רוב העובדים כבר קיבלו את המשכורת שלהם, אבל חלק מהם עדיין מחכים.

רוב means most of, and it is usually followed by a noun in a definite form when you mean most of the ....

So:

• רוב העובדים = most of the workers/employees
• רוב עובדים would sound less natural here and more like most workers in a very general sense

Because the sentence is talking about a specific group of workers, העובדים with ה־ makes sense.

העובדים breaks down like this:

• עובד = worker / employee
• עובדים = workers / employees
• העובדים = the workers / the employees

This is the masculine plural definite form.

A native English speaker should notice that Hebrew often uses the definite article ה־ directly on the noun, unlike English, where the is a separate word.

כבר means already.

In Hebrew, adverbs like כבר often come before the verb:

• כבר קיבלו = already received / have already received

This placement is very natural in Hebrew. You could sometimes move adverbs around for emphasis, but רוב העובדים כבר קיבלו... is the normal, neutral word order.

קיבלו is the past tense, 3rd person plural masculine form of the verb לקבל = to receive / to get.

So:

• הוא קיבל = he received
• היא קיבלה = she received
• הם קיבלו = they received

Since the subject is רוב העובדים, Hebrew uses the plural masculine form קיבלו.

Also, in many contexts Hebrew past tense can correspond to either:

• received
• have received

depending on the English translation that fits the context.

את marks a definite direct object in Hebrew.

Here, the object is המשכורת = the salary, which is definite because it has ה־.

So:

• קיבלו את המשכורת = received the salary

Hebrew uses את before definite direct objects, but not usually before indefinite ones.

Compare:

• קיבלו משכורת = received a salary
• קיבלו את המשכורת = received the salary

This little word has no direct English equivalent, so it often feels strange at first to English speakers.

In המשכורת שלהם, the word שלהם agrees with the owners, not with the noun being owned.

So:

• המשכורת = salary, feminine singular
• שלהם = their, referring to the workers, which is masculine plural

That is why Hebrew says:

• המשכורת שלהם = their salary

not a feminine singular possessive form.

This is very important: the possessive pronoun reflects who has it, not the gender of the thing.

Hebrew often uses a singular noun when each person in a group has one of that thing.

So המשכורת שלהם literally looks like their salary, but in context it means their salaries or each one’s salary.

English sometimes does this too, compare:

• The students raised their hand — sometimes heard, but less standard
• more standard English: their hands

Hebrew is more comfortable with this kind of singular collective reference in certain contexts.

So the singular המשכורת is completely natural here.

חלק מהם means some of them or part of them.

Literally:

• חלק = part
• מהם = from them / of them

In Hebrew, after words like חלק, רוב, מעט, and similar quantity expressions, Hebrew often uses מ־ in the sense of of.

So:

• חלק מהם = some of them
• literally: part from/of them

This is a very common structure and worth learning as a chunk.

Yes, חלקם is also possible and means some of them.

So these are both possible:

• חלק מהם
• חלקם

The version in your sentence, חלק מהם, is a little more explicit and often easier for learners to recognize.

Both are natural, but חלק מהם may feel slightly clearer or more conversational in many contexts.

מחכים is the present tense, masculine plural form of לחכות = to wait.

So:

• הוא מחכה = he is waiting
• היא מחכה = she is waiting
• הם מחכים = they are waiting

In Hebrew, the present tense often covers both:

• wait
• are waiting

Here it clearly means are still waiting because of the context and the word עדיין.

עדיין means still.

So:

• עדיין מחכים = are still waiting

It shows that the waiting has not ended yet.

This is a very common word in Hebrew and often appears before the verb or participle:

• הוא עדיין כאן = he is still here
• הם עדיין מחכים = they are still waiting

Hebrew often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already shows who the subject is.

Here:

• חלק מהם עדיין מחכים

already has an expressed subject: חלק מהם = some of them

So there is no need to add הם.

Even when there is no noun subject, Hebrew often omits pronouns because the verb ending gives enough information. Adding the pronoun is usually for emphasis or contrast.

Yes. In Hebrew, the masculine plural is used for:

• a group of males
• a mixed-gender group
• sometimes a group whose gender is unspecified

So both:

• קיבלו
• מחכים

are masculine plural, and that is normal if העובדים refers to either male workers or a mixed group of employees.

If the group were definitely all female, you would expect feminine plural forms instead.

Both are possible, depending on context.

• עובדים literally comes from the verb לעבוד = to work
• It can mean workers
• It can also mean employees

In a sentence about receiving salary, employees is often the most natural English choice, but workers is also perfectly possible.

אבל means but.

It connects the two clauses and shows contrast:

• most of the workers have already received...
• but some of them are still waiting

This is a very common coordinating conjunction in Hebrew, and it works much like English but.

Yes. This is very natural Hebrew word order.

The basic structure is:

• רוב העובדים — subject
• כבר קיבלו — adverb + verb
• את המשכורת שלהם — direct object
• אבל — conjunction
• חלק מהם — new subject
• עדיין מחכים — adverb + verb

So the sentence follows a straightforward, standard pattern. For a learner, this is a good example of normal everyday Hebrew syntax rather than a poetic or unusual structure.