כולנו מחכים ליד השער, כי הטיסה מאוחרת.

All of us are waiting by the gate, because the flight is late.

Breakdown of כולנו מחכים ליד השער, כי הטיסה מאוחרת.

• כי: because
• מאוחר: late
• ליד: by
• לחכות: to wait

Questions & Answers about כולנו מחכים ליד השער, כי הטיסה מאוחרת.

What does כולנו mean, and how is it built?

כולנו means all of us.

It is made from:

• כול = all
• ־נו = us / our

So literally, it is something like all of us.

In this sentence, כולנו מחכים means we are all waiting or all of us are waiting.

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Why is מחכים in the plural?

Because the subject is כולנו = all of us, which is plural.

Hebrew present-tense forms agree with the subject in number and often in gender:

• מחכה = waiting (masculine singular)
• מחכה = waiting (feminine singular; same spelling without vowels)
• מחכים = waiting (masculine plural)
• מחכות = waiting (feminine plural)

Since we is plural, the sentence uses מחכים.

Also, masculine plural is often used for a mixed group or when gender is unspecified.

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Why isn’t there a word for are in כולנו מחכים?