היא מתעקשת לבוא גם כשהיא עייפה, ואני לא מצליח לשכנע אותה לנוח בבית.

Breakdown of היא מתעקשת לבוא גם כשהיא עייפה, ואני לא מצליח לשכנע אותה לנוח בבית.

אני
I
היא
she
ו
and
לא
not
בית
home
לבוא
to come
ב
at
עייף
tired
כש
when
לנוח
to rest
גם
even
להצליח
to manage
אותה
her
להתעקש
to insist
לשכנע
to convince

Questions & Answers about היא מתעקשת לבוא גם כשהיא עייפה, ואני לא מצליח לשכנע אותה לנוח בבית.

What does מתעקשת mean grammatically, and what form should I look up in a dictionary?

מתעקשת is the present tense, feminine singular form of להתעקש, meaning to insist.

So:

  • dictionary form: להתעקש
  • this sentence’s form: מתעקשת = she insists / is insisting

It agrees with היא, which is feminine singular.

Why is לבוא used after מתעקשת?

In Hebrew, להתעקש is often followed by an infinitive to say what someone insists on doing.

So:

  • מתעקשת לבוא = insists on coming

English often uses on + -ing here, but Hebrew usually uses verb + infinitive:

  • הוא מתעקש ללכת = he insists on going
  • היא מתעקשת לבוא = she insists on coming
What does גם mean here? Is it also or even?

Literally, גם often means also / too, but in this sentence it is best understood as even.

So:

  • גם כשהיא עייפה = even when she is tired

That is a very natural use of גם before a time clause.

What is כשהיא, and how is it built?

כשהיא is made of:

  • כש = when
  • היא = she

So כשהיא literally means when she.

You can think of כש as a short everyday form of כאשר.

Where is the word is in כשהיא עייפה?

Hebrew usually does not use a separate word for am / is / are in the present tense.

So:

  • היא עייפה literally looks like she tired
  • but it means she is tired

That is completely normal Hebrew.

Why do we need היא again in כשהיא עייפה?

Because כשהיא עייפה is a full clause meaning when she is tired.

Hebrew normally says:

  • היא עייפה = she is tired

So after כש, you still keep the subject:

  • כשהיא עייפה = when she is tired
Why is it עייפה and not עייף?

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

Here the subject is היא = she, so the adjective must be feminine singular:

  • עייפה = feminine singular
  • עייף = masculine singular

Compare:

  • היא עייפה = she is tired
  • הוא עייף = he is tired
Why does the sentence say לא מצליח instead of לא יכול?

לא מצליח means I’m not succeeding / I can’t manage, while לא יכול means more simply I can’t.

So:

  • אני לא מצליח לשכנע אותה = I can’t manage to persuade her / I’m not succeeding in persuading her
  • אני לא יכול לשכנע אותה would sound more like I am unable to persuade her

In this sentence, לא מצליח suggests effort and unsuccessful attempts, which fits the meaning well.

What does לשכנע mean, and why is it followed by אותה directly?

לשכנע means to persuade or to convince.

It takes a direct object, so Hebrew says:

  • לשכנע אותה = to persuade her

There is no extra preposition here. This is just like English:

  • convince her not
  • convince to her
What exactly is אותה?

אותה means her as a direct object.

So:

  • אני משכנע אותה = I persuade her
  • אני לא מצליח לשכנע אותה = I can’t persuade her

It refers back to היא earlier in the sentence.

Why do לבוא, לשכנע, and לנוח all start with ל-?

Because these are infinitives.

In Hebrew, the infinitive usually begins with ל-, which often corresponds to English to:

  • לבוא = to come
  • לשכנע = to persuade
  • לנוח = to rest

So Hebrew builds the idea of to + verb into one word.

Why is בבית one word, and what does it mean here?

Hebrew attaches short prepositions like ב (in / at) directly to the following word.

So:

  • ב + ביתבבית

In this sentence, בבית means at home.

So:

  • לנוח בבית = to rest at home
What is the role of ו in ואני?

ו means and.

So:

  • ואני = and I

The sentence has two main parts joined together:

  • היא מתעקשת לבוא גם כשהיא עייפה
  • ואני לא מצליח לשכנע אותה לנוח בבית

So the whole sentence is basically:

  • She insists on coming even when she is tired, and I can’t persuade her to rest at home.
What is the basic word order of the sentence?

The sentence uses very normal Hebrew word order: subject + verb + rest of sentence.

First clause:

  • היא = subject
  • מתעקשת = verb
  • לבוא = infinitive complement
  • גם כשהיא עייפה = time clause

Second clause:

  • ואני = subject
  • לא מצליח = verb phrase
  • לשכנע אותה = infinitive + object
  • לנוח בבית = what she should do

So overall, the structure is quite straightforward and natural.

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