אחר כך היא פנתה אליה וביקשה ממנה להסביר את הפירוש בלי מילון.

Because Hebrew uses different prepositions depending on the verb, and those prepositions combine with pronoun endings.

• אליה = to her / toward her
  • from אל
    • -יה
• ממנה = from her
  • from מן / מ־
    • -נה

In this sentence:

• פנתה אליה = she turned to her / addressed her
• ביקשה ממנה = she asked her, literally she asked from her

This is very common in Hebrew: the verb does not always take a direct object the way English does.

For example:

• לפנות אל מישהו = to turn to someone
• לבקש ממישהו = to ask someone for something / to ask someone to do something

So even though English just says her both times, Hebrew needs different prepositions.

פנתה is the past tense, 3rd person feminine singular form of the verb לפנות.

Because the subject is היא = she, the verb must also be feminine singular in the past:

• הוא פנה = he turned
• היא פנתה = she turned

In this sentence, פנתה אליה means something like:

• she turned to her
• she addressed her

So it is not only physical turning; it can also mean turning to someone in conversation.

Yes. In Hebrew past tense, the verb already shows person, number, and gender, so פנתה by itself already means she turned.

That means היא is not strictly necessary for grammar. Hebrew often includes the subject pronoun anyway for reasons like:

• clarity
• emphasis
• smoother storytelling
• contrast with another person in the context

So both of these can work:

• פנתה אליה = she turned to her
• היא פנתה אליה = she turned to her

The second is a bit more explicit.

וביקשה is made of:

• ו־ = and
• ביקשה = she asked / requested

So:

• וביקשה = and she asked

The verb ביקשה is the feminine singular past form of לבקש.

This is a very normal Hebrew storytelling pattern:

• [verb in past] ו[verb in past]
• she did X and did Y

So the sentence structure is simply:

• After that, she turned to her and asked her...

This is a very useful structure in Hebrew:

• לבקש ממישהו לעשות משהו
• literally: to ask from someone to do something
• natural English: to ask someone to do something

So here:

• ביקשה ממנה = she asked her
• להסביר = to explain

Together:

• ביקשה ממנה להסביר = she asked her to explain

This differs from English because Hebrew often uses מ־ after לבקש when the person asked is expressed.

More examples:

• ביקשתי ממנו לחכות = I asked him to wait
• היא ביקשה ממני לעזור = she asked me to help

להסביר is the infinitive form of the verb להסביר = to explain.

The ל־ at the beginning is the normal infinitive marker in Hebrew, similar to English to in to explain.

So:

• להסביר את הפירוש = to explain the meaning

After verbs like asked, wanted, began, tried, Hebrew very often uses an infinitive:

• רציתי ללכת = I wanted to go
• התחילה לדבר = she began to speak
• ביקשה להסביר = she asked to explain / asked someone to explain, depending on context

Here it is part of the pattern ביקשה ממנה להסביר.

את is the direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

Here:

• הפירוש = the meaning / the interpretation
• because it is definite, Hebrew adds את
• so: את הפירוש

Important: את usually does not mean anything by itself in English. It is a grammar marker.

Compare:

• היא הסבירה פירוש = she explained a meaning/an interpretation
  
  • usually less natural here, and no את
• היא הסבירה את הפירוש = she explained the meaning
  
  • definite, so את appears

This is one of the most important particles in Hebrew.

Because הפירוש is definite and מילון is indefinite here.

• הפירוש = the meaning / the interpretation
• מילון = a dictionary

So the phrase means:

• את הפירוש = the meaning
• בלי מילון = without a dictionary

If the sentence wanted to say without the dictionary, it would be:

• בלי המילון

But here the idea is general: explain it without using any dictionary, so מילון stays indefinite.

בלי means without.

So:

• בלי מילון = without a dictionary

Yes, Hebrew often leaves some things understood. In fuller English, this may mean:

• without a dictionary
• without using a dictionary
• without looking in a dictionary

Hebrew does not need to spell all of that out if the meaning is clear from context.

You could also say more explicitly:

• בלי להשתמש במילון = without using a dictionary

But בלי מילון is perfectly natural and concise.

אחר כך means after that / afterwards / then.

It is a time expression, and Hebrew often places these at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene in a narrative.

So:

• אחר כך היא פנתה אליה... = After that, she turned to her...

You could move it, but the beginning position is very natural in storytelling.

For example:

• אחר כך היא דיברה איתו = afterwards she spoke with him
• אחר כך הם הלכו הביתה = after that they went home

In the past tense, Hebrew verbs usually show gender and number clearly.

Here the subject is היא = she, and the verbs are:

• פנתה
• ביקשה

The ־ה ending is the typical past-tense ending for 3rd person feminine singular in many verbs.

Compare:

• הוא פנה / ביקש = he turned / asked
• היא פנתה / ביקשה = she turned / asked

So the sentence is grammatically consistent all the way through with a female subject.

The sentence is built like this:

• אחר כך = time expression
• היא פנתה אליה = subject + verb + prepositional phrase
• וביקשה ממנה = and + verb + prepositional phrase
• להסביר את הפירוש = infinitive phrase
• בלי מילון = additional phrase

So literally it is close to:

• After that, she turned to her and asked from her to explain the meaning without a dictionary.

More natural English:

• After that, she turned to her and asked her to explain the meaning without a dictionary.

Hebrew word order is often flexible, but this order is very natural and straightforward.