זה נשמע פשוט, אבל זה לא ברור כמו שחשבתי.

זה literally means this or it. In this sentence, it works like English it in It sounds simple.

Hebrew often uses זה in very general statements where English would use it:

• זה קשה = It’s hard
• זה ברור = It’s clear

So זה נשמע פשוט means It sounds simple.

נשמע comes from the root ש-מ-ע, which is connected with hearing.

Here, נשמע means sounds or more literally is heard. In everyday Hebrew, it is very commonly used the way English uses sounds:

• זה נשמע טוב = That sounds good
• זה נשמע מוזר = That sounds strange

So זה נשמע פשוט is the natural way to say It sounds simple.

Because this is not the active verb to hear. It is the passive/reflexive-style form meaning to be heard / to sound.

Compare:

• הוא שומע = he hears
• זה נשמע טוב = it sounds good

So נשמע is exactly the form you want for sounds in this sentence.

Because פשוט is agreeing with זה, which is grammatically masculine singular.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually match the gender and number of the noun or pronoun they describe:

• masculine singular: פשוט
• feminine singular: פשוטה
• masculine plural: פשוטים
• feminine plural: פשוטות

Since the sentence says זה and not a feminine noun, פשוט is the correct form.

אבל means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• זה נשמע פשוט = It sounds simple
• אבל זה לא ברור... = but it isn’t clear...

So it works exactly like English but.

Hebrew often expresses not clear as לא ברור rather than using a single opposite adjective.

So:

• ברור = clear
• לא ברור = not clear / unclear

This is very natural Hebrew. In fact, לא + adjective is extremely common:

• לא טוב = not good
• לא מוכן = not ready
• לא אפשרי = not possible

It means as I thought or like I thought.

Breakdown:

• כמו = like / as
• שחשבתי = that I thought

Together:

• כמו שחשבתי = as I thought

In smoother English, the whole part זה לא ברור כמו שחשבתי means it’s not as clear as I thought.

The ש־ is a very common Hebrew connector meaning that, and sometimes it helps create phrases that English expresses with that, as, the way, or similar words.

Here:

• חשבתי = I thought
• שחשבתי = that I thought

After כמו, Hebrew often uses ש־:

• כמו שאמרתי = as I said
• כמו שראינו = as we saw
• כמו שחשבתי = as I thought

So this is a normal structure.

Because Hebrew often leaves out things that are understood from context.

In English, we say:

• not as clear as I thought it would be or
• not as clear as I thought

In Hebrew, כמו שחשבתי is enough. The missing idea is understood automatically from the earlier part of the sentence.

This kind of omission is very common and natural in Hebrew.

Here it means clear / understandable.

But ברור can also mean:

• obvious
• certain
• of course

Examples:

• זה ברור = It’s clear / obvious
• ברור! = Of course!

In your sentence, the meaning is specifically clear / understandable.

That is an important distinction.

• פשוט = simple
• ברור = clear

Something can be simple in theory but still not clear in explanation.

So the sentence contrasts two different ideas:

• It sounds simple
• but it isn’t as clear as I thought

That contrast is exactly why both adjectives are used.

Because Hebrew word order is flexible, but this is the most natural neutral order for this kind of statement.

The pattern is:

• זה = subject-like pronoun
• לא = negation
• ברור = adjective/predicate
• כמו שחשבתי = comparison phrase

So literally it is:

• It not clear as I thought

That is standard Hebrew structure.

Yes. חשבתי means I thought.

It is the past tense, first person singular, from the verb לחשוב = to think.

Breakdown:

• base idea: חשב
• -תי ending = I in the past

So:

• חשבתי = I thought

This -תי ending is very common in past-tense Hebrew:

• אמרתי = I said
• ראיתי = I saw
• ידעתי = I knew

A rough pronunciation guide is:

ze nish-MA pa-SHUT, a-VAL ze lo ba-RUR kMO she-cha-SHAV-ti

A few helpful notes:

• נשמע has the stress on the last syllable: nish-MA
• פשוט is usually pa-SHUT
• ברור is usually ba-RUR
• חשבתי is cha-SHAV-ti

The ch sound in חשבתי is like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch, not like English chair.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are possible, depending on tone and style. For example:

• זה נשמע פשוט, אבל זה פחות ברור ממה שחשבתי.
  = It sounds simple, but it’s less clear than I thought.

• זה נשמע פשוט, אבל זה לא כל כך ברור כמו שחשבתי.
  = It sounds simple, but it’s not quite as clear as I thought.

But your original sentence is completely natural and correct.