היא לא רק מקפלת את החולצות, אלא גם שמה את המכנסיים בארון.

It means not only ... but also.

In this sentence:

• לא רק מקפלת את החולצות = not only folds the shirts
• אלא גם שמה את המכנסיים בארון = but also puts the pants in the closet

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

• לא רק X, אלא גם Y = not only X, but also Y

A few quick examples:

• הוא לא רק לומד, אלא גם עובד.
  He not only studies, but also works.

• אני לא רק קורא, אלא גם כותב.
  I not only read, but also write.

היא means she.

In Hebrew present tense, the verb form often shows gender and number, but not always clearly the person in the way English does. Because of that, pronouns like אני, אתה, היא, הם are often used when needed for clarity.

Here, היא tells you the subject is:

• third person
• singular
• feminine

So the sentence is specifically about she.

Could Hebrew sometimes omit it? Yes, in some contexts, especially when the subject is already understood. But in a sentence like this, including היא is natural and clear.

Because the subject is היא = she.

In Hebrew, verbs in the present tense agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here the subject is feminine singular, so the verbs are also feminine singular:

• מקפל = masculine singular
• מקפלת = feminine singular

and

• שם = masculine singular
• שמה = feminine singular

So:

• היא מקפלת = she folds
• היא שמה = she puts

If the subject were masculine:

• הוא לא רק מקפל את החולצות, אלא גם שם את המכנסיים בארון.

מקפלת means folds or is folding, depending on context.

It comes from the verb לקפל = to fold.

In present tense:

• מקפל = he folds / is folding
• מקפלת = she folds / is folding
• מקפלים = they / masculine plural fold
• מקפלות = they / feminine plural fold

A useful point for English speakers: Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• she folds
• she is folding

So היא מקפלת את החולצות could mean either one, depending on context.

Yes. שמה here is the feminine singular present form of לשים = to put / to place.

So:

• הוא שם = he puts
• היא שמה = she puts

This is a very common everyday verb in Hebrew.

For example:

• אני שם את הספר על השולחן.
  I put the book on the table.

• היא שמה את המפתחות בתיק.
  She puts the keys in the bag.

Note that in unpointed Hebrew, שמה can sometimes look ambiguous to learners, because the same spelling can appear in other words. But here, because it follows גם and is followed by a direct object, it clearly means puts.

את is the marker of a definite direct object.

It does not mean you here. It is a completely different word.

Hebrew uses את before a direct object when that object is definite, for example when it has:

• the (ה־)
• a possessive ending
• a proper name
• something otherwise definite from context

So here:

• את החולצות = the shirts
• את המכנסיים = the pants

Both objects are definite because they have ה־.

Compare:

• היא מקפלת חולצות.
  She folds shirts.
  No את, because it is indefinite.

• היא מקפלת את החולצות.
  She folds the shirts.
  את is required.

Because בארון is not a direct object.

It means in the closet / in the cabinet:

• ב־ = in
• הארון = the closet / the cabinet
• together: בארון

So in the second part:

• שמה את המכנסיים בארון

the direct object is את המכנסיים = the pants
and בארון is a prepositional phrase telling you where she puts them.

Since בארון comes after the preposition ב־ (in), it does not take את.

Because Hebrew often attaches prepositions directly to nouns.

Here:

• ב־ = in
• הארון = the closet / the cabinet

When ב־ combines with ה־, they usually contract in writing:

• ב + הארון = בארון

This is very common:

• בבית = in the house
• בספר = in the book
• בשולחן = on/at the table depending on context

The same thing happens with other prepositions too, such as:

• ל + ה־
• כ + ה־

So this is a normal Hebrew pattern, not a special case.

The sentence follows a very normal Hebrew word order:

• היא — subject
• מקפלת / שמה — verb
• את החולצות / את המכנסיים — direct object
• בארון — location

So the structure is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object

This is very similar to English in many everyday sentences.

The full structure is:

• היא
• לא רק
• מקפלת את החולצות
• אלא גם
• שמה את המכנסיים בארון

So Hebrew is saying:

She not only folds the shirts, but also puts the pants in the closet.

Because Hebrew present tense usually does not make the same simple-vs.-continuous distinction that English does.

So:

• היא מקפלת can mean:
  • she folds
  • she is folding

and

• היא שמה can mean:
  • she puts
  • she is putting

Context tells you which English translation is best.

This is very common and important for English speakers to get used to. Hebrew usually does not need a separate form like is folding.

Both are definite plural nouns because they begin with ה־ = the.

• חולצות = shirts / blouses

• החולצות = the shirts

• מכנסיים = pants / trousers
• המכנסיים = the pants

So the ה־ marks definiteness, and the noun forms themselves show plurality.

A note on מכנסיים: this word is commonly used as a plural-looking form, like English pants or trousers. So it naturally appears in that form.

Not always. ארון can mean:

• closet
• cabinet
• wardrobe
• sometimes another kind of storage cupboard, depending on context

So בארון literally means in the closet/cabinet/wardrobe.

In this sentence, because the objects are clothes, in the closet or in the wardrobe is a very natural translation.

Yes, that is a very close literal translation.

The Hebrew structure maps quite neatly to English here:

• היא = she
• לא רק = not only
• מקפלת = folds / is folding
• את החולצות = the shirts
• אלא גם = but also
• שמה = puts / is putting
• את המכנסיים = the pants
• בארון = in the closet

The main things that do not translate word-for-word are:

• את, because English has no direct equivalent
• the Hebrew present tense, which can match either English simple present or present progressive

In this pattern, גם is normally part of the fixed expression אלא גם = but also.

So:

• לא רק ..., אלא גם ...

is the standard form.

Hebrew does allow some flexibility in word order in other contexts, but for learners it is best to treat this as a set structure and use it as a chunk.

So if you want to say not only X, but also Y, the safest pattern is:

• לא רק X, אלא גם Y

Yes. It sounds natural and standard.

It uses:

• a very common contrast pattern: לא רק ... אלא גם
• normal present-tense agreement
• the direct object marker את
• a very common everyday verb: לשים
• a normal prepositional form: בארון

So this is a good sentence for learning several important Hebrew basics at once.