בסוף הכנו את כל הארוחה בעצמנו, בלי להזמין אוכל.

In the end we prepared the whole meal ourselves, without ordering food.

Breakdown of בסוף הכנו את כל הארוחה בעצמנו, בלי להזמין אוכל.

• את: direct object marker
• כל: all
• ארוחה: meal
• להזמין: to order

Questions & Answers about בסוף הכנו את כל הארוחה בעצמנו, בלי להזמין אוכל.

What does בסוף mean here?

בסוף literally means at the end, but in everyday Hebrew it often means in the end, eventually, or after all.

So in this sentence, it is not mainly about physical location at the end of something. It means something more like:

• In the end
• Eventually
• As it turned out

It suggests there may have been another plan before, but this is what actually happened.

What does הכנו mean, and what verb is it from?

הכנו means we prepared or we made.

It comes from the verb להכין, which means to prepare.

So:

• להכין = to prepare
• הכנתי = I prepared
• הכנו = we prepared

In English, when talking about food, make is often more natural than prepare, so הכנו את כל הארוחה can be translated as we made the whole meal.

Why is there an את before כל הארוחה?