אני רוצה להקדים את הפגישה, כי ביום חמישי יש לי משמרת ארוכה.

Here להקדים means to move something earlier or to bring something forward.

So אני רוצה להקדים את הפגישה means I want to move the meeting earlier.

A useful thing to know is that להקדים can have a few related meanings depending on context, such as:

• to make something earlier
• to precede
• to introduce something before something else

But in this sentence, the idea is clearly rescheduling to an earlier time.

After רוצה (want), Hebrew normally uses the infinitive form of the next verb.

So:

• אני רוצה להקדים = I want to move earlier
• literally: I want to advance / bring forward

This is similar to English want to + verb.

Examples:

• אני רוצה לאכול = I want to eat
• אני רוצה ללכת = I want to go
• אני רוצה להקדים = I want to move earlier / bring forward

So להקדים is the correct infinitive after רוצה.

את is the Hebrew direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

Here, הפגישה means the meeting, which is definite, so Hebrew uses את:

• להקדים את הפגישה = to move the meeting earlier

Important: את usually does not get translated into English. It is a grammatical marker, not a separate meaning like with in this sentence.

Compare:

• אני רואה את הילד = I see the boy
• אני מקדים את הפגישה = I move the meeting earlier

ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• פגישה = a meeting
• הפגישה = the meeting

In this sentence, the speaker is referring to a specific meeting already known in context, so הפגישה is natural.

Also, once the object is definite, Hebrew normally requires את before it:

• את הפגישה

Yes, pretty much.

• ב־ = in / on
• יום = day
• חמישי = fifth

So ביום חמישי literally means on the fifth day, which is how Hebrew says on Thursday.

This is the standard and very common way to say days of the week with on:

• ביום ראשון = on Sunday
• ביום שני = on Monday
• ביום חמישי = on Thursday

In everyday speech, people may sometimes shorten things in casual contexts, but ביום חמישי is clear and standard.

Literally, יש לי means there is to me.

Hebrew often expresses possession this way instead of using a verb exactly like English to have.

So:

• יש לי משמרת = literally there is to me a shift
• natural English: I have a shift

More examples:

• יש לי ספר = I have a book
• יש לי זמן = I have time
• יש לי שאלה = I have a question

So in the sentence:

• ביום חמישי יש לי משמרת ארוכה
• On Thursday I have a long shift

Because משמרת is a feminine singular noun, and Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• משמרת = feminine singular
• ארוכה = feminine singular form of long

That is why the phrase is:

• משמרת ארוכה = a long shift

Compare the adjective forms:

• ארוך = masculine singular
• ארוכה = feminine singular
• ארוכים = masculine plural
• ארוכות = feminine plural

Also notice that in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun:

• משמרת ארוכה
• literally: shift long

In many Hebrew sentences, subject pronouns can sometimes be omitted, but here אני is very helpful and usually expected.

The reason is that רוצה is a present-tense form, and Hebrew present tense does not clearly mark person the way past and future often do.
So רוצה by itself could mean:

• I want (masculine speaker)
• he wants

Because of that, אני makes it clear that the subject is I.

So:

• אני רוצה = I want
• הוא רוצה = he wants

Without the pronoun, it would be more ambiguous.

Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, and the speaker can move parts of the sentence for emphasis or natural flow.

So:

• כי ביום חמישי יש לי משמרת ארוכה
• כי יש לי משמרת ארוכה ביום חמישי

are both possible.

Starting with ביום חמישי puts the focus early on Thursday, which makes sense because that is the scheduling problem.

So the sentence feels like:

• because on Thursday I have a long shift

rather than:

• because I have a long shift on Thursday

Both are correct; the difference is mainly emphasis and style.

כי means because here.

It introduces the reason:

• אני רוצה להקדים את הפגישה = I want to move the meeting earlier
• כי ביום חמישי יש לי משמרת ארוכה = because on Thursday I have a long shift

So כי connects the main statement with its explanation.

In other contexts, כי can sometimes mean things like that, depending on the sentence, but here it clearly means because.

A few useful points:

• אני is pronounced roughly a-NI
• רוצה is roughly ro-TSE for a masculine speaker
• להקדים is roughly le-hak-DIM
• הפגישה is roughly ha-pgi-SHA
• משמרת is roughly mish-ME-ret
• ארוכה is roughly a-ru-KHA

A couple of pronunciation notes for learners:

• The ח sound in חמישי and ארוכה is a throat/fricative sound, not an English h
• In הפגישה, the cluster פג can feel tricky because Hebrew allows consonant groupings that may feel less natural to English speakers

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but these are common spots learners notice.