הן רוצות להכין את כל הארוחה בעצמן.

הן means they, but specifically they for an all-female group.

Hebrew distinguishes gender in the third person plural:

• הם = they (masculine or mixed group)
• הן = they (feminine group)

So if the people being talked about are women or girls, הן is the correct form.

Because the subject is feminine plural: הן.

Hebrew verbs agree with the subject in gender and number. In the present tense:

• רוצה = wants (masculine singular or feminine singular? Actually singular forms are different: masculine רוצה, feminine רוצה in writing, though pronounced differently in careful grammar)
• רוצים = want (masculine plural)
• רוצות = want (feminine plural)

Since the subject is הן, the verb must also be feminine plural: רוצות.

להכין is the infinitive, meaning to prepare.

The prefix ל־ often marks the infinitive in Hebrew, similar to to in English:

• לכתוב = to write
• לאכול = to eat
• להכין = to prepare

After a verb like רוצות (want), Hebrew usually uses an infinitive:

• הן רוצות להכין = they want to prepare

את is the direct object marker. It comes before a definite direct object.

In this sentence:

• כל הארוחה = the whole meal
• because the noun phrase is definite, Hebrew uses את

So:

• להכין את כל הארוחה = to prepare the whole meal

Important: את does not mean with here. It usually is not translated into English at all.

Because הארוחה has the definite article ה־: the meal.

The phrase כל הארוחה literally looks like all the meal, but idiomatically it means the whole meal.

Compare:

• ארוחה = a meal
• הארוחה = the meal
• כל הארוחה = the whole meal

Since the noun inside the phrase is definite, the whole phrase is definite, and that is why את is used before it.

בעצמן means themselves or by themselves.

It comes from:

• ב־ = in / by
• עצמן = themselves (feminine plural)

In this sentence, it adds emphasis:

• הן רוצות להכין את כל הארוחה בעצמן = They want to prepare the whole meal themselves.

It suggests they want to do it personally, without someone else doing it for them.

Because the subject is feminine plural.

Hebrew changes this word according to gender and number:

• בעצמי = myself
• בעצמך / בעצמך = yourself
• בעצמו = himself
• בעצמה = herself
• בעצמנו = ourselves
• בעצמכם / בעצמכן = yourselves
• בעצמם = themselves (masculine or mixed)
• בעצמן = themselves (feminine)

Since the sentence is about הן, the correct form is בעצמן.

Hebrew often can leave out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

So you could say:

• רוצות להכין את כל הארוחה בעצמן

That can still mean They want to prepare the whole meal themselves, especially in context.

However, הן may be included for clarity, emphasis, or contrast. For example, if you want to stress they rather than someone else, keeping הן is natural.

Yes. In modern Hebrew, רוצות is the present-tense form of לרצות (to want).

Historically, Hebrew present-tense forms are related to participles, but for learners it is perfectly fine to treat רוצות as the present tense:

• היא רוצה = she wants
• הן רוצות = they want

So in practical learning terms, this is just the normal present-tense verb form agreeing with a feminine plural subject.

There is a clear feminine plural pattern running through the sentence:

• הן = they (feminine plural)
• רוצות = want (feminine plural)
• בעצמן = themselves (feminine plural)

The other parts do not change for the subject:

• להכין = to prepare
• את = direct object marker
• כל הארוחה = the whole meal

So one useful way to read the structure is:

הן | רוצות | להכין | את כל הארוחה | בעצמן
They | want | to prepare | the whole meal | themselves

Yes. In many contexts, Hebrew בעצמן can cover both ideas:

• themselves in an emphatic sense: they themselves did it
• by themselves in the sense of without help

In this sentence, both ideas fit well:

• they want to prepare the meal personally
• they want to do it without others helping

Context determines which nuance is stronger.

Yes, Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, though this sentence is in a very normal order.

Standard order here:

• הן רוצות להכין את כל הארוחה בעצמן

You might also hear emphasis-based variations in speech, but the version given is the most straightforward and natural for learners.

One thing to notice is that בעצמן usually comes near the end when it emphasizes who is doing the action.

Then the feminine forms would change to masculine/mixed forms:

• הם רוצים להכין את כל הארוחה בעצמם.

Changes:

• הן → הם
• רוצות → רוצים
• בעצמן → בעצמם

Everything else stays the same.

They are very close in meaning. Both can mean the whole meal.

• כל הארוחה is very common and straightforward.
• הארוחה כולה can sound a bit more emphatic or formal, depending on context.

In this sentence, כל הארוחה is completely natural.