הבנק הציע לי הלוואה קטנה, אבל הריבית הייתה גבוהה מדי.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• בנק = a bank / bank
• הבנק = the bank
• ריבית = interest / an interest rate
• הריבית = the interest / the interest rate

In Hebrew, ה־ is attached directly to the word, not written separately like English the.

הציע is the past tense, 3rd person masculine singular form of the verb להציע (to offer).

It matches הבנק (the bank), which is grammatically masculine singular in Hebrew.

So:

• הבנק הציע = the bank offered

If the subject were feminine, the verb would change:

• החברה הציעה = the company offered

Hebrew past-tense verbs usually agree with the subject in gender and number.

לי means to me.

It is made from:

• ל־ = to
• ־י = me

So:

• לי = to me
• הציע לי = offered me / offered to me

Hebrew often uses these short preposition + pronoun combinations:

• לי = to me
• לך = to you
• לו = to him
• לה = to her
• לנו = to us

Even when English says offered me, Hebrew commonly uses the equivalent of offered to me.

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object, but not before an indefinite one.

Here we have:

• הלוואה קטנה = a small loan

This phrase is indefinite, because there is no ה־ on הלוואה.

So:

• הבנק הציע לי הלוואה קטנה = correct
• not הבנק הציע לי את הלוואה קטנה

If it were the small loan, then you would use את:

• הבנק הציע לי את ההלוואה הקטנה = The bank offered me the small loan

Because adjectives in Hebrew must agree with the noun in gender and number.

הלוואה (loan) is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• קטן = small, masculine singular
• קטנה = small, feminine singular

So:

• הלוואה קטנה = a small loan

This agreement is very important in Hebrew.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So Hebrew says:

• הלוואה קטנה = literally loan small

This is the normal word order in Hebrew.

A few more examples:

• בית גדול = a big house
• מכונית חדשה = a new car
• ילד טוב = a good boy

Also, the adjective agrees with the noun in gender, number, and definiteness.

Because הריבית (the interest / the interest rate) is grammatically feminine singular.

That means both the verb and the adjective must be feminine singular:

• הייתה = was (feminine singular)
• גבוהה = high (feminine singular)

So:

• הריבית הייתה גבוהה = the interest rate was high

If the noun were masculine, you would use:

• היה גבוה

This is another example of Hebrew agreement.

Because the sentence is in the past: the interest rate was too high.

In Hebrew, in the past tense, you normally use forms of להיות (to be):

• הייתה = was (feminine singular)

So:

• הריבית הייתה גבוהה מדי = the interest rate was too high

But in the present tense, Hebrew usually does not use a word for is:

• הריבית גבוהה מדי = the interest rate is too high

So this is a useful contrast:

• present: הריבית גבוהה מדי
• past: הריבית הייתה גבוהה מדי

מדי means too in the sense of excessively.

In Hebrew, מדי usually comes after the adjective:

• גבוהה מדי = too high
• יקר מדי = too expensive
• קטן מדי = too small

That is different from English, where too comes before the adjective.

So Hebrew says:

• high too
• but it means too high

אבל means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• הבנק הציע לי הלוואה קטנה = the bank offered me a small loan
• אבל הריבית הייתה גבוהה מדי = but the interest rate was too high

So אבל works just like but in English.

A rough pronunciation is:

ha-BANK hitsi-A li hal-va-A קטנה, a-VAL ha-ri-BIT hai-TA gvo-HA mi-DAI

More carefully, word by word:

• הבנק = ha-bank
• הציע = hitsi-a
• לי = li
• הלוואה = halva-a
• קטנה = ktana
• אבל = aval
• הריבית = haribit
• הייתה = hayta
• גבוהה = gvoha
• מדי = midai

A few helpful notes:

• The stress is often near the end of the word.
• הציע has a little break between the last two vowels: hitsi-a
• הלוואה also has a vowel break at the end: halva-a

You do not need a perfect accent at first; getting the word order and agreement right is much more important.

It would sound less natural in standard Hebrew for this meaning.

The normal and natural way is:

• גבוהה מדי = too high

Using יותר מדי usually means too much / excessively, and it is often used a bit differently. For this sentence, גבוהה מדי is the best choice.

So the most natural phrasing is:

• הריבית הייתה גבוהה מדי

This sentence is a great example of several core Hebrew patterns:

1. Definite article attached to the noun

   • הבנק, הריבית

2. Past-tense verb agreeing with the subject

   • הציע matches masculine singular הבנק

3. Preposition + pronoun combination

   • לי = to me

4. No את with an indefinite direct object

   • הלוואה קטנה

5. Adjective after the noun

   • הלוואה קטנה

6. Gender agreement

   • הלוואה קטנה
   • הריבית הייתה גבוהה

7. Past form of to be

   • הייתה

8. מדי after the adjective

   • גבוהה מדי

So even though it is just one sentence, it contains a lot of very useful everyday Hebrew grammar.