Questions & Answers about חוץ מהמפתח, שום דבר לא חסר בתיק.
חוץ מ־ means except for, apart from, or other than.
So:
- חוץ מהמפתח = except for the key
It is a very common way to introduce an exception in Hebrew.
Examples:
- חוץ מזה, הכול טוב. = Apart from that, everything is fine.
- חוץ ממני, כולם הגיעו. = Everyone arrived except me.
Because חוץ מ־ requires the preposition מ־ (from/of/than, depending on context), and here it combines with the definite noun המפתח (the key).
So:
- מ־ + הַמפתח → מהמפתח
This means from the key / except for the key.
Compare:
- מפתח = a key
- המפתח = the key
- מהמפתח = from the key / except for the key
In this sentence, the English meaning is except for the key, so Hebrew uses the definite form.