אם יש לך שאלה, תפני אליהם אחרי השיעור; הם תמיד עונים בסבלנות.

Hebrew often expresses possession with an existence + to someone structure.

• יש = there is / there are
• לך = to you

So יש לך שאלה literally means There is to you a question, but natural English is You have a question.

This is the normal way to say have in Hebrew in many contexts.

שאלה means a question, while השאלה means the question.

Because the sentence means If you have a question..., it uses the indefinite form שאלה.

So:

• שאלה = a question
• השאלה = the question

Because the sentence is addressed to one female.

Hebrew verbs usually show the gender and number of the person being addressed. Here:

• תפני = you will turn / you should turn / address yourself, said to one woman or girl

Other forms would be:

• תפנה = to one male
• תפנו = to more than one person

So the speaker is talking directly to a female learner or student.

Yes, תפני is formally a future-tense form, but Hebrew often uses future forms to give instructions, requests, or softened commands.

So in this sentence, תפני אליהם אחרי השיעור means something like:

• turn to them after class
• approach them after class
• ask them after class

A true imperative form also exists, but the future form is very common in everyday Hebrew, especially in instructions.

For comparison:

• פני אליהם = imperative, more directly turn to them
• תפני אליהם = future form used as an instruction, often very natural

It comes from the verb לפנות, which often means to turn to, to approach, or to address someone.

So תפני אליהם means:

• turn to them
• approach them
• contact them
• address them

Which English translation fits best depends on context. In this sentence, it probably means something like ask them / go to them after the lesson if you have a question.

Because the verb לפנות commonly goes with the preposition אל.

So:

• לפנות אל מישהו = to turn to someone / approach someone

That is why the sentence uses אליהם = to them / toward them.

Compare:

• אליהם = to/toward them, after אל
• להם = to them, after ל
• אותם = them, as a direct object

With לפנות, אליהם is the natural choice.

Hebrew often uses the definite article where English would not.

So אחרי השיעור is literally after the lesson/class, but in natural English we often just say after class.

Both ideas are fine in translation, but Hebrew commonly says it with ה־:

• שיעור = a lesson / class
• השיעור = the lesson / the class

In context, it usually means the specific class you are currently in.

Hebrew present tense does not distinguish as sharply between simple present and present progressive as English does.

• הם עונים can mean they answer or they are answering, depending on context.

Here, with תמיד (always), the meaning is clearly habitual:

• הם תמיד עונים = they always answer

So Hebrew uses the present participle form עונים without a separate word for are.

עונים is the masculine plural present-tense form of לענות = to answer.

So:

• עונה = answering / answers, masculine singular
• עונה = answering / answers, feminine singular in unpointed writing too, though pronunciation differs by context
• עונים = answering / answer, masculine plural
• עונות = answering / answer, feminine plural

Here the subject is הם (they, masculine/mixed plural), so עונים matches it.

Literally, בסבלנות means with patience.

But in natural English, that is usually translated as:

• patiently
• with patience

Hebrew often uses ב + noun where English might prefer an adverb.

So:

• בסבלנות = with patience / patiently
• בשקט = quietly, literally in quiet
• בזהירות = carefully, literally with caution

Because the sentence refers to two different participants:

1. you — the person being addressed, shown by לך and תפני
2. they — the people you should approach, shown by אליהם and הם

So there is no mismatch. The sentence means:

• If you have a question, you should turn to them after class; they always answer patiently.

The you is singular feminine, but they is a separate group of people.

This is a very common point of confusion.

• אם = if
• האם = a formal word that marks a yes/no question, something like whether or a question marker

In this sentence, אם means if:

• אם יש לך שאלה = If you have a question

It is not the question marker האם.

The root is פ-נ-ה.

This root appears in the verb לפנות. Like many Hebrew verbs, its form changes depending on tense and person.

Examples:

• לפנות = to turn to / to approach
• פונה = turns / is turning
• תפני = you will turn / you should turn, feminine singular
• פנו = turn! or they turned, depending on context and vocalization

So even though the forms look different, they belong to the same verb family built from the root פ-נ-ה.

Yes, Hebrew allows some flexibility, but this version is very natural.

For example, אם יש לך שאלה, תפני אליהם אחרי השיעור sounds clear and normal. Putting אחרי השיעור elsewhere could also work, such as:

• אם יש לך שאלה, אחרי השיעור תפני אליהם

That might slightly shift emphasis toward after class, but the meaning stays basically the same.

So the original word order is not the only possible one, but it is perfectly standard.