בסך הכול, הפגישה הייתה טובה.

It means overall, all in all, or on the whole. It is a very common fixed expression in Hebrew.

So:

• בסך הכול, הפגישה הייתה טובה.
• Overall, the meeting was good.

Depending on context, בסך הכול can also mean in total, but in this sentence it clearly means overall.

It is pronounced roughly:

be-sakh ha-kol

A few notes:

• ב = be-
• סך sounds like sakh (with the throaty Hebrew kh sound, like the ch in German Bach)
• הכול = ha-kol

So the whole phrase is:

be-sakh ha-kol

Because the word begins with ה־, which is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

• פגישה = meeting
• הפגישה = the meeting

So the sentence is talking about a specific meeting, not just any meeting.

The basic form is פגישה — meeting.

With the definite article:

• פגישה = a meeting / meeting
• הפגישה = the meeting

This noun is feminine singular, and that matters for the rest of the sentence.

Because הפגישה is a feminine singular noun, and the verb must agree with it.

• היה = was for masculine singular
• הייתה = was for feminine singular

Since פגישה is feminine, Hebrew uses:

• הפגישה הייתה...
• The meeting was...

If the noun were masculine, you would use היה instead.

For the same reason: adjective agreement.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

• טוב = good (masculine singular)
• טובה = good (feminine singular)

Because פגישה is feminine singular, the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• פגישה טובה = a good meeting
• הפגישה הייתה טובה = the meeting was good

Pretty close, yes.

The sentence structure is:

• בסך הכול = overall
• הפגישה = the meeting
• הייתה = was
• טובה = good

So literally:

• Overall, the meeting was good.

This is a very natural Hebrew sentence. Hebrew can sometimes allow more flexible word order than English, but this version is standard and straightforward.

Not here.

In the present tense, Hebrew often leaves out the verb to be:

• הפגישה טובה = The meeting is good

But in the past tense, you must use the verb:

• הפגישה הייתה טובה = The meeting was good

So הייתה is necessary in this sentence because it is talking about the past.

These are different agreement forms of the adjective good:

• טוב = masculine singular
• טובה = feminine singular
• טובים = masculine plural
• טובות = feminine plural

In this sentence, the noun פגישה is feminine singular, so the correct form is טובה.

This is the standard spelling: בסך הכול.

You may also sometimes see בסך הכל in less careful writing. Both are common in real life, but בסך הכול is the standard spelling.

So for learners, it is best to remember:

• בסך הכול

The comma is natural because בסך הכול is an introductory phrase, like overall or all in all in English.

• בסך הכול, הפגישה הייתה טובה.

Without the comma, people would still understand the sentence, but the comma makes the structure clearer and more polished.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

be-SAKH ha-KOL, ha-pgi-SHA hay-TA to-VA

A few important stress points:

• הפגישה → stress on the last syllable: pgi-SHA
• הייתה → stress on the last syllable: hay-TA
• טובה → stress on the last syllable: to-VA

This final-syllable stress is very common in Hebrew.

Usually no, not in this sentence.

בסך הכול here means:

• overall
• all in all
• on the whole

English basically often has a different nuance. So the best translation here is something like:

• Overall, the meeting was good.