אמא מכינה ארוחה חגיגית ליום ההולדת של סבתא.

A natural pronunciation is Ima makhina arukha khagigit le-yom ha-huledet shel savta.

Approximate stress: i-MA ma-khi-NA a-ru-KHA kha-gi-GIT le-YOM ha-hu-LE-det shel SAV-ta

The kh sound in מכינה and חגיגית is like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach.

מכינה is the present-tense feminine singular form of the verb להכין, meaning to prepare.

It matches אמא, which is a feminine noun. So the verb form tells you the subject is she.

Depending on context, Hebrew present tense can mean either:

• is preparing
• prepares

So the sentence could be understood as either a current action or a general statement.

In Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• ארוחה חגיגית = a festive meal

This is the normal Hebrew order, unlike English, where adjectives usually come before the noun.

Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

ארוחה is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• ארוחה חגיגית

If the noun were masculine, the adjective would change too.

Hebrew has no indefinite article. There is no separate word for a/an.

So:

• ארוחה חגיגית can mean a festive meal

If you wanted to say the festive meal, Hebrew would add ה-:

• הארוחה החגיגית

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object, but not before an indefinite one.

Since ארוחה חגיגית means a festive meal and is indefinite, there is no את.

Compare:

• אמא מכינה ארוחה חגיגית = Mom is preparing a festive meal
• אמא מכינה את הארוחה החגיגית = Mom is preparing the festive meal

In this sentence, it most naturally means Mom.

Hebrew often uses family words like אמא, אבא, and סבתא almost like names, without needing the.

Because Hebrew also has no word for a/an, אמא could mean a mother in another context, but here Mom is the natural reading.

The prefix ל- usually means to or for.

Here, ליום ההולדת means for the birthday, in the sense of for the occasion of the birthday.

If you wanted to stress on the birthday, Hebrew would more naturally say:

• ביום ההולדת

So ליום ההולדת is about purpose or occasion, not just time.

Because יום הולדת is a kind of construct phrase meaning literally day of birth, which is the Hebrew way of saying birthday.

In this kind of phrase, when it becomes definite, the ה- usually goes on the second word, and that makes the whole phrase definite:

• יום הולדת = birthday
• יום ההולדת = the birthday

Also, הולדת here is not a normal finite verb. In this expression, it functions as part of the noun phrase meaning birth.

של means of or belonging to.

So:

• יום ההולדת של סבתא = Grandma’s birthday / the birthday of Grandma

In modern everyday Hebrew, של is the normal and natural way to show this kind of possession, especially after a phrase like יום ההולדת.

The sentence uses a very neutral, common order:

subject + verb + object + prepositional phrase

So:

• אמא = subject
• מכינה = verb
• ארוחה חגיגית = object
• ליום ההולדת של סבתא = extra phrase showing the occasion

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, and changing it can add emphasis, but this version is the most straightforward and natural.