אחד הדברים שאני עושה בטעות לפעמים הוא להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד.

Yes. אחד הדברים literally means one of the things.

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

• אחד הילדים = one of the children
• אחת הבעיות = one of the problems
• אחד הדברים = one of the things

Here:

• אחד = one
• הדברים = the things

So the whole phrase means one of the things.

Hebrew often expresses this idea without a separate word for of in the same way English does.

Because Hebrew uses the things in this structure.

So:

• אחד הדברים = one of the things
• not usually אחד דברים

This is similar to how English says one of the things I do, not one of things I do.

The ה־ on הדברים is the definite article, meaning the.

שאני עושה means that I do or which I do.

Breakdown:

• ש־ = that / which
• אני = I
• עושה = do / am doing

So:

• אחד הדברים שאני עושה = one of the things that I do

This is a relative clause, like English that I do.

Because Hebrew is describing a habit or something that happens sometimes, not one specific past event.

So אני עושה here means:

• I do
• I tend to do
• I sometimes do

This is present tense used for repeated or habitual actions, just like English in One of the things I do by mistake sometimes...

בטעות means by mistake, accidentally, or unintentionally.

It comes from:

• טעות = mistake
• ב־ = in / by

As a set expression, בטעות is very common and simply means by mistake.

Examples:

• עשיתי את זה בטעות = I did it by mistake
• שלחתי את ההודעה בטעות = I sent the message by mistake

They do different jobs:

• בטעות = by mistake → describes how
• לפעמים = sometimes → describes how often

So the sentence means something like:

• One of the things I sometimes do by mistake... or
• One of the things I do by mistake sometimes...

They work together naturally:

• בטעות = accidental
• לפעמים = occasional

Hebrew word order is fairly flexible here. The exact order can change depending on emphasis and style.

For example, these are all natural:

• אחד הדברים שאני עושה בטעות לפעמים...
• אחד הדברים שלפעמים אני עושה בטעות...
• אחד הדברים שאני לפעמים עושה בטעות...
  (possible, though a bit less neutral in everyday speech)

The original sentence sounds natural and conversational. Hebrew often allows adverbs like לפעמים and בטעות to move around more than English does.

Good question. Here הוא does literally mean he, but in this kind of sentence it functions like a copula/pronoun used to connect the subject and the predicate.

So:

• אחד הדברים שאני עושה בטעות לפעמים = one of the things I do by mistake sometimes
• הוא = is
• להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד = to leave the phone at the office

So the whole structure is:

One of the things I do by mistake sometimes is leaving the phone at the office.

In English we use is. In Hebrew, in present tense, Hebrew often has no separate word for is, but with this kind of sentence, using הוא is very common and helps make the sentence clearer.

Because after הוא in this sentence, Hebrew is giving the action itself as the thing being identified.

So:

• הוא להשאיר... = is to leave... / is leaving...

The infinitive להשאיר is used here much like English to leave or leaving.

This is very natural after a phrase like one of the things I do is...

Compare:

• אחד הדברים שאני אוהב הוא לקרוא = One of the things I like is reading / is to read
• אחד הדברים שקשה לי הוא לחכות = One of the things that is hard for me is waiting

Not exactly.

להשאיר means to leave or to leave behind.

So להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד means:

• to leave the phone in the office
• in context, to accidentally leave the phone at the office

This is different from לשכוח, which means to forget.

Compare:

• שכחתי את הטלפון במשרד = I forgot the phone at the office
• השארתי את הטלפון במשרד = I left the phone at the office

In real life, these can describe the same situation from different angles, but the verbs are not the same.

Because הטלפון is a definite direct object.

In Hebrew, את marks a direct object when it is definite, such as with:

• the...
• a name
• a pronoun
• something already specific

So:

• להשאיר את הטלפון = to leave the phone

More examples:

• אני רואה את הילד = I see the boy
• היא קנתה את הספר = She bought the book

But with an indefinite object, את usually disappears:

• אני רואה ילד = I see a boy

Because במשרד means in the office / at the office, which is what the sentence needs.

Breakdown:

• ב־ = in / at
• משרד = office
• במשרד = in the office / at the office

Here the idea is that the phone remains there. So Hebrew uses ב.

Compare:

• להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד = to leave the phone at the office
• ללכת למשרד = to go to the office

So ל־ would suggest movement to the office, which is not the meaning here.

It is mostly neutral everyday Hebrew.

A few things make it sound natural and spoken:

• לפעמים in the middle of the sentence
• the overall structure אחד הדברים שאני עושה... הוא...
• the concrete everyday wording להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד

It would sound normal in both speech and writing, though in very casual speech someone might simplify it a little, for example:

• אחד הדברים שאני עושה לפעמים בטעות זה להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד

Using זה instead of הוא is also common in spoken Hebrew.

Yes. In everyday Hebrew, זה is very common in this kind of sentence.

So you may also hear:

• אחד הדברים שאני עושה בטעות לפעמים זה להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד

This is very natural in conversation.

Very roughly:

• הוא can sound a bit more structured or careful here
• זה often sounds more colloquial and common in speech

Both are understandable and correct in modern usage.

A native speaker would probably process it in three chunks:

1. אחד הדברים שאני עושה בטעות לפעמים
   = one of the things I sometimes do by mistake

2. הוא
   = is

3. להשאיר את הטלפון במשרד
   = leaving the phone at the office

So the sentence is built like:

One of the things I sometimes do by mistake is leave my phone at the office.

That is the most natural way to feel the grammar of the sentence.