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גם המועמד שישב לידה שאל אם זאת משרה מלאה.

גם המועמד שישב לידה שאל אם זאת משרה מלאה.
The male candidate who sat next to her also asked if this is a full-time position.
FromLesson 55inHardcore Hebrew

Questions & Answers about גם המועמד שישב לידה שאל אם זאת משרה מלאה.

What does גם mean here, and why is it at the beginning?

גם means also / too.

At the start of the sentence, it gives the sense of the candidate sitting next to her also asked... In other words, someone else asked something before, and now this candidate did too.

Hebrew often places גם right before the word or phrase it is emphasizing. Here it is emphasizing המועמד.

Why is it המועמד and not just מועמד?

The ה־ at the beginning is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

  • מועמד = a candidate
  • המועמד = the candidate

In this sentence, the speaker is referring to a specific candidate, further identified by the relative clause שישב לידה (who was sitting next to her).

What is שישב exactly?

שישב is made of two parts:

  • ש־ = that / who / which
  • ישב = sat / was sitting

Together, שישב means who sat or who was sitting.

This is a very common Hebrew way to form a relative clause:

  • האיש שישב שם = the man who sat / was sitting there
  • הילדה שגרה פה = the girl who lives here

So המועמד שישב לידה = the candidate who was sitting next to her.

Why is it ישב and not יושב?

ישב is past tense: he sat / he was sitting.
יושב is a present participle/adjective-like form: sitting or is sitting.

Here the sentence is describing what happened in the past, so ישב fits naturally.

Compare:

  • המועמד שישב לידה שאל... = the candidate who was sitting next to her asked...
  • המועמד שיושב לידה שואל... = the candidate who is sitting next to her is asking...
Why is the verb masculine singular in ישב?

Because it refers back to המועמד, which is masculine singular.

Hebrew verbs in the past tense agree with the subject in gender and number.

So:

  • המועמד שישב... = masculine singular
  • המועמדת שישבה... = feminine singular
  • המועמדים שישבו... = masculine plural / mixed plural
  • המועמדות שישבו... = feminine plural
What does לידה mean, and how is it built?

לידה means next to her / beside her.

It comes from:

  • ליד = next to / beside
  • ־ה = her

So:

  • לידי = next to me
  • לידך = next to you
  • לידו = next to him
  • לידה = next to her
  • לידם = next to them

This is a very common Hebrew pattern: a preposition plus a pronominal suffix.

Is לידה ever confusing because it can look like another word?

Yes. Without vowels, לידה can also be read as birth in other contexts.

For example:

  • הייתה לידה קשה = she had a difficult birth

But in this sentence, because it comes after ישב and fits the meaning of location, it clearly means next to her.

Context usually makes the meaning obvious.

What does אם mean here? Is it if or whether?

Here אם means whether.

After verbs like asked, checked, wanted to know, Hebrew often uses אם to introduce an indirect yes/no question.

So:

  • שאל אם זאת משרה מלאה = asked whether this is a full-time position

In English, if is also possible here, but whether is often a clearer translation grammatically.

Why does the sentence use זאת? Could it also be זו?

Yes, זאת and זו can both mean this in feminine singular.

Since משרה is feminine, the demonstrative is feminine too.

So both are possible:

  • זאת משרה מלאה
  • זו משרה מלאה

In many contexts, זו is more common in everyday speech, while זאת can sound a bit more formal or fuller in style. But both are normal.

Why is it זאת משרה מלאה and not זה משרה מלאה?

Because משרה is a feminine noun.

Hebrew demonstratives must agree in gender with the noun:

  • זה = this (masculine)
  • זאת / זו = this (feminine)

So:

  • זה ספר = this is a book
  • זאת משרה = this is a position/job

Since משרה is feminine, זאת is the correct form.

What does משרה מלאה mean literally?

Literally:

  • משרה = position / job post
  • מלאה = full (feminine singular)

Together, משרה מלאה means a full-time position/job.

The adjective מלאה is feminine singular because it agrees with משרה, which is feminine singular.

Compare:

  • משרה מלאה = full-time position
  • תפקיד מלא would use masculine agreement if the noun were masculine
Why is מלאה feminine?

Because משרה is feminine, and adjectives in Hebrew usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

  • משרה מלאה = feminine singular
  • תפקיד מלא = masculine singular
  • משרות מלאות = feminine plural
  • תפקידים מלאים = masculine plural

This agreement is one of the most important patterns in Hebrew grammar.

What is the basic structure of the whole sentence?

The sentence breaks down like this:

  • גם = also
  • המועמד = the candidate
  • שישב לידה = who was sitting next to her
  • שאל = asked
  • אם = whether
  • זאת משרה מלאה = this is a full-time position

So the structure is:

Also + the candidate + who was sitting next to her + asked + whether + this is a full-time position.

Hebrew often packs information into a noun phrase with a relative clause, just like English does.

Could Hebrew leave out the word that/who here, like English sometimes does?

Usually no, not in this kind of standard sentence. Hebrew normally uses ש־ to introduce the relative clause.

English can say:

  • the candidate sitting next to her
  • the candidate who was sitting next to her

But Hebrew commonly uses:

  • המועמד שישב לידה

You may also hear shorter structures in some contexts, but for learners, using ש־ is the safe and standard choice.

If the candidate were female, how would the sentence change?

It would become:

גם המועמדת שישבה לידה שאלה אם זאת משרה מלאה.

Changes:

  • המועמד → המועמדת = the female candidate
  • ישב → ישבה = sat / was sitting (feminine singular)
  • שאל → שאלה = asked (feminine singular)

The rest can stay the same.

Is asked if it was a full-time position a possible meaning too?

Yes, in English that would often be a very natural translation. Hebrew does not always match English tense choices exactly in these indirect questions.

The Hebrew says:

שאל אם זאת משרה מלאה

Literally, that is something like asked whether this is a full-time position, but in natural English, depending on context, you might say:

  • asked if it was a full-time position
  • asked whether it was a full-time job

So the Hebrew present-style form after אם can correspond to a more natural past form in English translation, especially in reported speech.

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