אל תצחקי עליה כשהיא מהססת; פשוט תני לה עוד דקה.

Because the sentence is speaking to one female person.

In Hebrew, commands and command-like forms usually show gender and number. Here:

• תצחקי = you (feminine singular) will laugh / laugh in a negative command structure
• תני = give! addressed to one woman

If you were speaking to a man, you would say:

• אל תצחק עליה... פשוט תן לה עוד דקה.

If you were speaking to more than one woman:

• אל תצחקנה עליה... פשוט תנו לה עוד דקה.
  (In modern spoken Hebrew, plural feminine forms are often replaced by the masculine plural.)

Because אל is the normal word used for a negative command in Hebrew.

So:

• אל תצחקי = don’t laugh
• לא צחקתי = I didn’t laugh
• לא צוחקים = people don’t laugh / we don’t laugh

A very common pattern is:

• אל + future form

So although תצחקי is formally a future-tense form, after אל it functions as “don’t laugh.”

That is a normal Hebrew pattern. Negative commands are often built with:

• אל + future

So:

• אל תצחקי literally looks like you will not laugh
• but actually means don’t laugh

This is one of the first things learners notice in Hebrew: the future form can be used for commands, especially negative ones.

Compare:

• תכתבי = you will write
• אל תכתבי = don’t write

עליה means on her / about her / at her, depending on the verb and context.

Here it means at her, because the verb is:

• לצחוק על מישהו/מישהי = to laugh at someone

So:

• על = on/about/at
• עליה = on her / at her

Hebrew often attaches object pronouns directly to prepositions:

• עליו = on him
• עליה = on her
• עליהם = on them

So עליה is not an accidental spelling choice; it is the normal combined form.

Because that is simply how the verb works in Hebrew.

In English we say:

• laugh at someone

Hebrew uses the same idea:

• לצחוק על מישהו

Examples:

• אל תצחק עלי = don’t laugh at me
• הם צחקו עליו = they laughed at him

So the preposition על is required by the verb in this meaning.

It is basically כש + היא:

• כש = when
• היא = she

Together:

• כשהיא = when she

This is very common in Hebrew. The conjunction כש often attaches directly to the following word.

Compare:

• כשהוא בא = when he comes
• כשאני רואה = when I see
• כשהיא מהססת = when she hesitates / when she’s hesitating

מהססת means hesitating.

It is the feminine singular present-tense form of the verb להסס (to hesitate).

So the present forms are:

• מהסס = hesitating (masculine singular)
• מהססת = hesitating (feminine singular)
• מהססים = hesitating (masculine plural / mixed plural)
• מהססות = hesitating (feminine plural)

It agrees with היא, which is feminine, so the sentence uses מהססת.

Because Hebrew present tense often describes an action that is happening at that time or is ongoing.

So:

• כשהיא מהססת = when she is hesitating
• also naturally understood as when she hesitates

Hebrew present tense often covers both:

• a simple present meaning
• a progressive meaning

That is why מהססת works well here.

פשוט here means simply / just.

So:

• פשוט תני לה עוד דקה = just give her another minute

It softens the instruction a bit and suggests an easy alternative:

• Don’t do X; just do Y.

Very common uses:

• פשוט תחכה = just wait
• פשוט תגיד לה = just tell her
• פשוט תני לה עוד דקה = just give her another minute

Because Hebrew uses ל־ for an indirect object, just like English uses to in many cases.

So:

• תני = give!
• לה = to her

Together:

• תני לה = give her

This is completely normal Hebrew structure.

Examples:

• תן לי = give me
• תני לו = give him
• תנו להם = give them

It can mean either, depending on context. Here it means:

• another minute
• one more minute

עוד means more / another / additional.

So:

• עוד דקה = another minute
• עוד רגע = another moment / one more moment
• עוד זמן = more time

In this sentence, תני לה עוד דקה is very natural Hebrew for give her another minute.

Because the expression means one more minute, not more minutes.

• דקה = minute (singular)
• דקות = minutes (plural)

So:

• עוד דקה = another minute
• עוד שתי דקות = another two minutes / two more minutes

The singular is correct here because only one minute is being added.

The semicolon is mostly a punctuation choice. It separates two closely connected parts:

• אל תצחקי עליה כשהיא מהססת
• פשוט תני לה עוד דקה

A comma would also be understandable in many contexts:

• אל תצחקי עליה כשהיא מהססת, פשוט תני לה עוד דקה.

The semicolon just makes the contrast a little clearer:

• don’t do this; do that instead

Yes. Like English give her another minute, Hebrew uses נתן in a very similar idiomatic way.

It does not mean physically handing over a minute. It means:

• allow her more time
• be patient
• let her have another minute

So the Hebrew sounds natural and idiomatic, just like the English expression.

The sentence has a very common pattern:

• Negative command
• time clause
• better alternative

Breakdown:

• אל תצחקי עליה = don’t laugh at her
• כשהיא מהססת = when she’s hesitating
• פשוט תני לה עוד דקה = just give her another minute

So the logic is:

• Don’t react badly while she’s struggling; instead, be patient.

That pattern is very common in spoken and written Hebrew.