Breakdown of המלצר הביא לנו את החשבון אחרי הארוחה.
Questions & Answers about המלצר הביא לנו את החשבון אחרי הארוחה.
Why does המלצר mean the waiter and not just waiter?
Because the prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the.
- מלצר = waiter
- המלצר = the waiter
So המלצר is literally the waiter.
How do I know הביא means brought?
הביא is the past tense, masculine singular form of the verb להביא, meaning to bring.
So:
- להביא = to bring
- הביא = he brought
In this sentence, the subject is המלצר = the waiter, which is masculine singular, so הביא matches it.
Is the ה in הביא the same ה as in המלצר?
No. They just happen to look the same.
- In המלצר, the ה־ is the definite article, meaning the
- In הביא, the ה is part of the verb form itself
So:
- המלצר = the waiter
- הביא = brought
This is a very common thing for learners to notice.
Why does Hebrew use לנו instead of a separate word for to us?
Because Hebrew often attaches pronouns to prepositions.
Here:
- ל־ = to
- נו = us
Together:
- לנו = to us
So הביא לנו literally means brought to us.
What is את doing in this sentence?
Here, את is the direct object marker. It comes before a definite direct object.
In this sentence:
- החשבון = the bill
- Because it is definite, Hebrew puts את before it:
- את החשבון
So:
- המלצר הביא לנו את החשבון
- literally: The waiter brought to us the bill
English does not have a word like this, so it often feels strange at first.
Is this את the same word as you feminine singular?
It is spelled the same, but here it is a different word.
Hebrew את can be:
- the direct object marker
- you for one female
In this sentence, it is clearly the direct object marker, because it comes before החשבון.
So here את החשבון means the bill as the direct object, not you.
Why is it החשבון and not just חשבון?
Because the sentence is talking about a specific bill, namely the one from the restaurant meal.
- חשבון = bill / account / calculation
- החשבון = the bill
In restaurant Hebrew, חשבון often means the bill or the check.
So את החשבון means the bill / the check.
Does חשבון only mean a restaurant bill?
No. חשבון has a broader meaning.
It can mean things like:
- account
- bill
- calculation
- arithmetic, in some contexts
But in a restaurant sentence like this one, החשבון naturally means the bill or the check.
What does אחרי הארוחה mean exactly?
It means after the meal.
- אחרי = after
- הארוחה = the meal
So:
- אחרי הארוחה = after the meal
The noun ארוחה means meal, and with ה־ it becomes the meal.
Why is it הארוחה with the meal instead of just meal?
Hebrew often uses the definite form when referring to a specific, understood thing.
Here, it means the specific meal they just had.
So אחרי הארוחה is naturally after the meal.
In English, we might also say after the meal, so this matches fairly well.
What is the normal word order in this sentence?
The sentence is:
- המלצר = the waiter
- הביא = brought
- לנו = to us
- את החשבון = the bill
- אחרי הארוחה = after the meal
So the order is:
subject + verb + indirect object + direct object + time phrase
This is a very natural Hebrew word order, though Hebrew can be flexible depending on emphasis.
Could the sentence be said without המלצר?
Yes, if the subject is already clear from context.
For example:
- הביא לנו את החשבון אחרי הארוחה
This can mean He brought us the bill after the meal.
Hebrew often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the person or gender clear enough. But keeping המלצר makes the sentence more explicit.
How would this change if the waiter were female?
You would change both the noun and the verb to feminine singular:
- המלצרית הביאה לנו את החשבון אחרי הארוחה
Breakdown:
- המלצרית = the waitress
- הביאה = she brought
This shows the normal gender agreement in Hebrew past tense.
How is this sentence pronounced?
A common transliteration is:
ha-meltsar hevi lanu et ha-cheshbon acharei ha-arucha
A few helpful notes:
- המלצר = ha-meltsar
- הביא = hevi
- לנו = lanu
- החשבון = ha-cheshbon
- אחרי = acharei
- הארוחה = ha-arucha
Depending on accent and transliteration style, you may see small spelling differences in English letters.
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