היינו אמורים לאכול מוקדם, אבל אחרי העבודה בגינה כולנו היינו מלוכלכים ורצינו קודם ללכת למקלחת.

Hebrew often leaves subject pronouns unstated when the verb already makes the person clear.

Here, היינו means we were, and רצינו means we wanted, so Hebrew does not need a separate אנחנו.

So:

• היינו אמורים = we were supposed to
• רצינו = we wanted

You could add אנחנו for emphasis, but it is not necessary.

היינו אמורים is a very common way to say we were supposed to.

Structure:

• היינו = we were
• אמורים = literally supposed / meant / expected

Together, היינו אמורים + infinitive means we were supposed to do something.

So:

• היינו אמורים לאכול מוקדם = we were supposed to eat early

Related forms:

• הייתי אמור = I was supposed to
• היית אמורה = you (f.s.) were supposed to
• הם היו אמורים = they were supposed to

Because it agrees with the implied subject we.

In Hebrew, adjectives and participle-like forms often agree in gender and number with the subject. Since the speaker says we, and the group is treated as masculine plural (which is also the default for mixed groups), Hebrew uses אמורים.

Compare:

• אני אמור = I am supposed to (male speaker)
• אני אמורה = I am supposed to (female speaker)
• אנחנו אמורים = we are supposed to (masculine/mixed group)
• אנחנו אמורות = we are supposed to (all-female group)

Because the pattern is:

היה / היינו / היו + אמור/ים/ות + infinitive

This is just how Hebrew expresses be supposed to do something.

So:

• היינו אמורים לאכול = we were supposed to eat
• הוא היה אמור לבוא = he was supposed to come
• הן היו אמורות לעבוד = they were supposed to work

The infinitive is the basic to do form of the verb, so לאכול means to eat.

Because here מוקדם functions like an adverb: early.

In English, we say eat early, not eat an early. Hebrew does something similar here.

So:

• לאכול מוקדם = to eat early

If מוקדם were being used as an adjective modifying a noun, it would agree with that noun. But here it describes the timing of the action, so it stays in this adverb-like form.

Literally, it is:

• אחרי = after
• העבודה = the work
• בגינה = in the garden

So the phrase means after the work in the garden or more naturally after working in the garden.

A useful detail:

• בגינה = ב + ה + גינה → in the garden

The ה of הגינה gets absorbed into the preposition ב, giving בגינה.

כולנו means all of us.

It adds emphasis to the whole group:

• כולנו היינו מלוכלכים = all of us were dirty

Without כולנו, the sentence would still work:

• היינו מלוכלכים = we were dirty

But כולנו makes it clearer that everyone in the group was in that condition.

Formally, כולנו is כול + נו:

• כול = all
• נו = us / our

Because in the past tense, Hebrew needs a form of to be with adjective-like predicates.

In present tense, Hebrew usually leaves out to be:

• אנחנו מלוכלכים = we are dirty

But in past tense, you need it:

• היינו מלוכלכים = we were dirty

So the second היינו is not repetitive in a bad way; it is grammatically necessary.

The sentence has two separate ideas:

• היינו אמורים לאכול מוקדם = we were supposed to eat early
• כולנו היינו מלוכלכים = all of us were dirty

For the same reason as אמורים: it agrees with the subject.

The subject is we / all of us, and the group is treated as masculine plural (or mixed-gender plural), so Hebrew uses מלוכלכים.

Compare:

• אני מלוכלך = I am dirty (male)
• אני מלוכלכת = I am dirty (female)
• אנחנו מלוכלכים = we are dirty (masculine/mixed)
• אנחנו מלוכלכות = we are dirty (all-female)

It is a normal Hebrew pattern:

רצינו + infinitive

That means we wanted to...

So:

• רצינו ללכת = we wanted to go

Then קודם is inserted before the infinitive phrase to mean first / before that:

• רצינו קודם ללכת למקלחת = we wanted to go to the shower first

This is very similar to English word order in we wanted first to go..., though in natural English we more often say we wanted to go... first.

Here קודם means first or before that.

It tells you that before eating, they wanted to do something else.

So in this sentence:

• רצינו קודם ללכת למקלחת = we wanted to go shower first

Common uses of קודם:

• קודם אני אסיים את זה = first I'll finish this
• דיברנו קודם = we spoke earlier
• קודם כל = first of all

The exact English translation depends on context: first, earlier, or beforehand.

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

• להתקלח = to shower / to take a shower
• ללכת למקלחת = literally to go to the shower

In everyday Hebrew, ללכת למקלחת is a very natural way to say someone is going off to shower, especially when the movement to the bathroom/shower matters in the situation.

So this sentence emphasizes the sequence of actions:

• first go shower
• then presumably eat

If the sentence had רצינו קודם להתקלח, that would also be correct and very natural.

The word order is natural, but Hebrew is somewhat flexible.

This version flows like this:

1. what was supposed to happen
   היינו אמורים לאכול מוקדם
2. what changed the situation
   אבל אחרי העבודה בגינה
3. why it changed
   כולנו היינו מלוכלכים
4. what people wanted instead
   ורצינו קודם ללכת למקלחת

That order sounds very natural in storytelling. Hebrew often puts time/background information before the main clause, just as English does.

A slightly different order could still be grammatical, but this version sounds smooth and clear.