בחתונה שלה היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם, כי היא ביקשה עזרה לפני שהאורחים באו.

בחתונה שלה means at her wedding.

• ב־ = in / at
• חתונה = wedding
• שלה = hers / her

So literally it is something like in the wedding of hers, but in natural English we say at her wedding.

Hebrew often expresses possession this way with a noun followed by של-type possession:

• הספר שלה = her book
• החתונה שלה = her wedding

Here, because of the preposition ב־, it becomes בחתונה שלה = at her wedding.

Hebrew has more than one way to show possession.

In everyday modern Hebrew, the most common pattern is:

• noun + של + pronoun
• or the fused forms like שלי, שלך, שלה, שלנו etc.

So:

• החתונה שלה = her wedding

There are also older or more formal possessive suffixes attached directly to nouns in some words, but with ordinary nouns like חתונה, modern spoken Hebrew strongly prefers שלה.

So for a learner, חתונה שלה is the normal and useful pattern to remember.

Hebrew often expresses had to / needed to with the pattern:

היה / הייתה / היינו / היו + צריך / צריכה / צריכים / צריכות + infinitive

Here:

• היינו = we were
• צריכים = needing / needing to / supposed to
• together: היינו צריכים = we had to

So the sentence literally feels like: we were needing to arrive early

But in natural English, that is simply: we had to arrive early

Examples:

• הייתי צריך ללכת = I had to go
• היא הייתה צריכה לעבוד = she had to work
• הם היו צריכים לחכות = they had to wait

צריכים is the masculine plural form.

Hebrew adjectives and adjective-like words agree with the subject in gender and number. Since we can be:

• masculine plural or mixed group → צריכים
• feminine plural → צריכות

So:

• היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם = we had to arrive early if the group is masculine or mixed
• היינו צריכות להגיע מוקדם = same meaning, but said by an all-female group

This is a very common agreement pattern in Hebrew.

After צריך / צריכים, Hebrew normally uses an infinitive.

So:

• צריכים להגיע = need to arrive / have to arrive

The infinitive in Hebrew often begins with ל־:

• להגיע = to arrive
• לעזור = to help
• לבוא = to come

So the structure is:

• היינו צריכים להגיע = we had to arrive

This is very standard Hebrew grammar.

Here מוקדם means early, and it functions adverbially: it describes when they had to arrive.

In English, early is an adverb in this sentence:

• arrive early

Hebrew often uses an adjective form in this kind of adverbial role:

• להגיע מוקדם = to arrive early
• לקום מאוחר = to get up late
• לדבר ברור can appear in some contexts, though בבירור may also be used depending on style

So מוקדם does not agree with we here, because it is not describing the people. It is describing the timing of the action.

כי means because in this sentence.

It introduces the reason:

• היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם = we had to arrive early
• כי היא ביקשה עזרה = because she asked for help

So the whole middle relationship is: We had to arrive early, because she asked for help.

Very common uses of כי:

• אני נשאר בבית כי אני עייף = I’m staying home because I’m tired
• הם שמחו כי הוא בא = They were happy because he came

Yes, pretty much. ביקשה עזרה means asked for help.

• ביקשה = she asked / requested
• עזרה = help

In Hebrew, the verb לבקש often takes its object directly, where English may use ask for:

• לבקש מים = to ask for water
• לבקש עזרה = to ask for help
• לבקש סליחה = to ask forgiveness / apologize

So although English needs for, Hebrew does not here.

Because עזרה here is an indefinite direct object.

The marker את is used before a definite direct object, usually one that has:

• ה־ (the)
• a proper name
• a possessive structure
• something otherwise definite

Compare:

• היא ביקשה עזרה = she asked for help
  no את, because help is indefinite
• היא ביקשה את העזרה שלי = she asked for my help
  את appears because העזרה שלי is definite
• ראיתי את האורחים = I saw the guests
  definite, so את

This is a very common thing learners notice.

Because the subject is היא = she.

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

For לבקש in the past:

• ביקש = he asked
• ביקשה = she asked
• ביקשו = they asked

So:

• היא ביקשה עזרה = she asked for help

This is one of the most important agreement patterns in Hebrew past tense.

לפני ש־ means before followed by a full clause.

Here:

• לפני = before
• ש־ = that / a clause linker
• שהאורחים באו = the guests came

So:

• לפני שהאורחים באו = before the guests came

Hebrew often uses לפני ש־ when what follows has its own subject and verb.

Examples:

• לפני שהילדים הגיעו = before the children arrived
• לפני שהיא דיברה = before she spoke

Sometimes yes, but not in this exact structure.

If the subject stays the same, Hebrew can often use:

• לפני + infinitive or
• לפני ש־ + clause

For example:

• לפני לצאת, סגרתי את הדלת is less standard in many contexts
• more natural: לפני שיצאתי, סגרתי את הדלת
• also common: לפני היציאה depending on style and meaning

In your sentence, the guests are the subject of the second action, so a full clause is the natural choice:

• לפני שהאורחים באו

Because it means specifically: before the guests came

באו is the past plural form of לבוא = to come.

Since the subject is האורחים = the guests, which is masculine plural, the verb is plural too:

• בא = he came
• באה = she came
• באו = they came

So:

• האורחים באו = the guests came

Hebrew past tense regularly agrees with the subject this way.

ה־ is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• אורחים = guests
• האורחים = the guests

In the sentence, we are talking about a specific group of guests: the guests coming to that wedding. That is why Hebrew uses the definite form.

Also notice that English and Hebrew often match here:

• before guests came would sound incomplete in English
• before the guests came sounds natural
• likewise in Hebrew: לפני שהאורחים באו

Yes, באו literally means came.

But in context, English often prefers arrived when talking about guests coming to an event:

• לפני שהאורחים באו = literally before the guests came
• natural English: before the guests arrived

This is not a grammar difference so much as a normal translation choice. Hebrew often uses לבוא where English may say come or arrive, depending on context.

Yes, Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this sentence uses a very natural order.

Current order:

• בחתונה שלה = sets the scene
• היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם = main action
• כי היא ביקשה עזרה = reason
• לפני שהאורחים באו = time phrase linked to that reason

This is smooth and natural.

You could move some elements for emphasis, but the meaning or focus may change slightly. For example:

• היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם בחתונה שלה sounds less natural than starting with בחתונה שלה
• כי היא ביקשה עזרה, היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם is possible, but it emphasizes the reason first

So the given order is a very normal conversational Hebrew sentence.

Literally, ב־ can mean in or at, depending on context.

With events like weddings, parties, meetings, concerts, and classes, English usually says at, and that is the best translation here:

• בחתונה שלה = at her wedding

So while in her wedding reflects the literal preposition more closely, it is not the natural English choice in this context.

It is basically:

[setting] + [main clause] + [reason clause] + [time clause]

Broken down:

• בחתונה שלה
  at her wedding
• היינו צריכים להגיע מוקדם
  we had to arrive early
• כי היא ביקשה עזרה
  because she asked for help
• לפני שהאורחים באו
  before the guests came

This kind of layering is very common in Hebrew: first the setting, then the main statement, then the reason, then a more specific time clause.