חבל שהפגישה נדחתה שוב.

that

Breakdown of חבל שהפגישה נדחתה שוב.

• פגישה: meeting
• שוב: again
• להידחות: to be postponed

Questions & Answers about חבל שהפגישה נדחתה שוב.

What does חבל mean here? I thought it meant rope.

Yes, חבל literally can mean rope or cord, but in this sentence it means it’s a shame, what a pity, or too bad.

This is a very common Hebrew expression:

• חבל ש... = It’s a shame that...
• חבל על הזמן = literally a shame about the time, but idiomatically it can mean something like awesome / unbelievable in colloquial Hebrew, depending on context.

So in חבל שהפגישה נדחתה שוב, חבל is not the noun rope. It is an expression of regret.

What is the role of ש in שהפגישה?

The ש is the Hebrew conjunction meaning that.

So:

• חבל ש... = It’s a shame that...
• שהפגישה = that the meeting...

Hebrew often attaches this ש directly to the following word, instead of writing it as a separate word.

So:

• ש + הפגישה
• becomes שהפגישה

This is very normal and extremely common in Hebrew.

Why does הפגישה start with ה?