כשהיא שמעה את החדשות על הטיסה, הידיים שלה התחילו לרעוד.

כשהיא means when she.

It is made from:

• כש־ = when
• היא = she

So:

• כשהיא שמעה... = when she heard...

You will see this pattern a lot in Hebrew:

• כשאני = when I
• כשאתה = when you
• כשהם = when they

The longer, more formal version of כש־ is כאשר, but כש־ is very common in everyday Hebrew.

Because the subject is היא (she), and in the past tense Hebrew verbs agree with the subject.

The verb is from the root ש־מ־ע (to hear). In the past tense:

• שמע = he heard
• שמעה = she heard
• שמעו = they heard

So כשהיא שמעה literally means when she heard.

את is the marker of a definite direct object.

In this sentence:

• שמעה = heard
• את החדשות = the news

Hebrew uses את before a direct object that is definite, such as:

• a noun with ה־ (the)
• a proper name
• something with a possessive

So:

• שמעה את החדשות = heard the news

But:

• שמעה חדשות = heard news / heard some news

Important: את usually is not translated into English. It is a grammar marker, not a separate meaning word here.

Yes, חדשות is a plural-looking feminine noun in Hebrew, even though in English news is usually treated as singular.

So:

• חדשות = news
• החדשות = the news

Hebrew often treats it grammatically as plural in form. For example:

• החדשות טובות = the news is good / the news is good news

Even though the meaning is often collective, the word itself looks and behaves like a plural feminine noun.

So learners should remember: חדשות means news, even though it looks like pieces of news morphologically.

על here means about or regarding.

So:

• החדשות על הטיסה = the news about the flight

The word על has several meanings depending on context, including:

• on
• about
• regarding

Here it clearly means about.

And הטיסה is:

• טיסה = flight
• הטיסה = the flight

So the whole phrase is the news about the flight.

Because ידיים is a dual form.

Hebrew has a special ending ־יים that is often used for things that naturally come in pairs, especially body parts. For example:

• יד = hand
• ידיים = hands
• רגל = leg
• רגליים = legs
• עין = eye
• עיניים = eyes

So:

• הידיים = the hands

In modern Hebrew, these dual forms usually behave like plurals for agreement purposes.

Both can mean her hands, but they are different in style.

• הידיים שלה = her hands
• ידיה = her hands

The version with שלה is much more common in everyday spoken and neutral written Hebrew.

The suffix form ידיה is more formal, literary, or elevated.

So a learner should think:

• הידיים שלה = normal, everyday Hebrew
• ידיה = more formal/literary Hebrew

Because הידיים שלה means her hands, referring to a specific, definite pair of hands.

In Hebrew, with noun + של + pronoun, the noun is often made definite with ה־ when you mean a specific thing:

• הספר שלי = my book
• הבית שלהם = their house
• הידיים שלה = her hands

If you say ידיים שלה, it can sound more like some hands of hers or be less standard in this context.

So הידיים שלה is the natural way to say her hands here.

Because the subject is הידיים שלה = her hands, which is plural/dual in form.

So Hebrew uses a plural verb:

• הידיים שלה התחילו = her hands began

The verb is from להתחיל (to begin/start). In the past tense:

• התחיל = he began
• התחילה = she began
• התחילו = they began

Even though ידיים is feminine, in the 3rd person plural past tense modern Hebrew uses the same form for both masculine and feminine:

• הם התחילו
• הן התחילו

So התחילו is exactly what we expect.

Because Hebrew commonly uses:

• התחיל / התחילה / התחילו + infinitive

to mean began to...

So:

• התחילו לרעוד = began to tremble / started shaking

Here:

• לרעוד = to tremble, to shake

This is a very common pattern:

• התחילה לבכות = she began to cry
• התחילו לרוץ = they began to run
• התחלתי ללמוד = I began to study

So the sentence structure is completely normal Hebrew.

לרעוד means to tremble, to shake, or to quake.

In this sentence it suggests an involuntary physical reaction, probably from fear, shock, or anxiety.

So הידיים שלה התחילו לרעוד means something like:

• her hands began to tremble
• her hands started shaking

It is more natural here than a verb meaning deliberate movement, because the shaking is not intentional.

Yes. Hebrew could also say:

• הידיים שלה התחילו לרעוד כשהיא שמעה את החדשות על הטיסה.

That means essentially the same thing.

The version with the when clause first:

• כשהיא שמעה את החדשות על הטיסה, הידיים שלה התחילו לרעוד.

puts the time/background first and then gives the main event.

This is very natural, and the comma helps separate the opening subordinate clause from the main clause.

So the original sentence sounds smooth and normal.