יש לו אופי שקט, אבל לפעמים הוא מתווכח עם אנשים בעבודה.

Literally, יש means there is and לו means to him / for him. So יש לו literally means there is to him, which is the normal Hebrew way to say he has in the present tense.

So:

• יש לו אופי שקט = he has a quiet nature/personality

This is one of the first big differences English speakers notice in Hebrew: present-tense have is usually expressed with יש + ל־.

In modern Hebrew, the usual present-tense way to express possession is not a separate verb like English have, but the pattern:

• יש לי = I have
• יש לך = you have
• יש לו = he has
• יש לה = she has

So Hebrew says something closer to there is to him than he has.

In other tenses, Hebrew often uses forms of היה:

• היה לו = he had
• יהיה לו = he will have

אופי means character, personality, or nature.

In this sentence, אופי שקט means something like:

• a quiet personality
• a calm nature
• a reserved character

It talks about what someone is like by nature, not just how they happen to be acting at one moment.

No, because here the phrase is indefinite: a quiet personality / a quiet nature, not the quiet personality.

So:

• אופי שקט = a quiet personality
• האופי השקט = the quiet personality / the quiet nature

Hebrew often leaves nouns without an article when English would use a or an, because Hebrew has the but no separate word for a/an.

Here it is pronounced shaket.

That is because in this sentence שקט is an adjective meaning quiet / calm, describing אופי.

A useful thing to know is that the same spelling שקט can also be the noun sheket, meaning quiet / silence. In unpointed Hebrew, the spelling is the same, so context tells you which one it is.

Here:

• אופי שקט = a quiet personality
  so it is the adjective shaket.

They are similar, but not identical.

• הוא שקט = he is quiet
• יש לו אופי שקט = he has a quiet personality / a calm nature

הוא שקט describes him more directly and can refer to his general behavior or even how he is acting right now.

יש לו אופי שקט focuses more on personality and character. It sounds a bit more specific and thoughtful, like saying this is part of his nature.

Because Hebrew often uses an explicit subject pronoun in the present tense, especially after a contrast like אבל (but).

So:

• אבל לפעמים הוא מתווכח... = but sometimes he argues...

Including הוא makes the sentence sound natural and clear.

Also, present-tense Hebrew verb forms do not always show the subject as clearly as English does, so pronouns are often stated.

Could Hebrew sometimes omit it? Yes, in some contexts, but here הוא is very normal and natural.

לפעמים means sometimes.

In this sentence:

• אבל לפעמים הוא מתווכח... = but sometimes he argues...

Yes, Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, so you could also see:

• אבל הוא לפעמים מתווכח...

Both are possible, though אבל לפעמים הוא... is very natural and common.

Putting לפעמים near the beginning helps emphasize the idea of sometimes right away.

מתווכח is the masculine singular present-tense form of להתווכח, which means to argue or to have an argument.

So:

• הוא מתווכח = he argues / he is arguing

The exact English translation depends on context, because Hebrew present tense can cover both simple present and present progressive.

This verb belongs to the התפעל pattern, and its dictionary form is:

• להתווכח

In this sentence it describes a habitual action: he sometimes argues.

Not always.

מתווכח can mean:

• arguing
• disputing
• debating

Sometimes it is clearly emotional or confrontational, and sometimes it can be more like a disagreement or debate.

In this sentence, it probably suggests that even though he has a quiet personality, he still gets into disagreements with people at work sometimes.

Because להתווכח עם means to argue with someone.

So:

• הוא מתווכח עם אנשים = he argues with people

A helpful distinction:

• להתווכח עם מישהו = to argue with someone
• להתווכח על משהו = to argue about something

For example:

• הוא מתווכח עם אנשים = he argues with people
• הוא מתווכח על כסף = he argues about money

Because אנשים is not the direct object here.

In the phrase:

• מתווכח עם אנשים

the word אנשים comes after the preposition עם (with), so it is part of a prepositional phrase, not a direct object.

את is used for definite direct objects, but not after prepositions like עם, ב, ל, על, and so on.

אנשים means people.

It is also the irregular plural historically connected with איש (man / person, depending on context). For learners, the main thing to remember is simply:

• אנשים = people

So:

• עם אנשים = with people

This is a very common word in everyday Hebrew.

Here בעבודה means at work.

It comes from:

• ב־ = in / at
• עבודה = work

So the phrase means:

• עם אנשים בעבודה = with people at work

In natural English we say at work, and that is the best translation here.

In this sentence, it is most naturally pronounced ba'avoda.

That is because the phrase usually means at work, with the sense of in the workplace / on the job, and Hebrew often uses the preposition plus the definite article here.

In unpointed Hebrew, בעבודה can be ambiguous in writing, but in this sentence ba'avoda is the pronunciation most learners would expect.

You would change the pronouns and the verb form:

• יש לה אופי שקט, אבל לפעמים היא מתווכחת עם אנשים בעבודה.

Changes:

• לו → לה = to him → to her
• הוא → היא = he → she
• מתווכח → מתווכחת = masculine present → feminine present

Notice that אופי שקט stays the same, because אופי is a masculine noun, and the adjective agrees with אופי, not with the person being described.

It has a contrast built into it:

• יש לו אופי שקט = he is naturally quiet/calm
• אבל לפעמים הוא מתווכח... = but sometimes he still argues...

So the sentence suggests: he is generally calm, but he is not passive all the time.

That contrast is important. It makes the second part sound slightly unexpected, which is why אבל (but) works well here.