Questions & Answers about השיפוצניק היה אמור להגיע בבוקר, אבל הוא כתב שהוא יאחר בשעה.
What does השיפוצניק mean, and is it a formal word?
השיפוצניק means the repairman / renovation guy / handyman-type worker.
It is a fairly colloquial word, not especially formal. It comes from שיפוץ (renovation, repair work) plus the ending ־ניק, which often makes a noun meaning a person associated with something.
So שיפוצניק sounds like the guy who does repairs/renovation work, more than a very official job title.
How does היה אמור להגיע mean was supposed to arrive?
This is a very common Hebrew structure:
היה אמור + infinitive
In this sentence:
- היה = was
- אמור = part of the expression meaning supposed to
- להגיע = to arrive
So:
היה אמור להגיע = was supposed to arrive
Even though אמור is historically related to the verb אמר (to say), in modern Hebrew this whole pattern is just a standard way to say supposed to.
You can think of it as one chunk:
- אני אמור = I am supposed to
- הוא היה אמור = he was supposed to
- הם היו אמורים = they were supposed to
Why is the verb להגיע used here instead of לבוא?