אני לא רוצה לקצוץ את הירקות עכשיו; אקצוץ אותם אחרי העבודה.

They are two different grammatical forms of the verb לקצוץ:

• לקצוץ = to chop, the infinitive
• אקצוץ = I will chop, the 1st person singular future

Hebrew uses רוצה + infinitive for want to do something, so:

• אני לא רוצה לקצוץ = I don’t want to chop
• אקצוץ אותם = I’ll chop them

So the first clause talks about wanting, and the second talks about a future action.

את marks a definite direct object. It has no direct English translation.

Here, הירקות means the vegetables, so it is definite. That is why Hebrew uses את:

• לקצוץ את הירקות = to chop the vegetables

If the object were indefinite, את would usually disappear:

• לקצוץ ירקות = to chop vegetables

So את does not mean the. It is just a grammatical marker that appears before a definite direct object.

The prefix ה־ is the definite article, like the in English.

• ירקות = vegetables
• הירקות = the vegetables

In this sentence, the speaker seems to mean specific vegetables, not vegetables in general. That is why הירקות is used.

Also, once the noun becomes definite with ה־, it triggers the use of את before it:

• את הירקות

Because אותם is an object pronoun, while הם is a subject pronoun.

• הם = they
• אותם = them

In אקצוץ אותם, the vegetables are receiving the action, so Hebrew needs them, not they.

Also, אותם is masculine plural, which matches ירקות, a masculine plural noun.

So:

• אקצוץ אותם = I’ll chop them
• not אקצוץ הם

Hebrew, like English, often uses a pronoun to avoid repeating the same noun.

So after saying את הירקות once, the sentence naturally switches to אותם:

• אני לא רוצה לקצוץ את הירקות עכשיו; אקצוץ אותם אחרי העבודה.

Yes, you could repeat the noun:

• אקצוץ את הירקות אחרי העבודה

That is also correct, but אותם sounds smoother because the vegetables have already been mentioned.

אקצוץ אותם is enough.

In Hebrew future tense, the verb itself already tells you the subject:

• אקצוץ = I will chop

So אני is not necessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Compare:

• אקצוץ אותם אחרי העבודה = neutral, natural
• אני אקצוץ אותם אחרי העבודה = I will chop them after work, with a bit more emphasis

In the present tense, Hebrew verbs do not change for person the way English does. Instead, they usually change for gender and number.

So with אני, the present-tense form depends on whether the speaker is male or female:

• male speaker: אני לא רוצה pronounced ani lo rotze
• female speaker: אני לא רוצה pronounced ani lo rotza

Notice that in normal unpointed spelling, both are written exactly the same: רוצה.

That often surprises English speakers, because English has one form, I want, regardless of gender.

They are usually pronounced roughly like this:

• לקצוץ = lik-tzotz
• אקצוץ = ek-tzotz

They come from the root ק-צ-ץ.

This root can look unusual because the last two root consonants are both צ. Also, the ו in these forms helps represent the o sound, so the spelling may look a bit dense at first.

A rough breakdown:

• ל־קצוץ = to chop
• א־קצוץ = I will chop

So even though the forms look tricky, they are regular once you get used to the root.

Literally, אחרי העבודה means after the work, but in normal English it is usually translated as after work.

Hebrew often uses the definite article ה־ in places where English does not. So:

• אחרי העבודה = after work
• literally: after the work

This is a very natural Hebrew expression for talking about the workday or one’s job.

The word order here is natural, but Hebrew is fairly flexible.

The original sentence:

• אני לא רוצה לקצוץ את הירקות עכשיו; אקצוץ אותם אחרי העבודה.

could also be rearranged in ways like:

• אני לא רוצה עכשיו לקצוץ את הירקות
• אחרי העבודה אקצוץ אותם
• אני אקצוץ אותם אחרי העבודה

The meaning stays basically the same, but the emphasis changes a little.

For example:

• עכשיו earlier in the sentence can emphasize now
• אחרי העבודה at the beginning can emphasize after work

So the original order is not the only possible one, but it is a very normal and natural choice.