בסוף אכלנו על הדשא, שתינו מים, ואת הבירה השארנו בצידנית.

Yes, literally בסוף means at the end, but in everyday Hebrew it very often means in the end, eventually, or after all.

So in this sentence it does not necessarily mean the physical end of the picnic. It can mean something like: after earlier plans or uncertainty, this is what finally happened.

A close synonym is לבסוף, which is a bit more formal.

Because Hebrew verbs already show the subject.

In the past tense, the ending ־נו means we:

• אכלנו = we ate
• שתינו = we drank
• השארנו = we left

So adding אנחנו would usually be unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:

• אנחנו אכלנו... = we ate... with extra emphasis

This is very normal in Hebrew and is one of the first things English speakers notice.

Because ־נו is the past-tense ending for we.

So the pattern is:

• verb stem + ־נו = we did X

In this sentence:

• אכלנו = we ate
• שתינו = we drank
• השארנו = we left

This is a very common past-tense ending, so it is worth recognizing quickly.

Yes, in unpointed Hebrew writing, שתינו can be ambiguous.

It can mean:

• שָתִינוּ = we drank
• שְתֵּינוּ = our two / the two of us in certain contexts

In this sentence, the meaning is clearly we drank, because it is followed by מים and matches the other past-tense verbs.

This kind of ambiguity is common in Hebrew without vowel marks, and context usually resolves it.

ה־ is the definite article, so it means the.

• דשא = grass / lawn
• הדשא = the grass / the lawn

And על means on.

So:

• על הדשא = on the grass

Hebrew usually attaches the directly to the noun instead of writing it as a separate word.

Because מים is one of those Hebrew nouns that looks plural but functions as a mass noun.

So even though English uses singular water, Hebrew says מים.

A few useful things to know:

• You normally say שתינו מים = we drank water
• Adjectives with מים are usually plural: מים קרים = cold water

So for an English speaker, it helps to think: the translation is singular in English, but the Hebrew form is historically plural.

Because את marks a definite direct object.

• הבירה = the beer → definite, so Hebrew uses את
• מים here = water in a general sense → not definite, so no את

So:

• שתינו מים = we drank water
• את הבירה השארנו = the beer, we left

If you said שתינו את המים, that would mean we drank the water, referring to specific water.

Also, ואת is just:

• ו = and
• את = direct-object marker

Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same in tone.

The more neutral word order is:

• והשארנו את הבירה בצידנית

The version in your sentence:

• ואת הבירה השארנו בצידנית

puts the beer before the verb for emphasis or contrast. It is a bit like saying:

• and the beer, we left in the cooler

This kind of fronting is common in Hebrew when the speaker wants to highlight a specific object.

השארנו means we left something behind / we left something in a place.

That is different from a verb meaning we left / departed.

For example:

• השארנו את הבירה בצידנית = we left the beer in the cooler
• עזבנו = we left / departed / abandoned

So with an object like the beer, השארנו is the natural choice.

This verb comes from the root ש־א־ר, related to something remaining. In this form, it means to cause something to remain, which becomes leave something behind.

It can be either in unpointed writing.

• בצידנית can represent in a cooler
• and also in the cooler

That is because Hebrew often writes the preposition ב־ attached to the noun, and with no vowel marks the definite and indefinite forms can look identical.

In speech, the pronunciation helps:

• be-tsidanit = in a cooler
• ba-tsidanit = in the cooler

In writing without vowels, context tells you which one is meant.