אם הציפור תחזור מחר, נשאיר מים ליד הקן ולא ניגע בענף.

אם means if, so it introduces a condition.

Here the idea is conditional: the bird may return tomorrow, and if that happens, then we will do something.

Hebrew would use כש for when if the speaker treats the event as expected or certain:

• אם הציפור תחזור מחר... = If the bird returns tomorrow...
• כשהציפור תחזור מחר... = When the bird returns tomorrow...

So אם is the natural choice for an open possibility.

That is a very common difference between English and Hebrew.

In modern Hebrew, with a real future condition, it is normal to use the future tense in both parts:

• אם הציפור תחזור מחר, נשאיר...
• literally: If the bird will return tomorrow, we will leave...

English usually uses:

• present in the if clause: if the bird returns
• future in the main clause: we will leave

So the Hebrew structure is normal, even though it does not match English word-for-word.

Because הציפור is grammatically feminine.

The noun ציפור is feminine singular, so the verb agrees with it:

• תחזור = she/it will return

This is grammatical gender, not biological sex. Even if you do not know whether the bird is male or female, the noun ציפור still takes feminine agreement.

The base verb is לחזור = to return / to come back.

In Hebrew, the verb itself usually tells you the subject.

In the future tense, the prefix נ־ often marks we:

• נשאיר = we will leave
• ניגע = we will touch

So Hebrew often does not need an explicit subject pronoun like אנחנו unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Hebrew uses a prefixed definite article: ה־ = the.

So:

• ציפור = a bird / bird
• הציפור = the bird
• קן = a nest / nest
• הקן = the nest

Unlike English, Hebrew does not use a separate word for the. It attaches it to the beginning of the noun.

מים is one of those Hebrew words that has a plural-looking form but usually refers to a substance, not to multiple separate countable items.

So even though it ends in ־ים, it normally just means water.

In this sentence:

• נשאיר מים = we will leave water

You can think of it as a mass noun, similar to how English water is not usually counted as one water, two waters in ordinary use.

Because את is used before a definite direct object.

Here, מים is indefinite/general:

• נשאיר מים = we will leave water

If it were specific water already known in the conversation, Hebrew could use את:

• נשאיר את המים = we will leave the water

So the absence of את tells you this is not a definite object.

ליד is a preposition meaning near, next to, or beside.

So:

• ליד הקן = near the nest / next to the nest

This is a fixed prepositional phrase:

• ליד הבית = near the house
• ליד הדלת = next to the door

It is a very common way to say physical proximity.

לא is the normal word for not in ordinary statements, including future statements.

So:

• ניגע = we will touch
• לא ניגע = we will not touch
• ולא ניגע = and we will not touch

The ו is and, attached to לא.

A useful contrast:

• לא = ordinary negation
• אל = negative command, like don’t...

So here לא is correct, because this is not a command; it is a statement about what we will not do.

The verb לגעת works with the preposition ב־ in Hebrew.

So Hebrew says:

• לגעת במשהו = to touch something

That is why you get:

• ניגע בענף

As for the missing ה: with the one-letter prepositions ב־, ל־, and כ־, the definite article ה־ often merges into them.

So in pointed Hebrew:

• בְּעָנָף = on/in a branch or a branch
• בָּעָנָף = in/on the branch or, with לגעת, the branch

But in ordinary unpointed writing, both can appear as בענף.
That means context or the provided meaning tells you whether it is a branch or the branch.