בדרך הביתה ראינו שהרבה מכוניות כבר חונות שם, ולכן בחרנו לא לנהוג לשם מחר.

בדרך literally means on the way or on the road/path. It is made from:

• ב־ = in / on / during
• דרך = way / road

So בדרך means on the way.

Then הביתה means homeward / home in the sense of movement toward home. Together, בדרך הביתה means on the way home.

This is a very common Hebrew expression.

The form הביתה uses the old directional ־ה ending, sometimes called the directional heh. It adds the idea of toward a place.

So:

• הבית = the house / the home
• הביתה = homeward / to home
• לבית = to a house / to the house, depending on context

In modern Hebrew, הביתה is a fixed, very common word meaning home in the sense of motion toward home.

Compare:

• אני בבית = I am at home
• אני הולך הביתה = I am going home

So in בדרך הביתה, the idea is specifically on the way home.

The ש here is short for ש־, meaning that.

So:

• ראינו ש... = we saw that...

It introduces a clause after the verb ראינו.

Examples:

• ידעתי שהוא כאן = I knew that he was here
• שמענו שהיא מגיעה = we heard that she is arriving
• ראינו שהרבה מכוניות כבר חונות שם = we saw that many cars were already parked there

In everyday Hebrew, this ש־ is extremely common.

In normal modern Hebrew, הרבה usually comes before the noun when it means many / a lot of:

• הרבה אנשים = many people
• הרבה זמן = a lot of time
• הרבה מכוניות = many cars

So הרבה מכוניות is the natural word order.

Hebrew also has a more formal/literary option with the adjective after the noun:

• מכוניות רבות = many cars

That is also correct, but it sounds more formal or written. In everyday speech, הרבה מכוניות is more common.

Because it agrees with מכוניות, which is a feminine plural noun.

• מכונית = car (feminine singular)
• מכוניות = cars (feminine plural)

So the participle/adjective must match:

• חונה = feminine singular
• חונות = feminine plural

That is why the sentence says:

• הרבה מכוניות כבר חונות שם

Agreement in Hebrew is very important with adjectives and participles.

Here it means parked.

The word חונות is the feminine plural present participle of לחנות (to park). In Hebrew, present participles often work like:

• a present-tense verb
• an adjective
• a description of a state

So מכוניות חונות can mean cars that are parked or cars are parked, depending on context.

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly stative:

• הרבה מכוניות כבר חונות שם = many cars are already parked there

So although the form comes from the verb to park, the natural English translation here is parked, not parking.

כבר means already.

It shows that the situation existed before the relevant time. So:

• הרבה מכוניות חונות שם = many cars are parked there
• הרבה מכוניות כבר חונות שם = many cars are already parked there

That already helps explain the logic of the next part: because many cars were already there, they decided not to drive there tomorrow.

This is an important distinction:

• שם = there
• לשם = to there / to that place

So:

• חונות שם = parked there
• לנהוג לשם = to drive there

Hebrew often uses לשם when there is motion toward a place.

Compare:

• הם גרים שם = they live there
• אנחנו נוסעים לשם = we are traveling there

In your sentence, both appear:

• שם because the cars are located there
• לשם because driving involves movement to that place

ולכן means and therefore / and so / therefore.

It is made of:

• ו־ = and
• לכן = therefore

So it connects the first clause to the conclusion in a slightly more formal or explicit way than אז.

Compare:

• אז = so, very common and conversational
• ולכן = therefore / and therefore, a bit more explicit or slightly more formal

In this sentence, ולכן clearly shows cause and result:

1. We saw many cars were already parked there.
2. Therefore, we chose not to drive there tomorrow.

After verbs like בחרנו (we chose), Hebrew often uses:

• לא + infinitive

So:

• בחרנו לנהוג = we chose to drive
• בחרנו לא לנהוג = we chose not to drive

This is very common Hebrew structure.

More examples:

• החלטתי לא ללכת = I decided not to go
• הם ניסו לא לדבר = they tried not to speak
• בחרנו לא לנהוג = we chose not to drive

So לא negates the infinitive לנהוג.

Both can be possible, but they are not identical.

• לנהוג = to drive
• לנסוע = to travel / go by vehicle / ride

So בחרנו לא לנהוג לשם מחר specifically means we chose not to drive there tomorrow. It focuses on the act of driving.

If the sentence had לא לנסוע לשם מחר, it would mean we chose not to go/travel there tomorrow, which is a bit broader and does not necessarily say who would be driving.

So לנהוג is more specific.

Yes, מחר could appear in other places. Hebrew word order is flexible.

The sentence has:

• ולכן בחרנו לא לנהוג לשם מחר

This is natural and clear: there tomorrow.

But you could also hear:

• ולכן מחר בחרנו לא לנהוג לשם
  This is much less natural in this context.
• ולכן בחרנו מחר לא לנהוג לשם
  Possible, but a little less smooth.
• ולכן בחרנו שלא לנהוג לשם מחר
  Also very natural.

Putting מחר at the end is simple and common. It lets the sentence build naturally toward the time expression.

Yes. Both are possible.

• בחרנו לא לנהוג = we chose not to drive
• בחרנו שלא לנהוג = we chose not to drive

The version with שלא can sound a little more formal or slightly heavier, but both are normal.

Compare:

• החלטנו לא ללכת
• החלטנו שלא ללכת

Both mean we decided not to go.

So in your sentence, לא לנהוג is perfectly natural, and שלא לנהוג would also be acceptable.

This is a very common Hebrew pattern.

The main verb ראינו is past: we saw.

But after that, Hebrew often uses a present participle to describe the situation that was seen:

• ראינו שהרבה מכוניות כבר חונות שם

Literally, this is something like we saw that many cars are parked there, but in natural English it becomes we saw that many cars were already parked there.

So the Hebrew present participle חונות does not always match an English present tense. Its time is understood from context.

This is normal in Hebrew: the participle often describes a state, and the time comes from the surrounding sentence.