אני מחפשת את הפותחן, כי אני רוצה לפתוח את הפחית.

I am looking for the opener, because I want to open the can.

Breakdown of אני מחפשת את הפותחן, כי אני רוצה לפתוח את הפחית.

• אני: I
• לרצות: to want
• את: direct object marker
• כי: because

Questions & Answers about אני מחפשת את הפותחן, כי אני רוצה לפתוח את הפחית.

Where is the word am in I am looking for?

Hebrew usually does not use a separate present-tense verb for to be.

So אני מחפשת literally looks more like I looking/searching, but in natural English it can mean I am looking for or I look for, depending on context.

That is very normal in Hebrew:

• אני מחפשת = I am looking for / I look for
• אני רוצה = I want

Why is it מחפשת and not מחפש?

מחפשת is the feminine singular present-tense form.

Hebrew present-tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number. Since the speaker is female, she says:

• אני מחפשת = a woman says I am looking for

A male speaker would say:

• אני מחפש

So even though אני means I for both men and women, the verb form shows the speaker’s gender.

Why is רוצה not obviously feminine the way מחפשת is?

Because in unpointed Hebrew spelling, some masculine and feminine forms look the same.

רוצה can be:

• rotze = masculine singular
• rotza = feminine singular

They are spelled the same: רוצה.

In this sentence, מחפשת already tells you the speaker is female, so אני רוצה is understood as feminine: I want said by a woman.