Breakdown of הדלפק שלנו נסגר בעוד עשר דקות, אז בוא נמהר קצת.
Questions & Answers about הדלפק שלנו נסגר בעוד עשר דקות, אז בוא נמהר קצת.
Why is it הדלפק and not just דלפק?
Because ה־ is the definite article, meaning the.
- דלפק = counter / desk
- הדלפק = the counter / the desk
In this sentence, the speaker means a specific counter that both speaker and listener know about, so Hebrew uses הדלפק.
What does שלנו mean, and why does it come after the noun?
שלנו means our / ours.
In Hebrew, possession like our desk is often expressed as:
- הדלפק שלנו = literally the desk of-us = our desk
This is very normal Hebrew word order. Unlike English, where possession usually comes before the noun (our desk), Hebrew often puts the possessive word after it:
- הספר שלי = my book
- הבית שלהם = their house
- הדלפק שלנו = our counter
Why is נסגר used here? Does it mean closes, is closed, or is closing?
נסגר comes from the verb להיסגר / להסגר? Actually, in common modern Hebrew this form is from להיסגר in the sense to close / to be closed.
Here, נסגר means closes / is closing.
So:
- הדלפק שלנו נסגר = our counter closes / is closing
A useful thing to know is that Hebrew present tense often covers several English ideas:
- simple present: closes
- present progressive: is closing
- sometimes even near future, especially for schedules or expected events
So in this sentence, נסגר בעוד עשר דקות naturally means closes in ten minutes.
Why is a present-tense form used for something that happens in the future?
Because Hebrew often uses the present tense for scheduled or expected future events, much like English does in sentences such as:
- The train leaves in five minutes.
- The store closes at six.
So:
- הדלפק שלנו נסגר בעוד עשר דקות
means something like
Our counter closes in ten minutes
This sounds very natural in Hebrew.
A future form such as ייסגר is possible in some contexts, but נסגר is very common and natural here.
What does בעוד mean here?
Here בעוד means in, as in in ten minutes.
- בעוד דקה = in a minute
- בעוד שעה = in an hour
- בעוד עשר דקות = in ten minutes
So it marks time remaining before something happens.
What is the difference between בעוד and בתוך for in ten minutes?
Both can sometimes be translated as in, but בעוד is especially common when talking about time remaining until something happens.
- בעוד עשר דקות = in ten minutes
- בתוך עשר דקות can also mean within ten minutes or in ten minutes, depending on context
In this sentence, בעוד עשר דקות is the most natural choice for the counter closes in ten minutes.
Why is it עשר דקות and not עשרה דקות?
Because דקות is a feminine noun, and Hebrew numbers 3–10 show gender agreement in a way that often feels backwards to English speakers.
The singular is:
- דקה = minute (feminine)
So with a feminine noun, you use:
- עשר דקות = ten minutes
Compare:
- עשרה ספרים = ten books
because ספרים is masculine
This number system is one of the classic tricky points in Hebrew.
Why is דקות plural?
Because the sentence says ten minutes, so minute has to be plural.
- דקה = minute
- דקות = minutes
So:
- עוד דקה = one more minute / in a minute
- בעוד עשר דקות = in ten minutes
What does אז mean here?
אז here means so.
The sentence structure is:
- הדלפק שלנו נסגר בעוד עשר דקות = Our counter closes in ten minutes
- אז = so
- בוא נמהר קצת = let’s hurry a little
So אז connects the two ideas: the counter is closing soon, so let’s hurry a bit.
Depending on context, אז can also mean then, but here so is the best fit.
Why does the sentence say בוא נמהר? Doesn’t בוא literally mean come?
Yes, literally בוא means come when speaking to one male.
But very often in Hebrew, בוא / בואי / בואו is used idiomatically to mean something like:
- come on, let’s...
- let’s...
So:
- בוא נמהר = literally come, let us hurry
- natural English: let’s hurry
This is a very common Hebrew pattern.
Examples:
- בוא נלך = let’s go
- בוא נראה = let’s see
- בוא נתחיל = let’s start
Why is it בוא and not בואי or בואו?
That depends on who is being addressed.
- בוא = to one male
- בואי = to one female
- בואו = to more than one person
So this sentence is addressed to:
- one male listener, or
- sometimes informally to a general listener in certain contexts
If speaking to one woman, you would usually say:
- בואי נמהר קצת
If speaking to several people:
- בואו נמהר קצת
What form is נמהר?
נמהר is the first person plural future form of למהר (to hurry).
So:
- אני אמהר = I will hurry
- אתה תמהר = you will hurry
- אנחנו נמהר = we will hurry
In the phrase בוא נמהר, Hebrew uses this we form after בוא to express let’s hurry.
This is very common:
- בוא נאכל = let’s eat
- בוא נשב = let’s sit
- בוא נמהר = let’s hurry
Why doesn’t Hebrew use a special word for let’s, like English does?
Because Hebrew usually expresses let’s with a construction like:
- בוא + first person plural future
So instead of one separate word meaning let’s, Hebrew often says something structurally closer to:
- come, we will...
For example:
- בוא נלך = let’s go
- בוא נתחיל = let’s begin
- בוא נמהר = let’s hurry
That is just how Hebrew normally builds this idea.
What does קצת mean here?
קצת means a little / a bit.
So:
- נמהר קצת = let’s hurry a bit
It softens the statement. Instead of sounding too sharp or forceful, it makes it a little more natural and conversational.
Other examples:
- חכה קצת = wait a bit
- תאכל קצת = eat a little
- נדבר קצת = let’s talk a bit
Is נמהר קצת the same as נמהר מהר?
No.
- נמהר קצת = let’s hurry a bit
- נמהר מהר would literally be something like let’s hurry quickly, which sounds awkward and unnatural
The verb למהר already means to hurry, so adding מהר (quickly / fast) is usually unnecessary.
קצת works naturally because it modifies the degree of urgency, not the speed word-for-word.
Could דלפק mean something other than a counter?
Yes. דלפק can mean:
- counter
- desk
- service desk
- front desk
- check-in counter
The exact meaning depends on context.
So in this sentence, הדלפק שלנו might refer to:
- a reception desk
- an information counter
- a check-in counter
- another service desk
How would this sentence sound if spoken to a woman?
You would usually change בוא to בואי:
- הדלפק שלנו נסגר בעוד עשר דקות, אז בואי נמהר קצת.
Everything else can stay the same.
That’s because בוא / בואי / בואו changes according to the person or people being addressed.
How would this sentence sound if spoken to several people?
You would use בואו:
- הדלפק שלנו נסגר בעוד עשר דקות, אז בואו נמהר קצת.
Again, the rest of the sentence stays the same.
So:
- בוא נמהר = speaking to one male
- בואי נמהר = speaking to one female
- בואו נמהר = speaking to a group
Where is the stress in some of the key words?
A learner might hear the stress like this:
- הַדֶּלְפָּק — stress on the last syllable
- שֶׁלָּנוּ — stress on נוּ
- נִסְגָּר — stress on the last syllable
- בְּעוֹד — usually one syllabic unit with stress on עוד
- דַּקּוֹת — stress on the last syllable
- בּוֹא — one stressed syllable
- נְמַהֵר — stress on the last syllable
- קְצָת — stress on the last syllable
Stress matters because it helps your Hebrew sound more natural.
Is this sentence formal or conversational?
It is mostly natural everyday Hebrew.
A few things make it conversational:
- אז = so
- בוא נמהר קצת = a natural spoken way to say let’s hurry a bit
- present tense נסגר for a near-future scheduled event is also very natural
So this is the kind of sentence you could easily hear in real life.
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