מהבמה ראו את כל האולם, אבל אני העדפתי לשבת רחוק יותר עם אחותי.

מהבמה means from the stage.

It is made of:

• מ־ = from
• הבמה = the stage

In Hebrew, short prepositions like מ־ are usually attached directly to the following word, so מ־ + הבמה becomes מהבמה.

This happens because the preposition מ־ combines with the definite article ה־.

So:

• מ + במה = מבמה = from a stage
• מ + הבמה = מהבמה = from the stage

This kind of contraction is very common in Hebrew with prepositions and ה־.

This is a very common learner question.

ראו literally means they saw, but in sentences like this Hebrew often uses the 3rd person plural with no stated subject to mean something like:

• you could see
• one could see
• people could see

So מהבמה ראו את כל האולם is not necessarily saying that some specific they saw the hall. It more naturally means:

• From the stage, you could see the whole hall.

This is a normal impersonal style in Hebrew.

Yes. By itself, ראו can mean:

• they saw
• saw in an impersonal sense, depending on context

The form is the same. Context tells you which meaning is intended.

In this sentence, because there is no explicit subject and the sentence describes visibility from a location, the impersonal meaning is the most natural one.

את marks a definite direct object in Hebrew.

Here, the object is כל האולם, which means the whole hall. Because it is definite, Hebrew uses את:

• ראו את כל האולם

That does not mean את itself means the. It is just an object marker used before definite direct objects.

There is an important difference:

• כל האולם = the whole hall / the entire hall
• כל אולם = every hall

So in this sentence, כל האולם is correct because the meaning is the entire hall, not every hall.

Because העדפתי already contains the subject I, the pronoun אני is not grammatically necessary.

But Hebrew often includes the pronoun for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarity

Here it gives a contrast with the first clause:

• From the stage, you could see the whole hall, but I preferred...

So אני adds a sense of as for me or I, on the other hand.

העדפתי is the past tense, first person singular form of the verb להעדיף = to prefer.

So:

• העדפתי = I preferred

In this sentence, it is part of a past narrative: the speaker is describing what they chose to do.

Because after verbs like prefer, Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive:

• העדפתי לשבת = I preferred to sit

Here:

• לשבת = to sit

The ל־ at the beginning is the normal marker of the infinitive in this verb.

Hebrew usually forms the comparative with:

• adjective/adverb + יותר

So:

• רחוק = far
• רחוק יותר = farther / further

This is the regular Hebrew way to say more far, meaning farther.

In this sentence, רחוק is being used in an adverb-like way after לשבת:

• לשבת רחוק יותר = to sit farther away

With expressions of location or distance like this, Hebrew often uses the masculine singular form as the default, even if the speaker is female.

So this does not mean the speaker is necessarily male. It is just the normal form in this kind of expression.

אחותי means my sister.

It is built from:

• אחות = sister
• ־י = my

So the ending ־י is a possessive suffix meaning my.

This is very common in Hebrew:

• אחי = my brother
• חברי = my friend
• אחותי = my sister

עם אחותי means with my sister.

In context, it tells you with whom the speaker preferred to sit. So the idea is:

• I preferred to sit farther away with my sister
• or more naturally in English, I preferred to sit farther away, together with my sister

Yes, the word order is natural.

Hebrew often puts a location or setting first when it wants to establish the scene:

• מהבמה ראו את כל האולם
  From the stage, you could see the whole hall

Starting with מהבמה makes the location the starting point of the sentence. This is very natural in Hebrew narrative style.

אבל means but.

It connects the two parts of the sentence and shows contrast:

• from the stage, you could see the whole hall
• but I preferred to sit farther away with my sister

So אבל marks the difference between what was possible or available and what the speaker personally chose.