הפקחית הייתה אדיבה, והיא הסבירה לי שאין קנס אם יש אישור מתאים על האוטו.

הפקחית means the female inspector. In this context, it usually means a parking inspector or municipal inspector.

The base word is פקח = inspector (masculine).
Its feminine form is פקחית.

So:

• פקח = male inspector
• פקחית = female inspector

The ה- at the beginning is the, so:

• פקחית = a female inspector
• הפקחית = the female inspector

Because הפקחית is feminine singular, the verb has to agree with it.

In the past tense of to be:

• הוא היה = he was
• היא הייתה = she was

So:

• הפקחית הייתה אדיבה = The inspector was polite/kind

If the noun were masculine, you would say:

• הפקח היה אדיב = The inspector was polite (male)

For the same reason: adjective agreement.

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

Here the noun is feminine singular:

• פקחית = feminine singular
• אדיבה = feminine singular

Compare:

• פקח אדיב = a polite male inspector
• פקחית אדיבה = a polite female inspector

So the sentence keeps everything in feminine singular:

• הפקחית הייתה אדיבה

אדיבה usually means polite, courteous, or kind.
In context, it suggests the inspector was pleasant and considerate.

Depending on context, English translations could include:

• polite
• courteous
• kind
• pleasant

A native speaker might choose different English words depending on tone, but polite/courteous is often the closest core meaning.

Yes, it could. Hebrew often allows the subject pronoun to be omitted when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So both are possible:

• והיא הסבירה לי = and she explained to me
• והסבירה לי = and explained to me

Including היא can add a bit of clarity, emphasis, or natural flow, especially when starting a new clause. It is not wrong or unusual at all.

Because להסביר למישהו means to explain to someone.

So:

• היא הסבירה לי = she explained to me
• היא הסבירה לו = she explained to him
• היא הסבירה להם = she explained to them

The ל- here marks the indirect object, like to in English.

So לי literally means to me.

שאין is made of two parts:

• ש־ = that
• אין = there is no / there isn’t / there are no

So:

• שאין קנס = that there is no fine

This is extremely common in Hebrew.
You will often see:

• שיש = that there is / that has
• שאין = that there is no / that doesn’t have

For example:

• הוא אמר שיש זמן = he said that there is time
• הוא אמר שאין זמן = he said that there is no time

Because אין is used to express non-existence in the present tense.

So:

• יש קנס = there is a fine
• אין קנס = there is no fine

Using לא קנס would not be correct for this meaning.

A useful rule:

• לא usually negates verbs
• אין means there isn’t / there aren’t / do not have

Examples:

• היא לא באה = she did not come / she isn’t coming
• אין בעיה = there is no problem
• אין לי כסף = I don’t have money

אם means if.

So:

• אין קנס אם יש אישור מתאים = there is no fine if there is a suitable permit

It introduces a condition, just like if in English.

Examples:

• אם יש זמן, נלך = if there is time, we’ll go
• אם יש אישור, זה מותר = if there is approval/permission, it is allowed

אישור means approval, authorization, permit, or confirmation, depending on context.

Here, because the sentence talks about a fine and a car, permit is probably the most natural translation.

מתאים means suitable, appropriate, or valid for the situation.

So:

• אישור מתאים = an appropriate permit
• or more naturally in English: the proper permit

Also notice the word order:

• noun first: אישור
• adjective after it: מתאים

That is the normal Hebrew pattern.

Because אישור is a masculine noun.

So the adjective must also be masculine singular:

• אישור מתאים = a suitable permit

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would also be feminine:

• תעודה מתאימה = a suitable document/certificate

So the adjective agrees with אישור, not with הפקחית.

Yes, literally על האוטו means on the car.

In context, it refers to a permit being displayed on, attached to, or effectively on the vehicle. In real-life English, we might translate this more naturally as:

• on the car
• displayed on the car
• for the car
• sometimes even in the windshield, depending on the exact situation

Hebrew often uses על in practical, physical ways that may sound slightly different in English.

אוטו is a very common everyday Hebrew word for car. It is informal-neutral and extremely natural in speech.

So:

• אוטו = car
• רכב = vehicle (more formal/official)
• מכונית = car (perfectly correct, but often a bit less colloquial in everyday speech)

Because this sentence sounds like normal spoken or everyday written Hebrew, האוטו feels very natural.

Yes, very normal.

The structure is:

• היא הסבירה לי = she explained to me
• שאין קנס = that there is no fine

Hebrew commonly uses this pattern:

[subject] + [verb] + [indirect object] + ש...

For example:

• הוא אמר לי ש... = he told me that...
• היא הסבירה להם ש... = she explained to them that...
• אמרתי לך ש... = I told you that...

So this sentence is very standard and natural.

You would change the feminine forms to masculine:

• הפקח היה אדיב, והוא הסביר לי שאין קנס אם יש אישור מתאים על האוטו.

Changes:

• הפקחית → הפקח
• הייתה → היה
• אדיבה → אדיב
• והיא → והוא
• הסבירה → הסביר

Everything else stays the same.

It is pronounced roughly ha-pak-KHIT.

A few notes:

• ה at the beginning = ha-
• the ח is the throaty Hebrew sound, not an English h
• the stress is usually on the last syllable: -חית

So approximately:

• הפקחית = ha-pakh-KHEET / ha-pakh-KHEET

The exact sound of ח may take practice, but the important thing is that it is not like regular English h.