הילדים מתגעגעים לסבתא, אבל הם מסרבים ללכת לישון מוקדם.

הילדים is made of:

• ה־ = the
• ילדים = children / boys in masculine plural form

So הילדים literally means the children.

The singular is:

• ילד = boy / child
• הילד = the boy / the child

The feminine forms are:

• ילדה = girl
• הילדה = the girl
• ילדות = girls
• הילדות = the girls

In mixed groups, Hebrew normally uses the masculine plural, so הילדים can also mean the children in a general sense.

מתגעגעים is a present-tense verb meaning miss / are missing / long for.

The ending ־ים shows that the subject is:

• masculine plural

That matches הילדים, which is grammatically masculine plural.

A few related forms:

• מתגעגע = masculine singular
• מתגעגעת = feminine singular
• מתגעגעים = masculine plural
• מתגעגעות = feminine plural

So because the subject is הילדים, the verb must be מתגעגעים.

In Hebrew, the present tense often covers what English expresses with the simple present.

So:

• הילדים מתגעגעים לסבתא = The children miss Grandma / The children are missing Grandma

Hebrew present tense does not distinguish as sharply between miss and are missing the way English sometimes does. The context tells you which sounds most natural in translation.

The verb להתגעגע usually takes the preposition ל־, which often means to.

So:

• מתגעגע ל... = misses / longs for...

That is why you get:

• לסבתא = to Grandma in form, but naturally translated as Grandma

This is very common in Hebrew: some verbs require a specific preposition even if English does not.

Examples:

• אני מתגעגע לחבר שלי = I miss my friend
• היא מתגעגעת לבית = She misses home

Because Hebrew often contracts the preposition ל־ with the definite article ה־.

So:

• ל + ה + סבתא becomes לסבתא

This is a standard pattern:

• לבית = to the house
• לילד = to the boy
• לסבתא = to Grandma / to the grandmother

The ה of the article usually disappears after certain prepositions, and the word takes a dagesh or just a merged form in pronunciation/spelling.

Similar contractions happen with:

• ב + ה → בַ / בּ...
• כ + ה → כַ / כּ...
• ל + ה → לַ / ל...

סבתא means grandmother / grandma.

When it is definite, Hebrew can say:

• הסבתא = the grandmother

But after the preposition ל־, the ה־ article is absorbed into the preposition:

• לסבתא = to the grandmother / to Grandma

So even though you do not see a separate ה, the noun is still understood as definite in this form.

Also, with family words like סבתא, Hebrew often uses them almost like names, so לסבתא naturally sounds like to Grandma.

Yes, Hebrew often can leave it out.

Since מסרבים already tells you the subject is they masculine plural, the sentence could be:

• הילדים מתגעגעים לסבתא, אבל מסרבים ללכת לישון מוקדם.

That is grammatical.

But adding הם can make the sentence:

• clearer
• slightly more emphatic
• more natural after אבל in some contexts

So אבל הם מסרבים... feels a bit like but they refuse...

Hebrew often includes subject pronouns for emphasis or contrast, even when the verb already shows the person/number.

מסרבים means refuse / are refusing.

Like מתגעגעים, it is a present-tense masculine plural form.

Related forms:

• מסרב = he refuses
• מסרבת = she refuses
• מסרבים = they refuse (masculine/mixed)
• מסרבות = they refuse (feminine)

The dictionary form is usually given as:

• לסרב = to refuse

So in the sentence:

• הם מסרבים = they refuse

Because Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive after verbs like want, can, begin, like, refuse, and so on.

Here:

• ללכת = to go

So:

• מסרבים ללכת = refuse to go

The form ללכת is the infinitive of הלך.

It begins with ל־, which is the normal marker of many Hebrew infinitives, similar to English to.

So you can think of:

• ללכת = to go
• לישון = to sleep

This is because the infinitive of הלך is irregular.

The base infinitive is:

• ללכת = to go

It is simply the correct dictionary form; the doubled ל is not a separate extra word. Hebrew learners often notice it because it looks unusual.

A few common infinitives for comparison:

• ללכת = to go
• לשבת = to sit
• לאכול = to eat
• לישון = to sleep

So here, ללכת is just the normal infinitive form you need to memorize.

It is literally:

• ללכת = to go
• לישון = to sleep

So literally, to go to sleep.

But in many everyday contexts, ללכת לישון is the normal way to say:

• go to sleep
• go to bed

In this sentence, because of מוקדם meaning early, the natural English idea is often:

• refuse to go to bed early

So the Hebrew phrase covers the same everyday meaning.

Hebrew often uses a verb + infinitive where English might use a noun phrase.

So instead of saying something exactly like go to bed, Hebrew commonly says:

• ללכת לישון = go to sleep / go to bed

This is a very natural Hebrew expression.

Another common one is:

• הלך לישון = he went to sleep / he went to bed

So even if the English translation uses bed, the Hebrew structure is perfectly normal.

No, because מוקדם here is functioning like an adverb, not an adjective describing the children.

It means:

• early

It describes when they go to sleep, not what the children are like.

So:

• ללכת לישון מוקדם = to go to sleep early

Since it is adverb-like here, it stays מוקדם.

Compare:

• הילדים קמים מוקדם = The children get up early
• הילד עייף מוקדם בערב = The child gets tired early in the evening

But if you were using an adjective to describe a plural noun, then agreement would matter.

In most everyday cases, yes.

• אבל = but

It is the common neutral word for contrast.

In this sentence:

• הילדים מתגעגעים לסבתא, אבל הם מסרבים...
• The children miss Grandma, but they refuse...

Hebrew also has other ways to express contrast in more formal or literary language, but אבל is the normal everyday choice.

Yes. Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, though not completely free.

The given sentence is very natural:

• הילדים מתגעגעים לסבתא, אבל הם מסרבים ללכת לישון מוקדם.

You might also hear variations for emphasis, such as:

• אבל הם מסרבים ללכת לישון מוקדם after the first clause, as written
• less commonly, moving parts around for emphasis in speech

Still, for learners, the original order is the safest and most standard:

1. subject
2. verb
3. object/complement
4. contrast word
5. second clause

Then the nouns and verbs would change to feminine plural forms.

For example:

• הילדות מתגעגעות לסבתא, אבל הן מסרבות ללכת לישון מוקדם.

Changes:

• הילדים → הילדות
• מתגעגעים → מתגעגעות
• הם → הן
• מסרבים → מסרבות

This is a good example of how Hebrew verbs in the present tense agree with gender and number.