• מקלפת → מקלף
• קוצצת → קוצץ

Everything else stays the same.

לפני שאני means before I ...

Literally:

• לפני = before
• ש = that / which / introducing a clause
• אני = I

In modern Hebrew, לפני ש־ is the normal way to say before followed by a full clause:

• לפני שאני מבשלת = before I cook / before I start cooking

So the ש connects לפני to the clause אני מבשלת.

Very common pattern:

• אחרי שאני... = after I...
• לפני שאני... = before I...
• כשהוא... = when he...

Yes, Hebrew can often leave subject pronouns out, because the verb form already gives useful information.

So these are both possible:

• לפני שאני מבשלת, אני מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה...
• לפני שאני מבשלת, מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה...

Including אני sounds natural and can make the sentence clearer, especially for learners or in normal spoken emphasis.

In this sentence:

• the first אני is part of שאני
• the second אני is the subject of the main clause

So it is not wrong or unusual to have אני twice.

Because תפוחי האדמה is a definite direct object.

In Hebrew, את marks a direct object when it is definite, such as:

• a noun with ה־ (the)
• a proper name
• a pronoun

Here:

• מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה = I peel the potatoes

Since the potatoes is definite, Hebrew uses את.

Compare:

• אני מקלפת תפוחי אדמה = I peel potatoes
• אני מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה = I peel the potatoes

So את does not mean with here. It is just the direct-object marker.

Because potato in Hebrew is not the ordinary word for apple used literally. The expression is:

• תפוח אדמה = potato
  literally: apple of the earth/ground

In the plural, this becomes:

• תפוחי אדמה = potatoes

And in the definite plural:

• תפוחי האדמה = the potatoes

This is a construct phrase (called סמיכות in Hebrew), where two nouns are linked:

• תפוחי = apples of...
• האדמה = the ground / the earth

So תפוחי האדמה is the normal way to say the potatoes.

Because this phrase is in the construct state.

In Hebrew construct phrases, definiteness is often shown on the second noun, but the whole phrase becomes definite.

So:

• תפוחי אדמה = potatoes
• תפוחי האדמה = the potatoes

Even though תפוחי itself does not have ה־, the whole phrase is definite because the second part is definite.

This is normal Hebrew grammar:

• בית ספר = school
• בית הספר = the school

Same idea:

• תפוחי אדמה = potatoes
• תפוחי האדמה = the potatoes

Because בצל here is indefinite.

Hebrew uses את only before a definite direct object. Here we have:

• קוצצת בצל = chopping onion / an onion

There is no ה־, so it is not definite. Therefore, no את.

Compare:

• קוצצת בצל = chopping onion / an onion
• קוצצת את הבצל = chopping the onion

So the difference is:

• את תפוחי האדמה = the potatoes
• בצל = onion / an onion

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

So:

• בצל can mean onion, an onion, or sometimes some onion, depending on context.

That is very normal in Hebrew.

Examples:

• אני קונה ספר = I’m buying a book
• היא אוכלת תפוח = She’s eating an apple
• הוא חותך בצל = He’s cutting an onion / onion

Definiteness is marked, but indefiniteness usually is not.

Yes, לסלט most naturally means for the salad.

It is made of:

• ל־ = to / for
• הסלט = the salad

Together:

• לסלט = for the salad

In this sentence, it tells us the purpose of chopping the onion:

• וקוצצת בצל לסלט = and chop onion for the salad

So the onion is being chopped in order to use it in the salad.

Because Hebrew often combines certain prepositions with the definite article ה־.

Here:

• ל־
  • הסלט → לסלט

This kind of contraction is very common:

• ב + ה → בַּ / בּ sound, written together, as in בבית
• ל + ה → לַ / ל sound, written together, as in לסלט
• כ + ה → כַ / כ sound, written together

So לסלט is just the normal fused form of for the salad.

It is grammatically present tense, but Hebrew present tense can cover several meanings depending on context.

So this sentence could mean:

• Before I cook, I peel the potatoes and chop onion for the salad.
• Before I’m cooking / before I start cooking...
• Before cooking, I peel the potatoes... in a routine sense

Hebrew present tense often works for:

• actions happening now
• habitual actions
• general routines

The exact meaning comes from context.

The comma separates the introductory clause from the main clause:

• לפני שאני מבשלת, = before I cook,
• אני מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה וקוצצת בצל לסלט. = I peel the potatoes and chop onion for the salad.

Yes, the order can change. For example:

• אני מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה וקוצצת בצל לסלט לפני שאני מבשלת.

That still means roughly the same thing. But putting לפני שאני מבשלת first makes the time relationship clearer right away.

Yes. ו־ is the Hebrew word and, attached directly to the next word.

So:

• מקלפת = peel / peeling
• וקוצצת = and chop / and chopping

Hebrew usually attaches ו־ as a prefix rather than writing a separate word.

In this sentence, it links two actions done by the same subject:

• אני מקלפת... וקוצצת...
• I peel ... and chop ...

קוצצת usually means chop or cut into small pieces.

חותכת is more general: cut.

So:

• קוצצת בצל suggests chopping the onion, usually fairly finely
• חותכת בצל just means cutting the onion, without saying exactly how

That is why קוצצת fits naturally in cooking contexts.

Either can be right, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense does not separate these two as clearly as English does.

So:

• אני מבשלת can mean I cook
• or I am cooking

In this sentence, because of לפני שאני,

• לפני שאני מבשלת is often understood as before I cook or before I start cooking

English chooses one form based on style and context, but the Hebrew form itself can cover both.

You would remove the definiteness:

• לפני שאני מבשלת, אני מקלפת תפוחי אדמה וקוצצת בצל לסלט.

Notice the changes:

• את תפוחי האדמה → תפוחי אדמה

Why?

• תפוחי האדמה = the potatoes
• תפוחי אדמה = potatoes

And once the object is indefinite, את disappears.

So:

• מקלפת את תפוחי האדמה = peel the potatoes
• מקלפת תפוחי אדמה = peel potatoes