מצאתי פותחן במגירה, ועכשיו אפשר לפתוח גם את הצנצנת וגם את הפחית.

In Hebrew, many verbs already include the subject inside the verb form.

מצאתי is the past-tense, first-person singular form of the verb למצוא or מצא in everyday usage, meaning to find. The ending -תי tells you the subject is I.

So:

• מצאתי = I found
• מצאת = you found (to a male)
• מצאתָ / מצאתְ distinction is usually only visible with vowel marks or in pronunciation
• מצאנו = we found

That is why Hebrew does not need a separate word for I here.

Hebrew often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So both of these are possible:

• מצאתי פותחן במגירה = I found an opener in a drawer / the drawer
• אני מצאתי פותחן במגירה = also I found an opener in a drawer / the drawer

Adding אני is usually for emphasis, contrast, or clarity. In a neutral sentence, leaving it out sounds very natural.

פותחן means opener: a tool used for opening something.

It is related to the verb לפתוח, meaning to open. So the sentence is built around the same idea twice:

• פותחן = an opener
• לפתוח = to open

That is very common in Hebrew: a noun for a tool is often related to the verb for the action it performs.

By itself, פותחן is a general word meaning opener.

Context tells you what kind. For example:

• פותחן בקבוקים = bottle opener
• פותחן קופסאות = can opener

In your sentence, it is left general on purpose, and then the next part explains that it can open both the jar and the can. So the important idea is simply: I found a tool that lets us open both items.

This is a very common point of confusion.

In unpointed Hebrew writing, במגירה can represent either:

• בְּמגירה = in a drawer
• בַּמגירה = in the drawer

The difference is in the vowels, not in the basic spelling, so without vowel marks the two look the same.

That means context decides whether the meaning is indefinite or definite. Hebrew often relies on context this way.

ועכשיו is made of:

• ו־ = and
• עכשיו = now

So it means and now or simply now.

In this sentence, it connects the two ideas:

1. I found an opener in the drawer
2. and now it is possible to open both the jar and the can

It gives the sense of result: because the opener was found, now the opening can happen.

Hebrew often expresses can with an impersonal structure rather than a separate modal verb like English.

אפשר literally means something like:

• it is possible
• it is possible to
• one can

So:

• אפשר לפתוח = it is possible to open = you/we/one can open

This is a very common everyday pattern in Hebrew.

Because אפשר is followed by an action expressed as to do something.

So the pattern is:

• אפשר + infinitive

Examples:

• אפשר ללכת = it is possible to go / you can go
• אפשר לאכול = it is possible to eat / you can eat
• אפשר לפתוח = it is possible to open / you can open

Here, לפתוח is the infinitive to open.

גם ... וגם means both ... and ....

So:

• גם את הצנצנת וגם את הפחית = both the jar and the can

You can also think of גם by itself as also / too, but when it appears in this doubled pattern, it works like both ... and ....

It adds emphasis and balance. Without it, the sentence could still work, but it would sound a little less pointed.

את is the marker of a definite direct object.

Hebrew uses את before a direct object when that object is definite, for example when it has ה־ on it.

Here:

• הצנצנת = the jar
• הפחית = the can

Both are definite direct objects of לפתוח, so they take את:

• לפתוח את הצנצנת
• לפתוח את הפחית

In English, את is usually not translated at all.

Because each definite object normally gets its own את.

So Hebrew naturally says:

• גם את הצנצנת וגם את הפחית

not usually just one את for both.

This is especially natural when the objects are separated by גם ... וגם. Repeating את makes the structure clearer and more standard.

Because the sentence treats them differently.

• פותחן has no ה־, so it means an opener
• הצנצנת and הפחית have ה־, so they mean the jar and the can

This suggests:

• the speaker found some opener, not a specific previously identified one
• the jar and the can are specific items already known in the situation

That difference between definite and indefinite is very normal in Hebrew.

Yes, very natural.

Hebrew often allows flexible word order, but this sentence sounds normal and idiomatic:

• מצאתי פותחן במגירה
• ועכשיו אפשר לפתוח גם את הצנצנת וגם את הפחית

A few things are typical here:

• starting with the verb מצאתי
• omitting the subject אני
• using ועכשיו to move to the result
• using אפשר + infinitive for can

So even if the structure is not identical to English, it is good standard Hebrew.