Breakdown of מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה, כי אין רמזור ליד הפנייה.
Questions & Answers about מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה, כי אין רמזור ליד הפנייה.
Why does the sentence begin with מסוכן and not זה מסוכן?
Hebrew often uses an impersonal adjective + infinitive structure to say that something is dangerous, easy, important, forbidden, and so on.
So מסוכן לחצות את הכביש literally means dangerous to cross the road, or more naturally, it is dangerous to cross the road.
English usually needs it is, but Hebrew often leaves that out.
So:
- מסוכן לחצות... = It is dangerous to cross...
- חשוב ללמוד = It is important to study
- אסור לעשן = It is forbidden to smoke
You can say זה מסוכן, but that usually means that is dangerous or this is dangerous, with more emphasis on a specific thing.
What does לחצות mean, and why is it in this form?
לחצות means to cross.
It is the infinitive form, which is the Hebrew equivalent of English to + verb.
Here it comes after מסוכן, because Hebrew often says:
- מסוכן + infinitive = dangerous to ...
- קשה + infinitive = hard to ...
- מותר + infinitive = allowed to ...
So:
- מסוכן לחצות = dangerous to cross
The ל־ at the beginning is part of the infinitive form here, not the separate preposition to/for in the ordinary sense.
Why is there an את before הכביש?
את marks a definite direct object.
In this sentence, the thing being crossed is הכביש = the road, and it is a direct object of לחצות.
So Hebrew says:
- לחצות כביש = to cross a road
- לחצות את הכביש = to cross the road
A very important rule:
- use את before a definite direct object
- do not use את before an indefinite direct object
Examples:
- אני רואה ילד = I see a boy
- אני רואה את הילד = I see the boy
Why is it הכביש and not just כביש?
ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.
So:
- כביש = a road / road
- הכביש = the road
Since the sentence refers to a specific road in the situation being described, Hebrew uses הכביש.
Because it is definite, it also triggers the use of את:
- לחצות כביש
- לחצות את הכביש
Why does Hebrew say כאן בלילה? Could the order be different?
Yes, the order can be somewhat flexible.
Here:
- כאן = here
- בלילה = at night
So כאן בלילה means here at night.
This order is very natural in Hebrew, but other orders are also possible depending on emphasis. For example:
- מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה = neutral, natural
- בלילה מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן = stronger emphasis on at night
Hebrew word order is often more flexible than English, but not random. The version in your sentence sounds normal and idiomatic.
What exactly does בלילה mean, and why is there a ב־ at the beginning?
בלילה means at night.
It is made of:
- ב־ = in / at
- לילה = night
So literally it is something like in the night, but in natural English it is usually at night.
This is very common in Hebrew with time expressions:
- ביום = during the day / by day
- בבוקר = in the morning
- בערב = in the evening
- בלילה = at night
What does כי mean here? Is it just because?
Yes. In this sentence, כי means because.
It introduces the reason:
- מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה = It is dangerous to cross the road here at night
- כי אין רמזור ליד הפנייה = because there is no traffic light near the turn
So the whole sentence gives a statement and then the reason for it.
In modern Hebrew, כי is very common for because.
How does אין work in אין רמזור?
אין means there is no / there are no / not have depending on context.
In this sentence:
- אין רמזור = there is no traffic light
Hebrew does not use a present-tense verb meaning there is in the same way English does. Instead, it often uses:
- יש = there is / there are
- אין = there is no / there are no
Examples:
- יש רמזור ליד הפנייה = There is a traffic light near the turn
- אין רמזור ליד הפנייה = There is no traffic light near the turn
So אין is a very important word in everyday Hebrew.
Why doesn’t רמזור have ה־? Why not אין הרמזור?
Because the sentence means there is no traffic light, not the traffic light does not exist.
After יש and אין, Hebrew often uses an indefinite noun when introducing whether something exists in a place:
- יש בית כאן = There is a house here
- אין חנות ברחוב הזה = There is no store on this street
So:
- אין רמזור ליד הפנייה = There is no traffic light near the turn
Using הרמזור would sound like you were talking about a specific known traffic light, which is not the basic point here.
What does ליד הפנייה mean exactly?
ליד means next to / near / by.
הפנייה means the turn or the turning in this context.
So:
- ליד הפנייה = near the turn
This tells you the location of the missing traffic light.
Examples of ליד:
- ליד הבית = near the house
- ליד בית הספר = next to the school
- ליד הפנייה = near the turn
Why is it הפנייה and not just פנייה?
Because it refers to a specific turn in the road, so Hebrew uses the definite article:
- פנייה = a turn
- הפנייה = the turn
In context, the speaker usually means a particular nearby turn or junction that both speaker and listener can identify from the situation.
Why is מסוכן masculine singular? What is it agreeing with?
In this kind of sentence, מסוכן is often used in the default masculine singular form.
That happens a lot in Hebrew with impersonal statements, especially before an infinitive:
- מסוכן לחצות = It is dangerous to cross
- קשה להבין = It is hard to understand
- מותר להיכנס = It is allowed to enter
It is not really agreeing with a visible masculine noun like הכביש. Instead, the whole action לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה is being treated as the thing that is dangerous, and Hebrew commonly uses masculine singular as the default form in that structure.
Could I use פה instead of כאן?
Yes. פה and כאן both mean here.
So you could say:
- מסוכן לחצות את הכביש פה בלילה...
- מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה...
Both are natural. Very generally:
- פה sounds a bit more conversational in many situations
- כאן can sound slightly more neutral or a bit more formal
But in everyday speech, both are common.
How would this sentence be pronounced?
A simple pronunciation guide is:
mesukán lakhatsót et hakvísh kan baláyla, ki ein ramzór leyád hapniyá
A few stress notes:
- מסוכן → stress on the last syllable: mesukÁN
- לחצות → stress on the last syllable: lakhatSOT
- הכביש → stress on the second syllable: hakVISH
- בלילה → stress on the middle syllable: baLAYla
- רמזור → stress on the last syllable: ramZOR
- הפנייה → stress on the last syllable: hapniYA
If you want to sound natural, try reading it in two chunks:
- מסוכן לחצות את הכביש כאן בלילה
- כי אין רמזור ליד הפנייה
Is this a very natural Hebrew sentence, or would native speakers say it differently?
Yes, it is natural and correct.
A native speaker might also say similar versions such as:
- מסוכן לעבור כאן את הכביש בלילה, כי אין רמזור ליד הפנייה.
- לא בטוח לחצות כאן את הכביש בלילה...
- מסוכן לחצות פה את הכביש בלילה...
But your sentence is completely normal. It sounds like something you might see in a warning, explanation, or safety-related context.
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