אם יש זמן, נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו.

In Hebrew, the verb itself often shows who is doing the action.

נכין means we will prepare.
The נ- at the beginning marks first person plural in the future tense, so Hebrew does not need a separate word for we here.

So:

• נכין = we will prepare
• not just will prepare

If you want, you can add אנחנו for emphasis, but it is usually unnecessary:

• אם יש זמן, אנחנו נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו.

That sounds more emphatic, like we will prepare it ourselves.

אם means if.

It introduces a condition:

• אם יש זמן = if there is time
• אם יהיה זמן = if there will be time

In your sentence, אם simply starts the conditional clause.

A learner should also know that אם can sometimes mean whether in other contexts, for example:

• אני לא יודע אם הוא יבוא = I don’t know whether he will come

But in this sentence, it clearly means if.

יש is used in Hebrew to mean there is / there are / have in an existential sense.

So:

• יש זמן = there is time / there’s time

You do not use את after יש in this structure.

Compare:

• יש זמן = there is time
• יש לי זמן = I have time
• אין זמן = there is no time

Using את here would be wrong, because יש is not taking a direct object in the same way an ordinary action verb does.

It could, but it would mean something slightly more specific.

• אם יש זמן = if there is time
• אם יש לנו זמן = if we have time

The version in your sentence is more general and idiomatic. It sounds like:

• if there’s time
• if time allows

Adding לנו makes the condition more explicitly about our available time.

So both are possible, but אם יש זמן is very natural.

Because the main action has not happened yet.

The sentence has:

• a condition: אם יש זמן = if there is time
• a result: נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו = we will prepare the meal ourselves

Hebrew commonly uses the future tense in the result clause just like English does with will.

Also, notice that the condition itself uses present tense יש, not future יהיה. That is normal when the condition is being presented as a general present situation: if there is time.

You could also say:

• אם יהיה זמן, נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו.

That means if there will be time / if we have time later, and it sounds a bit more explicitly future-oriented.

נכין is the future tense, first person plural form of להכין = to prepare.

So the forms are:

• להכין = to prepare
• אני אכין = I will prepare
• אנחנו נכין = we will prepare

This verb belongs to the הפעיל pattern, which is why the infinitive is להכין and the future form is נכין.

A useful thing to notice is that the root is related to the idea of preparing or making ready.

את marks a definite direct object.

Here, the direct object is הארוחה = the meal, which is definite because it has ה- (the).

So:

• נכין ארוחה = we will prepare a meal
• נכין את הארוחה = we will prepare the meal

Important points:

• את does not mean the
• את usually has no direct English translation
• it appears before a direct object that is definite

That is why את is required before הארוחה.

Because ה- is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

• ארוחה = a meal
• הארוחה = the meal

Since the sentence is talking about a specific meal, Hebrew uses the definite form.

And because the object is definite, it also needs את:

• את הארוחה

So the pair את + ה־noun often goes together when the noun is a definite direct object.

בעצמנו means ourselves.

In this sentence it adds emphasis:

• נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו = we’ll prepare the meal ourselves

It suggests that we will do it, rather than someone else doing it for us.

It is stronger than just saying the action happens. It highlights self-performance.

Compare:

• נכין את הארוחה = we’ll prepare the meal
• נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו = we’ll prepare the meal ourselves

Not exactly.

• בעצמנו = ourselves
• לבד = alone / by ourselves

In many contexts they can be similar, but the nuance is different.

בעצמנו emphasizes who does the action:

• we ourselves will do it

לבד emphasizes without help / alone:

• we will do it on our own

So:

• נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו = we ourselves will prepare the meal
• נכין את הארוחה לבד = we will prepare the meal alone / without help

Sometimes both ideas overlap, but they are not identical.

The comma separates the conditional clause from the main clause:

• אם יש זמן, = if there is time,
• נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו. = we’ll prepare the meal ourselves.

This is very common in Hebrew writing, just as in English.

It helps show the structure clearly:

1. condition
2. result

Yes, Hebrew allows some flexibility, though the original sentence is very natural.

For example, you could also say:

• אם יש זמן, נכין בעצמנו את הארוחה.

This still means basically the same thing, though placing בעצמנו before את הארוחה gives slightly different emphasis.

You could also put the condition later:

• נכין את הארוחה בעצמנו אם יש זמן.

That is also grammatical, but the original version feels smoother and more standard when the condition is the main setup.

No, not really.

In the first person plural future, נכין does not show masculine vs. feminine. It simply means we will prepare.

Also, בעצמנו is the regular we/ourselves form and is not split into masculine and feminine versions.

So this sentence can be said by:

• a group of men
• a group of women
• a mixed group
• even a single speaker referring to we

That makes it easier than some second- or third-person Hebrew forms, which often do show gender.