ליד הפסל עמד קהל קטן, כי האנשים שם חיכו שההופעה תתחיל.

A small audience stood near the sculpture, because the people there were waiting for the performance to begin.

Breakdown of ליד הפסל עמד קהל קטן, כי האנשים שם חיכו שההופעה תתחיל.

• קטן: small
• שם: there
• כי: because
• לעמוד: to stand

Questions & Answers about ליד הפסל עמד קהל קטן, כי האנשים שם חיכו שההופעה תתחיל.

Why is the sentence starting with ליד הפסל?

ליד הפסל means next to the statue or by the statue.

Hebrew often starts a sentence with a place expression to set the scene first. So instead of beginning with a small crowd stood, Hebrew can naturally begin with next to the statue and then continue with what was there.

Word-for-word, the beginning is:

• ליד = near / next to / by
• הפסל = the statue

So ליד הפסל עמד קהל קטן is literally something like Near the statue stood a small crowd.

Why is it הפסל and not just פסל?

ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• פסל = a statue / statue
• הפסל = the statue

In this sentence, it is a specific statue, so Hebrew uses הפסל.

Also notice that after ליד, Hebrew does not use a separate word for the. The definiteness stays on the noun itself:

• ליד פסל = near a statue
• ליד הפסל = near the statue

Why does it say עמד קהל קטן and not קהל קטן עמד?