בשנה שעברה פיטרו כמה עובדים אחרי שהחברה הפסידה הרבה כסף.

A natural Israeli pronunciation is:

ba-shaná she-avrá pitrú kamá ovdím acharé she-ha-chevrá hifsidá harbé késef

A few notes:

• בשנה = ba-shaná
• שעברה = she-avrá
• פיטרו = pitrú
• כמה עובדים = kamá ovdím
• אחרי שהחברה = acharé she-ha-chevrá
• הפסידה = hifsidá
• הרבה כסף = harbé késef

Both can exist, but בשנה שעברה literally means in the previous year / last year and is very common.

• ב־ means in
• שנה means year
• שעברה means that passed or last

So בשנה שעברה is a fixed, very natural time expression meaning last year.

Because שנה is a feminine singular noun in Hebrew.

The adjective/participle עבר must agree with שנה, so it becomes feminine singular:

• masculine singular: עבר
• feminine singular: עברה

So:

• שנה שעברה = last year
• but for a masculine noun you would use שעבר

ש־ is a very common Hebrew connector meaning that, which, or sometimes something like when or because, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• שעברה = that passed
• שהחברה הפסידה = that the company lost

So אחרי שהחברה הפסידה... means after the company lost...

It is one of the most common little words in spoken and written Hebrew.

Because פיטרו does not agree with workers here. It refers to an unspecified subject: they fired.

Hebrew often uses a 3rd person plural past form like English they when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or not stated.

So:

• פיטרו כמה עובדים = they fired several workers
• very natural English translation: several workers were fired

This is a common way Hebrew expresses something close to an English passive idea without using a passive verb.

Yes. Hebrew could also say something like פוטרו כמה עובדים, which means several workers were fired using a passive verb.

But פיטרו כמה עובדים is often more natural and common in everyday Hebrew. Hebrew frequently prefers an active-looking verb with an unspecified they rather than a formal passive.

So both are possible, but פיטרו sounds very normal.

The dictionary form is פיטר in the pi'el pattern, meaning to fire, dismiss, or lay off.

Past tense forms include:

• פיטר = he fired
• פיטרה = she fired
• פיטרו = they fired

In this sentence, פיטרו is being used impersonally: they fired.

Because את is normally used before a definite direct object, not an indefinite one.

Compare:

• פיטרו כמה עובדים = they fired some / several workers
  
  • כמה עובדים is indefinite, so no את
• פיטרו את העובדים = they fired the workers
  
  • העובדים is definite, so את is required

This is a very important rule in Hebrew.

Here it means several / some.

כמה can mean different things depending on context:

• in a question: כמה עובדים יש? = How many workers are there?
• in a statement: פיטרו כמה עובדים = They fired several workers

So in this sentence it is not a question word. It is an indefinite quantity word.

Because עובדים is the masculine plural form of workers.

Hebrew uses masculine plural in two common situations:

1. when the group is all male
2. when the group is mixed or unspecified

So כמה עובדים can mean:

• several male workers
• several workers of unspecified gender
• several workers in a mixed group

If the sentence specifically meant female workers, it would say כמה עובדות.

Because החברה = the company is grammatically singular feminine.

So the verb must agree with it:

• החברה הפסידה = the company lost
• not החברה הפסידו, because הפסידו is plural

Even though a company is made of many people, grammatically it is treated as one singular noun.

Because the subject is החברה, and חברה is a feminine noun in Hebrew.

Past tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number, so:

• החברה הפסידה = the company lost
• הארגון הפסיד = the organization lost
  because ארגון is masculine

So the feminine ending in הפסידה is there because of החברה.

The dictionary form is הפסיד, meaning to lose.

This verb is in the hif'il pattern.

Some past tense forms:

• הפסיד = he lost
• הפסידה = she lost
• הפסידו = they lost

In this sentence:

• החברה הפסידה = the company lost

Because כסף is usually treated as a mass noun meaning money, not as a countable plural noun.

So Hebrew says:

• הרבה כסף = a lot of money

Here הרבה means a lot of / much, not an adjective agreeing with כסף.

Compare:

• הרבה כסף = a lot of money
• הרבה אנשים = many people

So הרבה works with both mass nouns and plural count nouns.

אחרי means after.

It can be followed by:

• a noun: אחרי העבודה = after work
• a clause: אחרי שהחברה הפסידה הרבה כסף = after the company lost a lot of money

When it is followed by a full clause, Hebrew commonly uses ש־:

• אחרי ש... = after ...

Yes. Hebrew allows that.

For example:

אחרי שהחברה הפסידה הרבה כסף, בשנה שעברה פיטרו כמה עובדים.

That still means basically the same thing. The main difference is emphasis and flow.

• Original sentence starts with the time expression בשנה שעברה
• Reordered sentence starts with the cause/background event אחרי שהחברה הפסידה...

Both are grammatical.

Mostly time, but in context it also strongly suggests reason/background.

Literally it means:

• after the company lost a lot of money

So grammatically it tells you when the workers were fired. But semantically it also implies the likely reason for the layoffs.

This is very common in both Hebrew and English: a time clause can also carry a sense of cause.

The sentence is structured like this:

• בשנה שעברה = time expression
• פיטרו = main verb
• כמה עובדים = direct object
• אחרי שהחברה הפסידה הרבה כסף = subordinate clause with after

So the pattern is roughly:

Time + Verb + Object + After-clause

This is a very natural Hebrew word order, especially when the speaker wants to set the time first.

No. Hebrew is flexible.

You could also say:

• פיטרו כמה עובדים בשנה שעברה
• כמה עובדים פיטרו בשנה שעברה

But the original version, with בשנה שעברה first, sounds very natural because Hebrew often puts time expressions near the beginning of the sentence.

Literally, it is they fired several workers.

But in natural English, if the doer is unknown or unimportant, we often translate it as:

• several workers were fired

So the Hebrew form is active, but its use can feel functionally similar to an English passive. That is why learners often notice a mismatch between the Hebrew grammar and the most natural English translation.