היה אמור להיות צינור חדש מתחת לכיור, אבל התברר שהצינור הישן עוד בסדר.

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

היה/הייתה/היו אמור/אמורה/אמורים/אמורות + infinitive

It means something like was supposed to, was expected to, or was meant to.

So here, היה אמור להיות is the Hebrew equivalent of was supposed to be.

A useful way to remember it:

• היה = was
• אמור = supposed / expected
• להיות = to be

So the whole chunk functions as one idea, not as three separate meanings you have to translate word by word every time.

Because they are doing different jobs.

• היה gives the tense: past
• להיות is the main action: to be

This works a lot like English:

• was supposed to be

English also has two parts there:

• was = tense
• to be = main verb

So היה אמור להיות צינור חדש is structurally very similar to there was supposed to be a new pipe.

Because אמור is masculine singular, and it agrees with צינור, which is also masculine singular.

• צינור = pipe, masculine singular

So the grammar matches:

• צינור חדש → masculine singular
• היה אמור → masculine singular

If the noun were feminine singular, you would expect:

• הייתה אמורה

If it were plural:

• היו אמורים
• היו אמורות

So the form of אמור helps show what noun it is tied to.

Because צינור חדש is indefinite: a new pipe, not the new pipe.

Hebrew often introduces something new with an indefinite noun, just like English:

• צינור חדש = a new pipe

Later, the sentence talks about a specific pipe:

• הצינור הישן = the old pipe

So the sentence moves from an indefinite idea (a new pipe) to a definite, specific one (the old pipe).

Because מתחת normally takes the preposition ל־.

So Hebrew says:

• מתחת ל... = under / underneath ...

That gives:

• מתחת לכיור = under the sink

Also, ל־ combines with ה־:

• ל + הכיור → לכיור (without vowel marks)
• with ניקוד it would be לַכִּיּוֹר

So לכיור really means to/at the sink or here, after מתחת, simply under the sink.

This kind of combining is very common in Hebrew:

• ב + ה → ב
• ל + ה → ל
• כ + ה → כ

התברר means it became clear, it turned out, or it was выясned/clarified in the sense of learning what the reality is.

In this sentence, it introduces the real situation after an expectation:

• expectation: there was supposed to be a new pipe
• reality: the old pipe was still fine

So אבל התברר ש... is a very natural way to say:

• but it turned out that...

It is a very useful verb to learn, especially in storytelling and everyday explanation.

The prefix ש־ means that.

So:

• התברר ש... = it turned out that...

Hebrew usually attaches ש־ directly to the next word:

• שהצינור = that the pipe

This is extremely common. You will see the same thing in many sentences:

• אני חושב ש... = I think that...
• ידעתי ש... = I knew that...
• ברור ש... = it’s clear that...

In English, that is often optional. In Hebrew, ש־ is often very natural or expected.

Because in Hebrew, an adjective agrees with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• definiteness

So if the noun is definite, the adjective must also be definite.

• הצינור = the pipe
• הישן = the old

Together:

• הצינור הישן = the old pipe

This is different from English, where only the appears once.

A very important contrast:

• הצינור הישן = the old pipe
• הצינור ישן = the pipe is old

The first is a noun phrase.
The second is a full sentence.

Yes, עוד often means more or another, but it can also mean still.

Here:

• עוד בסדר = still okay / still fine

This is very common in spoken Hebrew.

So עוד has several common meanings depending on context:

• עוד מים = more water
• עוד אחד = another one
• עוד לא = not yet
• עוד בסדר = still okay

A more formal or very clear equivalent of still is עדיין:

• הצינור הישן עדיין בסדר

That would also be correct.

בסדר is one of the most common expressions in Hebrew. It can mean:

• okay
• fine
• all right
• in order
• acceptable
• working properly

Literally, it comes from the idea of in order, but in real usage it is much broader.

Here it means the old pipe is still okay or still in acceptable condition.

So in this sentence, בסדר is not about morality or correctness. It is about condition or functionality.

Because בסדר is not a past-tense verb. It is a present-state expression: is okay.

The past is already marked by התברר:

• התברר = it turned out

Then the clause after it states the situation that turned out to be true:

• שהצינור הישן עוד בסדר = that the old pipe is still okay

Hebrew often does this, just like English:

• It turned out that the old pipe is still okay

You could say היה בסדר in some contexts, but that would shift the meaning more toward was okay at that time. Here the sentence suggests the pipe is still fine now, so present-state בסדר works well.

Because Hebrew often expresses existence without a separate dummy word like English there.

English says:

• There was supposed to be a new pipe

Hebrew simply says:

• היה אמור להיות צינור חדש

So Hebrew does not need an equivalent of the English grammatical there here. This is a very common difference between the two languages.

You could, but it changes the nuance.

• היה אמור להיות = was supposed to be, was expected to be
• היה צריך להיות = was supposed to be / should have been, but with more of a sense of requirement or necessity

In this sentence, אמור sounds natural because it refers to an expectation about what was supposed to be under the sink.

If you used צריך, it might sound more like:

• that is what ought to have been there
• that is what was required to be there

So both are possible in some contexts, but אמור is the better fit for a neutral expectation.

The exact word order is not the only possible one, but this version is very natural.

For example, you could also say:

• היה אמור להיות מתחת לכיור צינור חדש, אבל התברר שהצינור הישן עוד בסדר.
• היה אמור להיות צינור חדש מתחת לכיור, אבל התברר שהצינור הישן עדיין בסדר.

These are small variations, not major changes.

What matters most is understanding the main building blocks:

• היה אמור להיות = was supposed to be
• מתחת לכיור = under the sink
• התברר ש... = it turned out that...
• הצינור הישן עוד בסדר = the old pipe is still okay

Once those are clear, slight word-order changes become much easier to recognize.