ביקשתי מהחנות לקצר את זמן ההמתנה, אבל הם אמרו שאי אפשר לקצר אותו היום.

ביקשתי comes from the verb לבקש = to ask for / to request.

The ending -תי marks first person singular in the past tense, so:

• ביקשתי = I asked / I requested
• literally, it is the past form for I

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

• כתבתי = I wrote
• אמרתי = I said
• חיכיתי = I waited

So ביקשתי מהחנות... means I asked the store...

Yes, מהחנות literally means from the store, because it is made of:

• מ־ = from
• החנות = the store

But after verbs like לבקש, Hebrew often uses מ־ to mark the person or place you are asking something from.

So:

• ביקשתי מהחנות לקצר... = I asked the store to shorten...

This sounds more natural in Hebrew than trying to copy the English structure directly.

לקצר is the infinitive form of the verb לקצר = to shorten.

After ביקשתי (I asked), Hebrew often uses an infinitive to say what was requested:

• ביקשתי לעזור = I asked to help / I asked for help
• ביקשתי לחכות = I asked to wait
• ביקשתי מהחנות לקצר את זמן ההמתנה = I asked the store to shorten the waiting time

So the structure is:

• ביקשתי מ־... + infinitive
• I asked ... to ...

את marks a definite direct object.

In this sentence, the object is זמן ההמתנה = the waiting time, which is definite, so Hebrew uses את before it:

• לקצר את זמן ההמתנה = to shorten the waiting time

A useful rule:

• if the direct object is definite, Hebrew usually uses את
• if it is indefinite, usually no את

Compare:

• ראיתי ספר = I saw a book
• ראיתי את הספר = I saw the book

Here, זמן ההמתנה is definite, so את is required.

This is a very common Hebrew structure called construct state.

• זמן = time
• המתנה = waiting
• זמן ההמתנה = literally time of the waiting

In natural English, that becomes the waiting time.

The second noun often carries the ה־ definite article, and that can make the whole phrase definite:

• זמן המתנה = waiting time / a waiting time
• זמן ההמתנה = the waiting time

Other examples:

• דלת הבית = the door of the house
• מנהל החברה = the manager of the company

So זמן ההמתנה is a noun phrase meaning the waiting time.

אבל = but
הם אמרו = they said

Even though the store is singular, Hebrew often uses they when referring to the people working there, just like English can do:

• I asked the store, but they said no
• meaning: the staff, employees, or representatives of the store

So אבל הם אמרו means:

• but they said
• that is, the people at the store said

This is very natural.

ש־ means that.

So:

• שאי אפשר = that it is impossible / that one cannot

The phrase אי אפשר is a fixed expression in Hebrew meaning:

• it’s impossible
• you can’t
• it cannot be done

Examples:

• אי אפשר לדעת = it’s impossible to know
• אי אפשר להיכנס = you can’t enter
• הם אמרו שאי אפשר = they said that it’s impossible

Hebrew does not normally say אפשר לא for this meaning. The standard idiom is אי אפשר.

Because the sentence has two different clauses, and each one needs its own verb structure.

1. ביקשתי מהחנות לקצר את זמן ההמתנה

   • I asked the store to shorten the waiting time

2. הם אמרו שאי אפשר לקצר אותו היום

   • they said that it’s impossible to shorten it today

In English, you also repeat shorten:

• I asked them to shorten it, but they said it’s impossible to shorten it today.

So the repetition is completely normal.

אותו means it or him, depending on context. Here it means it.

It refers back to זמן ההמתנה = the waiting time.

The noun זמן is masculine, so the pronoun must also be masculine:

• זמן → masculine
• אותו = it for a masculine noun

If the noun were feminine, Hebrew would use אותה instead.

So:

• לקצר אותו היום = to shorten it today
• where it = the waiting time

Yes. Hebrew could say:

• ...שאי אפשר לקצר את זמן ההמתנה היום

That would also be correct.

Using אותו avoids repetition and sounds natural, just like English:

• shorten the waiting time ... shorten it today

So both are possible, but אותו is smoother because the noun was already mentioned.

היום means today.

In this sentence it modifies the second clause:

• אי אפשר לקצר אותו היום = it’s impossible to shorten it today

Putting היום at the end is very natural in Hebrew. It keeps the focus on today as the limiting condition.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, so you might also see:

• היום אי אפשר לקצר אותו
• אי אפשר היום לקצר אותו

But אי אפשר לקצר אותו היום sounds very normal and straightforward.

Usually, yes. זמן ההמתנה specifically means the waiting time or the duration of waiting.

If you just say ההמתנה, that often means the wait / the waiting itself, which is slightly broader.

Compare:

• לקצר את זמן ההמתנה = shorten the waiting time
• לקצר את ההמתנה = shorten the wait

Both can work, but זמן ההמתנה is a little more explicit and often sounds more formal or precise.

It is mostly neutral everyday Hebrew.

Parts that make it sound natural and standard:

• ביקשתי מהחנות... = normal spoken/written usage
• אבל הם אמרו... = common everyday wording
• אי אפשר... = very common idiomatic Hebrew

It is not especially slangy, and not especially literary either. It would fit normal conversation, messages, or customer-service situations very well.