Breakdown of הוא כבר לא עובד בערב, ולכן הוא יכול לבוא איתנו לשיעור.
Questions & Answers about הוא כבר לא עובד בערב, ולכן הוא יכול לבוא איתנו לשיעור.
What does כבר לא mean, and why is it literally already not?
כבר לא is the standard Hebrew way to say no longer or not anymore.
- כבר = already
- לא = not
But together, כבר לא does not usually mean already not in natural English. It means that something used to be true, but now it is not true anymore.
So:
- הוא כבר לא עובד בערב = He doesn’t work in the evening anymore / He no longer works in the evening
This is a very common Hebrew pattern.
How is כבר לא different from עדיין לא?
This is a very common confusion for learners.
- כבר לא = no longer / not anymore
- עדיין לא = not yet
Compare:
- הוא כבר לא עובד בערב = He no longer works in the evening
- הוא עדיין לא עובד בערב = He still doesn’t work in the evening / He has not started working in the evening yet
So כבר לא means something stopped being true, while עדיין לא means something has not happened yet.
Why is עובד in the present tense?
Hebrew uses the present tense here because it is describing a current habit or ongoing situation.
- עובד = works / is working
In this sentence, it does not mean he is working right this second. It means that, as a general rule, he works evenings—or in this case, he no longer does.
So הוא כבר לא עובד בערב is like saying:
- He doesn’t work evenings anymore
- He no longer works in the evening
This is very normal Hebrew usage.
What exactly does בערב mean here?
בערב is made of:
- ב־ = in / at
- ערב = evening
So בערב means in the evening or sometimes in the evenings, depending on context.
In this sentence, because the verb describes a general routine, English often translates it more naturally as:
- in the evening
- in the evenings
- sometimes simply at night, if the context is loose
But the most direct meaning is in the evening.
What does ולכן mean, and how is it different from לכן or אז?
ולכן means and therefore, and so, or simply therefore.
It is built from:
- ו־ = and
- לכן = therefore / thus
So the sentence structure is:
- He no longer works in the evening, and therefore he can come...
Comparison:
- לכן = therefore
- ולכן = and therefore
- אז = so / then
ולכן sounds a bit more formal or explicitly logical than אז.
All are possible in different contexts, but ולכן is very natural here.
Why is הוא repeated after ולכן?
Hebrew often repeats the subject when starting a new clause, especially after a connector like ולכן.
So:
- הוא כבר לא עובד בערב, ולכן הוא יכול...
is very natural.
In English, we also usually repeat the subject:
- He no longer works in the evening, so he can come...
Could Hebrew omit the second הוא sometimes? In some contexts, yes—but repeating it is clearer and more standard here.
How does יכול לבוא work grammatically?
יכול לבוא means can come or is able to come.
- יכול = can / is able to
- לבוא = to come
So the structure is:
- יכול + infinitive
- can + do something
Examples:
- הוא יכול לבוא = He can come
- היא יכולה לבוא = She can come
- הם יכולים לבוא = They can come
Notice that יכול changes to match the subject, but לבוא stays the same.
Why is it איתנו and not עם אנחנו?
In Hebrew, prepositions often attach directly to pronoun endings instead of using a separate independent pronoun.
So for with, Hebrew commonly uses these forms:
- איתי = with me
- איתך = with you
- איתו = with him
- איתה = with her
- איתנו = with us
So:
- איתנו = with us
A learner may expect something like עם אנחנו, but that is not how Hebrew normally says it.
Does לשיעור mean to class, to a lesson, or to the lesson?
It can mean different things depending on context.
- שיעור can mean lesson, class, or sometimes lecture/session
- לשיעור means to the lesson / to a lesson / to class
A useful thing to know: in unvocalized Hebrew spelling, לשיעור can represent either:
- ל + שיעור = to a lesson
- ל + השיעור = to the lesson
Those two look the same in normal writing without vowel marks.
In this sentence, English would most naturally say:
- to class
- or to the lesson
depending on the situation.
Do the forms in the sentence change if the subject is feminine or plural?
Yes. Several words agree with the subject.
In the original sentence:
- הוא = he
- עובד = masculine singular
- יכול = masculine singular
If the subject were feminine:
- היא כבר לא עובדת בערב, ולכן היא יכולה לבוא איתנו לשיעור.
- She no longer works in the evening, so she can come with us to class.
If the subject were masculine plural:
- הם כבר לא עובדים בערב, ולכן הם יכולים לבוא איתנו לשיעור.
- They no longer work in the evening, so they can come with us to class.
So Hebrew agreement is something you need to watch closely in subjects, verbs, and words like יכול/יכולה/יכולים/יכולות.
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