אני מצפה ממך לתשובה כנה.

מצפה comes from the verb לצפות.

In this sentence, it means to expect. Depending on context, לצפות can also mean to look forward to, but here the meaning is clearly expect.

So אני מצפה... means I expect... or I am expecting....

Yes. That is a very common use of the same verb.

For example, אני מצפה לחופשה would usually mean I’m looking forward to the vacation.

In your sentence, though, the tone is not about pleasant anticipation. It is about expecting something from someone, so expect is the better translation.

Because Hebrew uses a different pattern from English here.

The common pattern is:

לצפות מ־מישהו ל־משהו
= to expect something from someone

So:

• ממך = from you
• לתשובה כנה = literally for an honest answer, but naturally translated as an honest answer

English says I expect an honest answer from you.
Hebrew structures it as I expect from you an honest answer.

Because the verb לצפות normally takes ל־ before the thing being expected.

So Hebrew says:

• לצפות לתשובה
• not usually just לצפות תשובה

This is just part of the verb’s grammar. It is similar to how some English verbs require certain prepositions, even when another language would not use one.

Because תשובה is not a direct object here.

The verb לצפות takes a ל־ phrase, so לתשובה is a prepositional phrase, not a direct object.

You use את only with a definite direct object. Since this sentence uses ל־, not a direct object, את does not appear.

In normal unpointed Hebrew spelling, מצפה can represent either a masculine or feminine speaker.

• A male speaker would say אני מצפה pronounced roughly ani metzape
• A female speaker would also write אני מצפה, but pronounce it roughly ani metzapa

So the written sentence works for either gender of speaker.

It can be either, depending on pronunciation.

Without vowel marks, ממך is written the same for both:

• to a man: mimkha
• to a woman: mimekh

So the spelling does not tell you the gender of the person being addressed unless context makes it clear.

Because it describes תשובה, and תשובה is a feminine noun.

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

So:

• תשובה כנה = feminine singular
• masculine singular would be כן

That is why you get כנה here, not כן.

It looks related in writing, but here it is functioning as an adjective, not as the word yes.

In this sentence:

• כנה = honest / sincere

It is the feminine form of the adjective כן meaning honest or sincere.

So even though כן is also the everyday word yes, that is not the meaning here.

The given order is very natural:

אני מצפה ממך לתשובה כנה

It follows the common pattern לצפות ממישהו למשהו.

You may also hear:

אני מצפה לתשובה כנה ממך

That is also understandable and natural, but the emphasis shifts a bit.
With ממך earlier in the sentence, the from you part can feel slightly more pointed.

Sometimes, in context, yes. But in a standalone sentence, keeping אני is normal and helpful.

One important reason is that present-tense Hebrew forms do not clearly show person the way past and future forms do. So אני makes it explicit that the subject is I.

Without context, just saying מצפה ממך לתשובה כנה could sound incomplete or less clear.

It sounds natural, but fairly firm.

It does not sound rude by itself, yet it clearly expresses an expectation. The speaker is not merely hoping; they are saying that an honest answer is something they expect.

Also, כנה has a slightly serious tone. So the whole sentence can sound a bit formal or emotionally weighty, depending on context.