אנחנו לא נוסעות דרך הרחוב הגדול, אלא דרך הסמטה ליד המזרקה.

Because Hebrew verbs in the present tense agree with the gender and number of the subject.

• אנחנו = we
• נוסעות = travel / go for a female plural group

So this sentence is being said by a group of נשים, or by a speaker speaking about a group made up only of females.

If the group were all male, or mixed male and female, Hebrew would normally use:

• אנחנו לא נוסעים...

That is one of the big differences from English: we does not show gender in English, but Hebrew often does.

נוסעות is the feminine plural present form of the verb לנסוע, which usually means to travel, to go, or to ride/drive, depending on context.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• we are going
• we travel
• we are passing

Because the sentence talks about taking one route instead of another, נוסעות is best understood as going/traveling.

This is a very common Hebrew pattern meaning:

• not ..., but rather ...
• not ..., but ... instead

So:

• לא נוסעות דרך הרחוב הגדול, אלא דרך הסמטה... = we are not going through the big street, but rather through the alley...

This is more specific than plain אבל.

• אבל = but
• אלא = but rather / instead

When correcting or replacing one option with another, אלא is often the better choice.

Here דרך means through, by way of, or via.

So:

• דרך הרחוב הגדול = through the big street
• דרך הסמטה = through the alley

It is repeated because each route is stated separately:

• not through the big street,
• but through the alley.

Hebrew often repeats the preposition when contrasting two full alternatives. That makes the sentence clear and balanced:

• דרך הרחוב הגדול, אלא דרך הסמטה

This is very natural Hebrew. Omitting the second דרך would sound less neat here.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• רחוב גדול = a big street
• הרחוב הגדול = the big street

The order is:

• noun first
• adjective second

That is different from English, where adjectives usually come before the noun.

Because when a noun is definite in Hebrew, its adjective must also be definite.

So:

• רחוב גדול = a big street
• הרחוב הגדול = the big street

Both parts need to match in definiteness.

The same rule applies throughout Hebrew adjective phrases.

Yes. סמטה means alley / lane, and it is a feminine noun.

That is why, if you described it with an adjective, the adjective would also need to be feminine. For example:

• סמטה צרה = a narrow alley
• הסמטה הצרה = the narrow alley

In your sentence, there is no adjective after הסמטה, but it is still useful to know that the noun itself is feminine.

ליד means next to, beside, or near.

So:

• ליד המזרקה = next to the fountain

A useful point: ליד is written as a separate word, unlike some one-letter prepositions such as ב־, ל־, and כ־.

So you say:

• ליד המזרקה

not as one attached word.

Because ליד already functions as a preposition by itself: next to / beside / near.

Hebrew often uses a preposition directly before a noun phrase without needing an extra word like English of.

So:

• ליד הבית = next to the house
• ליד המזרקה = next to the fountain

Yes, often it can.

Hebrew frequently drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear. So you could say:

• לא נוסעות דרך הרחוב הגדול, אלא דרך הסמטה ליד המזרקה.

That would still be understandable.

However, keeping אנחנו can add clarity, emphasis, or a more natural conversational feel depending on context.

Because there is no direct object here.

The sentence is built around movement and route phrases:

• דרך הרחוב הגדול
• דרך הסמטה
• ליד המזרקה

These are prepositional phrases, not direct objects. The marker את is used before definite direct objects, not after prepositions like דרך or ליד.

Here are the nouns and their grammatical genders:

• רחוב = street — masculine
• סמטה = alley/lane — feminine
• מזרקה = fountain — feminine

This matters because adjectives and sometimes verbs must agree with noun gender.

For example:

• הרחוב הגדול — masculine noun + masculine adjective
• if you described הסמטה, the adjective would be feminine

Sometimes learners want to replace אלא with אבל, but here אלא is better.

• לא ... אלא ... is the standard pattern for not X, but rather Y
• אבל is a more general but

So this sentence is making a correction or replacement:

• not one route,
• but another route instead

That is exactly the kind of contrast where אלא fits naturally.

Yes. נוסעות is a present-tense form.

Hebrew present tense often covers several English ideas, depending on context:

• we travel
• we are traveling
• we go

So the exact English translation depends on the situation, but grammatically this is the Hebrew present.