המילים שלה עודדו אותי להמשיך, גם כשהייתי עייפה.

In Hebrew, possession like my / your / her is usually expressed after the noun:

• המילים שלה = her words
• הספר שלי = my book
• הבית שלהם = their house

So Hebrew says something more like the words of hers.

Also, שלה specifically means hers / of her. It does not change for the gender of the noun; it changes for the possessor. Since the owner is female, you use שלה.

The ה is the definite article, meaning the.

• מילים = words
• המילים = the words

In phrases with של-type possession, Hebrew commonly keeps the noun definite:

• המילים שלה = her words
• literally: the words of her

That is normal Hebrew.

Great question. מילה (word) is a feminine noun, but its plural is the irregular form מילים.

So even though -ים often marks masculine plural, not every noun follows the usual pattern. מילים is a common exception.

Singular and plural:

• מילה = a word
• מילים = words

Learners often expect a feminine plural like מילות or something with -ות, but the standard everyday plural is מילים.

Because the subject is המילים שלה = her words, which is plural.

Hebrew verbs in the past tense agree with the subject in number, so:

• המילה שלה עודדה אותי = her word encouraged me
• המילים שלה עודדו אותי = her words encouraged me

So עודדו is plural because words is plural.

עודדו is the past-tense verb encouraged.

It comes from the verb לעודד = to encourage.

Here it is:

• עודדו = they encouraged

But in Hebrew, non-human plural subjects also use the same plural verb form, so the words encouraged me uses the same form as they encouraged me.

Because אותי means me as a direct object.

Compare:

• אני = I (subject)
• אותי = me (direct object)
• לי = to me / for me (indirect object)

In this sentence, the words did something directly to me: they encouraged me, so Hebrew uses אותי.

So:

• המילים שלה עודדו אותי = her words encouraged me

not אני, because אני would mean I, and not לי, because that would mean to me.

להמשיך is the infinitive to continue.

The ל is part of the Hebrew infinitive form, very often equivalent to English to:

• להמשיך = to continue
• ללכת = to go
• לעבוד = to work

After many verbs, Hebrew uses an infinitive just like English does:

• עודדו אותי להמשיך = encouraged me to continue

So the structure is very natural: encouraged + me + to continue.

It breaks down like this:

• גם = also / too / even
• כש = when
• הייתי = I was

So:

• כשהייתי = when I was
• גם כשהייתי = even when I was / also when I was

In this sentence, the best English meaning is even when I was:

• גם כשהייתי עייפה = even when I was tired

That is true in the present tense, but not in the past.

In present tense Hebrew:

• אני עייפה = I am tired

There is no separate word for am.

But in the past, Hebrew does use forms of היה (to be):

• הייתי עייפה = I was tired

So הייתי is necessary here because the sentence is talking about a past state.

Because עייפה is the feminine singular form of tired.

• עייף = tired (masculine singular)
• עייפה = tired (feminine singular)

So this sentence tells you that the speaker is female.

If the speaker were male, the sentence would be:

• המילים שלה עודדו אותי להמשיך, גם כשהייתי עייף.

Notice that הייתי stays the same; it is the adjective עייף / עייפה that shows the speaker’s gender here.

Its basic meaning is indeed also / too, but in context it can also be understood as even.

Here, גם כשהייתי עייפה means something like:

• also when I was tired
• more naturally in English: even when I was tired

So this is a case where the most natural English translation is a little freer than the most literal one.

Yes. Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible.

The original sentence is:

• המילים שלה עודדו אותי להמשיך, גם כשהייתי עייפה.

A different but still natural version would be:

• גם כשהייתי עייפה, המילים שלה עודדו אותי להמשיך.

Both are correct. The difference is emphasis:

• original: starts with her words
• reordered version: starts with even when I was tired

So the original is neutral and natural, but other orders are possible depending on what you want to highlight.

The comma is natural here because the second part is an added subordinate clause:

• גם כשהייתי עייפה = even when I was tired

In modern Hebrew punctuation, you will often see a comma before or after this kind of clause, especially when it adds extra information or creates a pause.

So the comma here is normal and helpful, though punctuation can vary somewhat by style.