המורה מדגישה את האות הראשונה במילה.

Because of the verb מדגישה.

The noun מורה can mean either male teacher or female teacher. By itself, המורה does not tell you the teacher’s gender. But the verb מדגישה is feminine singular, so it tells you the teacher is female.

If it were a male teacher, you would have:

המורה מדגיש את האות הראשונה במילה.

מדגישה is the present tense, feminine singular form of the verb להדגיש, which means to emphasize, to stress, or sometimes to highlight.

So the pattern is:

• מדגיש = masculine singular
• מדגישה = feminine singular
• מדגישים = masculine plural / mixed plural
• מדגישות = feminine plural

It can mean both.

In Hebrew, the present tense often covers both:

• she emphasizes
• she is emphasizing

So המורה מדגישה את האות הראשונה במילה can describe either a general action or something happening right now, depending on context.

Here, את is the direct object marker. It does not have a separate English translation.

It appears before a definite direct object, in this case:

את האות הראשונה = the first letter

So the structure is:

• המורה = the teacher
• מדגישה = emphasizes
• את האות הראשונה = the first letter

A very common learner mistake is to try to translate את as a normal word. In sentences like this, it is just a grammar marker.

No. In this sentence, את is the direct object marker, not with.

That is important because the same spelling can confuse learners.

Here:

• את האות הראשונה = marks the first letter as the object of the verb

It does not mean:

• with the first letter

Because in Hebrew, adjectives and ordinal numbers usually come after the noun.

So:

• האות הראשונה = the first letter

not:

• הראשונה האות

This is the normal Hebrew order:

• noun first
• adjective / ordinal second

Other examples:

• הספר הגדול = the big book
• הילדה הקטנה = the small girl
• היום הראשון = the first day

Because אות is a feminine noun, and adjectives or ordinal numbers must agree with the noun in gender.

So:

• אות = feminine
• therefore ראשונה = feminine form of first

Compare:

• האות הראשונה = the first letter
• הספר הראשון = the first book

Here ראשונה matches אות, and הראשון matches ספר.

Because in Hebrew, when a noun + adjective (or ordinal) are both definite, both usually take the definite article.

So:

• אות ראשונה = a first letter
• האות הראשונה = the first letter

This is a very common Hebrew pattern. English uses the only once, but Hebrew usually marks definiteness on both words.

For example:

• הילד הטוב = the good boy
• הבית הגדול = the big house

Because the preposition ב meaning in attaches directly to the following word.

So:

• ב + מילה → במילה

This is normal in Hebrew. Several short prepositions attach this way, especially:

• ב = in
• ל = to
• כ = as / like
• מ = from

For example:

• בבית = in a house / in the house
• לילד = to a boy / to the boy
• מהספר = from the book

In unpointed Hebrew, במילה can represent either one.

That is because:

• ב + מילה = in a word
• ב + ה + מילה = in the word

When vowel points are omitted, both are written the same way: במילה.

So you decide from context.

In this sentence, the intended meaning is usually in the word, if a specific word is being discussed. But without context, the spelling alone does not completely settle it.

No. אות can also mean sign or symbol in other contexts.

But in this sentence, because it is followed by ראשונה and connected with מילה, it clearly means letter.

So here:

• האות הראשונה במילה = the first letter in the word

not:

• the first sign

The verb מדגישה comes from להדגיש, whose root is ד-ג-ש.

That root is related to the idea of stress, emphasis, or marking strongly. It is also connected historically to the noun דגש, the dot used in some Hebrew letters.

So learners sometimes find this verb easy to remember:

• דגש = emphasis / stress / dagesh
• להדגיש = to emphasize

Yes, it is a very natural sentence.

It sounds like something you might hear in a classroom, especially in a lesson about reading, pronunciation, spelling, or grammar.

Depending on context, מדגישה could mean the teacher is:

• stressing the first letter when pronouncing the word
• drawing attention to it visually
• highlighting it for explanation

So the sentence is grammatically normal and semantically natural.