המנהלת לא דורשת תשובה מיד, אבל היא כן דורשת שניתן תשובה כנה וברורה עד מחר.

המנהלת means the female manager / director / principal, depending on context.

• ה־ = the
• מנהלת is the feminine form of מנהל

The ending -ת is a very common feminine ending in Hebrew nouns and present-tense verb forms.

Both are possible, but לא דורשת is the normal, everyday way to say does not require in modern Hebrew.

• לא is the usual negation word
• אינה is more formal or literary

So this sentence sounds natural and modern.

דורשת is the feminine singular present-tense form of לדרוש.

In this sentence, it means requires, demands, or insists on. It is stronger than a polite request. So the manager is not just asking casually; she is setting a requirement.

Because תשובה here is indefinite: an answer, not the answer.

Compare:

• תשובה = an answer
• התשובה = the answer

So לא דורשת תשובה מיד means she does not require an answer immediately, not necessarily one specific previously mentioned answer.

מיד means immediately, right away, or at once.

In Hebrew, adverbs like this are often placed after the noun or object they relate to, so דורשת תשובה מיד is very natural. Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this placement sounds normal and clear.

Here כן is an emphatic word. It does not mean simple yes by itself; it means something like:

• does in fact
• does indeed
• does actually

So the contrast is:

• she does not require an answer immediately
• but she does require that we give an honest and clear answer by tomorrow

The כן adds emphasis to the contrast.

Hebrew often leaves the subject inside the verb, so in some contexts a subject pronoun can be omitted. But here היא is useful because it strengthens the contrast after אבל.

So אבל היא כן דורשת feels clearer and more emphatic than just אבל כן דורשת. In English, it is a bit like stressing but she does require...

Because the sentence is saying she requires that we give..., not just she requires giving...

• ש־ introduces a full clause: that
• ניתן is the verb inside that clause: we will give / we give

So דורשת שניתן תשובה... means she requires that we give an answer...

If you used לתת, the structure would be different and would not express the same idea as naturally here.

This is very common in Hebrew.

The main verb דורשת is present tense because it describes her current position: she is requiring something now. But the action of giving the answer is supposed to happen later, so Hebrew uses the future form ניתן.

So the idea is:

• now: she requires
• later: we give the answer

English often does something similar: She requires that we give...

Yes, in this sentence it means that we give.

You are right that ניתן can be confusing, because the same written form can appear in other meanings too. But here the context makes it clear:

• דורשת שניתן תשובה = requires that we give an answer

That is the future first-person plural form of לתת. The other possible meanings of ניתן do not fit this sentence naturally.

Because they describe תשובה, and תשובה is a feminine singular noun.

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

• תשובה כנה וברורה = a feminine singular answer that is honest and clear
• masculine singular would look different, for example ברור

So this is standard adjective agreement.

Because in Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• תשובה כנה = an honest answer
• תשובה ברורה = a clear answer

This is one of the basic word-order differences from English.

In this sentence, it most naturally means by tomorrow.

With deadlines, עד מחר usually means the action must be completed no later than tomorrow. Literally it can also mean until tomorrow, but in this context the intended meaning is clearly a deadline.

Yes. This is a very common Hebrew contrast pattern.

The sentence first denies one thing:

• לא דורשת תשובה מיד = she does not require an answer immediately

Then it strongly affirms a different thing:

• אבל היא כן דורשת... = but she definitely does require...

So the overall effect is: not this, but definitely that.