אחרי שעברנו דירה, היה לי קשה לשמור על קשר עם השכנים.

The ש־ is the Hebrew subordinating particle meaning that, but in many everyday sentences it works more like when, after, or because, depending on the context.

So:

• אחרי = after
• שעברנו דירה = we moved

Together, אחרי שעברנו דירה means after we moved.

In Hebrew, this pattern is very common:

• אחרי ש... = after ...
• לפני ש... = before ...
• כש... = when ...
• בגלל ש... = because ...

So the ש־ helps introduce the clause עברנו דירה.

עברנו דירה is a very common Hebrew expression meaning we moved house / we moved apartments.

Literally:

• עברנו = we moved / we passed / we transitioned
• דירה = apartment

But together, לעבור דירה is an idiomatic expression. It does not mean to pass an apartment. It means to change where you live.

This is just how Hebrew commonly expresses the idea of moving home.

Compare:

• עברנו דירה = we moved house
• עברנו לבית חדש = we moved to a new house
• עברנו לתל אביב = we moved to Tel Aviv

So here דירה is part of the fixed expression לעבור דירה.

Because the verb ending ־נו marks we in the past tense.

So:

• עברתי = I moved
• עברת = you moved
• עבר = he moved
• עברה = she moved
• עברנו = we moved

The sentence therefore tells us that the move was done by we, even though later the speaker says היה לי קשה = it was hard for me. That is completely normal: the move may have involved more than one person, but the difficulty is described from the speaker’s personal point of view.

In Hebrew, the idea it was hard for me is usually expressed with this impersonal structure:

• היה לי קשה

Literally, this is something like:

• was to me difficult

A more natural English equivalent is:

• it was hard for me

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

• היה לי טוב = it was good for me
• היה לי מעניין = it was interesting for me
• היה לי קשה = it was hard for me

So Hebrew does not usually say אני היה קשה for this meaning. The speaker is marked with לי = to me / for me, not as the grammatical subject.

This is a very common question. In היה לי קשה, the verb is often masculine singular by default in an impersonal expression.

Why?

Because there is no clear feminine noun serving as the subject. The idea is more like:

• it was hard for me

That unstated it does not correspond to a feminine noun, so Hebrew commonly uses masculine singular היה.

Also, קשה here is being used predicatively, as difficult/hard, not agreeing with a feminine noun.

So even if the speaker is female, היה לי קשה is still normal.

Yes. לי literally means to me.

It is made from:

• ל־ = to / for
• י = me

In this sentence, לי is best understood as for me:

• היה לי קשה = it was hard for me

This ל־ structure is extremely common in Hebrew for personal experience:

• יש לי = I have
• נמאס לי = I’m fed up
• כואב לי = it hurts me / it hurts
• היה לי קשה = it was hard for me

So although the literal form is to me, the natural English meaning is often for me.

Because Hebrew often uses the pattern:

• היה לי קשה + infinitive

That means:

• it was hard for me to ...

So:

• היה לי קשה לשמור = it was hard for me to keep/maintain

Other examples:

• היה לי קשה להבין = it was hard for me to understand
• היה לי קשה לקום = it was hard for me to get up
• קל לי לקרוא בעברית = it is easy for me to read in Hebrew

So קשה describes the level of difficulty, and the infinitive לשמור tells us what action was difficult.

לשמור על קשר is a set phrase meaning to keep in touch or to maintain contact.

Piece by piece:

• לשמור = to keep / to guard / to maintain
• על = on / over
• קשר = connection / contact

But as a whole, לשמור על קשר means:

• to stay in contact
• to keep in touch

This is an important fixed expression in Hebrew. You should learn it as a chunk.

Examples:

• אנחנו שומרים על קשר = we keep in touch
• קשה לשמור על קשר = it’s hard to keep in touch
• אני רוצה לשמור על קשר = I want to keep in touch

Because the verb לשמור often takes על when it means to keep, to preserve, or to maintain something.

For example:

• לשמור על הבריאות = to take care of one’s health
• לשמור על הסדר = to maintain order
• לשמור על קשר = to maintain contact

So in this expression, על is simply part of the normal verb pattern. It is not something you would usually translate word-for-word into English. You just learn:

• לשמור על
  • noun

In this sentence, the noun is קשר.

Because in Hebrew, the expression for keeping in touch with someone is:

• לשמור על קשר עם...

So:

• עם = with
• השכנים = the neighbors

Together:

• עם השכנים = with the neighbors

This matches English pretty closely: to keep in touch with the neighbors.

השכנים means the neighbors.

The ה־ is the definite article, equivalent to the.

In this sentence, the speaker is referring to specific neighbors — presumably the neighbors they had before the move, or the neighbors relevant to the situation. Because these are known, specific people, Hebrew uses the definite form:

• שכנים = neighbors
• השכנים = the neighbors

If you said עם שכנים, it would sound more general, like with neighbors in a broad sense, not with particular neighbors.

The sentence as written is very natural:

• אחרי שעברנו דירה, היה לי קשה לשמור על קשר עם השכנים.

But Hebrew is flexible, and other word orders are possible.

For example:

• היה לי קשה לשמור על קשר עם השכנים אחרי שעברנו דירה.

This means the same thing. The difference is mostly one of emphasis and flow.

Putting אחרי שעברנו דירה first sets the time frame right away:

• After we moved, ...

Putting it later makes the main point come first:

• It was hard for me to keep in touch with the neighbors after we moved.

So the original order is natural, but not the only possible one.

It is very natural everyday Hebrew.

Nothing in it sounds especially literary or formal. In fact, several parts are very common spoken patterns:

• אחרי ש...
• לעבור דירה
• היה לי קשה
• לשמור על קשר עם...

A native speaker would easily say this in conversation. It would also be perfectly fine in writing, such as in a message, diary entry, or short essay.

Yes. Since דירה literally means apartment, the phrase can suggest moving apartments, but in actual use לעבור דירה is broader than that. It often just means to move home.

So depending on context, it could refer to:

• moving from one apartment to another
• moving from one home to another more generally

In many cases, English would simply say after we moved or after we moved house, even if the Hebrew uses דירה.