Questions & Answers about את רוצה את זאת, או את ההיא?
Why are there so many instances of את in this sentence?
Because את is doing two different jobs here:
- The first את is the pronoun you when speaking to one female. It is pronounced at.
- The other two את words are the direct object marker, pronounced et.
So in:
- את רוצה = you (fem. sg.) want
- את זאת = this one as a direct object
- את ההיא = that one as a direct object
This is a very common source of confusion because the spelling is the same, but the grammar and pronunciation are different.
Why is רוצה in this form?
רוצה here agrees with a singular female subject.
So the sentence is addressed to one woman/girl:
- את רוצה = you (feminine singular) want
Other common forms would be:
- אתה רוצה = you (masculine singular) want
- אתן רוצות = you (feminine plural) want
- אתם רוצים = you (masculine plural) want
In Hebrew, verbs in the present tense show gender and number, but not person as clearly as English does.