Learn Hardcore Hebrew: המורה מדגישה את האות הראשונה במילה. - The teacher emphasizes the first letter in the word.

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.

What form is מדגישה?

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

Does מדגישה mean emphasizes or is emphasizing?

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.