בבוקר אני שוטפת את השיער עם שמפו חדש.

Breakdown of בבוקר אני שוטפת את השיער עם שמפו חדש.

אני
I
חדש
new
ב
in
עם
with
את
direct object marker
בוקר
morning
לשטוף
to wash
שיער
hair
שמפו
shampoo

Questions & Answers about בבוקר אני שוטפת את השיער עם שמפו חדש.

Why are there two ב letters in בבוקר?

Because one ב is the preposition ב־ meaning in / at, and the second ב is just the first letter of בוקר (morning).

Hebrew attaches short prepositions directly to the next word, so ב־ + בוקר becomes בבוקר.

In unpointed Hebrew, בבוקר can represent more than one pronunciation, but here it is understood as in the morning.

Why is אני included? Can it be left out?

Yes, it can often be left out.

Hebrew frequently drops subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context. But in the present tense, שוטפת only tells you feminine singular. It could mean I wash, you wash (to a woman), or she washes, depending on context.

So אני is included here to make it clearly mean I.

Why is the verb שוטפת and not שוטף?

Because the speaker is female.

In the Hebrew present tense, verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

  • שוטף = masculine singular
  • שוטפת = feminine singular

So:

  • אני שוטפת = I wash / I am washing said by a woman
  • אני שוטף = the same thing said by a man
What is the dictionary form of שוטפת, and can it mean both wash and am washing?

The dictionary form is לשטוףto wash / to rinse.

The form שוטפת is the feminine singular present form. In Hebrew, the present tense can cover both:

  • I wash
  • I am washing

Hebrew does not normally make the same simple-present vs. present-progressive distinction that English does.

What is את doing before השיער?

Here את is the direct object marker.

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object, and השיער is definite because it has ה־ (the). So את השיער is grammatically required here.

This את is not translated into English. It is also different from the pronoun את meaning you (feminine singular), even though they are spelled the same.

Why does Hebrew say את השיער literally the hair instead of my hair?

Because Hebrew often uses the definite form with body parts when the possessor is obvious from context.

So אני שוטפת את השיער naturally means I wash my hair, not I wash the hair in some general sense.

If you want to be extra explicit, you can say:

  • אני שוטפת את השיער שלי

But in many cases, that sounds unnecessary.

Why is it שמפו חדש and not חדש שמפו?

Because in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

  • שמפו חדש = new shampoo

The adjective also has to agree with the noun in gender and number. שמפו is usually treated as masculine singular, so the adjective is חדש.

If the noun were definite, the adjective would be definite too:

  • השמפו החדש = the new shampoo
Can I also say בשמפו חדש instead of עם שמפו חדש?

Yes, often you can.

  • עם literally means with
  • ב־ can also be used for the means/material/instrument used to do something

So both of these can work:

  • עם שמפו חדש
  • בשמפו חדש

עם שמפו חדש is very transparent for an English speaker. בשמפו חדש can sound especially natural in Hebrew when talking about using a product.

Is שוטפת את השיער the most natural way to say this, or is there a more specific verb?

It is understandable and perfectly fine, especially because the sentence already mentions שמפו.

But Hebrew also has the more specific verb לחפוף, which means to wash/shampoo hair. So many speakers might also say:

  • בבוקר אני חופפת את השיער עם שמפו חדש.

A simple way to think about it:

  • לשטוף = wash / rinse more generally
  • לחפוף = wash/shampoo hair more specifically
Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Hebrew word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence begins with בבוקר to put the time first:

  • בבוקר אני שוטפת את השיער עם שמפו חדש.

You could also say:

  • אני שוטפת את השיער בבוקר עם שמפו חדש.

Both are grammatical. Starting with בבוקר just gives a little more emphasis to when the action happens.

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