זה עניין אישי, ולכן אני לא רוצה לדבר עליו עכשיו.

זה literally means this or it. In sentences like this, Hebrew often uses זה the way English uses it in It’s a personal matter.

So:

• זה עניין אישי = It’s a personal matter
• literally: This is a personal matter

This is a very common Hebrew pattern for identifying or describing something.

עניין can mean several related things depending on context:

• matter
• issue
• subject
• topic
• sometimes even interest

In this sentence, עניין אישי means a personal matter or a private issue.

So עניין is not necessarily something dramatic; it can simply refer to a subject or situation.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun, unlike in English.

So:

• עניין אישי = personal matter
• literally: matter personal

This is the normal word order:

• בית גדול = big house
• שאלה חשובה = important question
• עניין אישי = personal matter

Also, the adjective has to match the noun in gender and number. Since עניין is masculine singular, the adjective is אישי, also masculine singular.

Because the phrase is indefinite here.

• עניין אישי = a personal matter
• העניין האישי = the personal matter

Hebrew often leaves nouns indefinite when English would use a/an. There is no separate word for a in Hebrew.

So:

• עניין אישי = a personal matter
• not the personal matter

If the speaker meant a specific known matter, they might say העניין האישי.

ולכן means and therefore, and so, or and that’s why.

It is made of:

• ו־ = and
• לכן = therefore / so

So the sentence structure is:

• זה עניין אישי, ולכן...
• It’s a personal matter, and therefore...

This word sounds a bit more formal or structured than just אז (so). In everyday speech, many speakers might also say:

• זה עניין אישי, אז אני לא רוצה...

But ולכן is perfectly natural and clear.

Because after רוצה (want), Hebrew usually uses an infinitive verb, just like English often uses to + verb.

So:

• אני רוצה לדבר = I want to speak
• אני לא רוצה לדבר = I don’t want to speak

Here:

• רוצה = want (masculine singular speaker)
• לדבר = to speak / to talk

This is a very common pattern:

• אני רוצה לאכול = I want to eat
• אני רוצה ללכת = I want to go
• אני לא רוצה לחכות = I don’t want to wait

רוצה has to agree with the speaker.

Since the sentence says אני (I), the form depends on whether the speaker is male or female:

• אני רוצה = said by a man
• אני רוצה = also written the same way for a woman, but in careful grammar the feminine pronunciation/form is understood as רוצה? Actually the common distinction appears more clearly in past/future, but in present tense:
  • masculine singular: רוֹצֶה
  • feminine singular: רוֹצָה

So in writing, both look almost the same without vowels, but the pronunciation differs:

• masculine: rotze
• feminine: rotza

Because Hebrew is usually written without vowel marks, you often have to infer this from context.

לדבר על means to talk about.

So:

• לדבר על העניין = to talk about the matter
• לדבר עליו = to talk about it

The word עליו is על + a pronoun:

• על = on / about
• עליו = about him / about it / on him

In this sentence, עליו refers back to עניין, which is a masculine singular noun, so עליו means about it.

Hebrew often attaches pronoun endings directly to prepositions.

With על (on/about), you get forms like:

• עליי = about me
• עליך = about you (masculine singular)
• עלייך = about you (feminine singular)
• עליו = about him / it
• עליה = about her / it
• עלינו = about us
• עליהם / עליהן = about them

So עליו is not a separate random word; it is a very regular preposition + pronoun form.

Because Hebrew grammatical gender applies to things as well as people.

עניין is a masculine singular noun, so when you replace it with a pronoun after a preposition, you use the masculine singular form:

• עניין → עליו

Even though English says about it, Hebrew uses the same grammatical form that can also mean about him, depending on context.

So here:

• עליו = about it
• because the it is a masculine noun: עניין

Usually no, not with this meaning.

The standard expression is:

• לדבר על משהו = to talk about something

So you say:

• לדבר עליו = talk about it

Using ב־ would not normally mean the same thing here. Hebrew verbs often require specific prepositions, and לדבר commonly takes על when the meaning is talk about.

עכשיו means now, and putting it at the end is very natural in Hebrew.

• אני לא רוצה לדבר עליו עכשיו = I don’t want to talk about it now

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but the end position is common and sounds natural here because עכשיו modifies the whole idea of not wanting to talk about it at this moment.

You could also hear:

• עכשיו אני לא רוצה לדבר עליו
• אני עכשיו לא רוצה לדבר עליו

But the original version is smooth and idiomatic.

It sounds mostly neutral and natural.

• עניין אישי is slightly more polished than a very casual phrase, but still common.
• ולכן sounds a bit more formal or thoughtful than אז.
• אני לא רוצה לדבר עליו עכשיו is completely everyday Hebrew.

So overall, the sentence sounds polite, clear, and natural—something someone might say in normal conversation when setting a boundary.