הנשים מדברות זו לזו בשקט.

נשים is the plural of אישה (woman), although it is an irregular plural, so it does not look like a regular feminine plural in -ות.

The ה־ at the beginning is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• נשים = women
• הנשים = the women

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

Since הנשים is feminine plural, the verb must also be feminine plural:

• מדבר = speaking (masculine singular)
• מדברת = speaking (feminine singular)
• מדברים = speaking (masculine plural)
• מדברות = speaking (feminine plural)

So הנשים מדברות means the women are speaking.

Yes. In Modern Hebrew, the present tense is usually formed with what historically comes from the participle. But in normal learning and usage, you can think of מדברות as the present-tense form of to speak for a feminine plural subject.

So in ordinary learner terms:

• הנשים מדברות = the women speak / are speaking

Hebrew present tense often covers both simple present and present continuous in English.

זו לזו means to each other or one to another, here in the sense of mutual action.

Since the sentence is about women, Hebrew uses the feminine form:

• זה לזה = to each other (masculine / mixed group)
• זו לזו = to each other (feminine)

So:

• הנשים מדברות זו לזו = the women are speaking to each other

Hebrew often expresses reciprocal ideas like each other with a phrase rather than a single word.

In זו לזו:

• זו = this one (feminine)
• לזו = to this one (feminine, with the preposition ל־ = to)

Literally, it is something like this one to this one, but idiomatically it means to each other.

That is the natural Hebrew structure here.

The preposition ל־ means to and is commonly attached directly to the following word.

So:

• זו = this one
• לזו = to this one

Because the verb לדבר often takes אל or ל when referring to the person someone speaks to, the reciprocal phrase here appears as זו לזו = to each other.

בשקט means quietly or in a quiet voice.

It is made from:

• ב־ = in / with
• שקט = quiet, silence

So literally it is something like in quiet, but in natural English it is usually quietly.

In the sentence:

• הנשים מדברות זו לזו בשקט = The women are speaking quietly to each other

Hebrew often uses a preposition + noun where English prefers an adverb.

So instead of a special adverb form meaning quietly, Hebrew commonly says:

• בשקט = in quiet / quietly

This is a very normal Hebrew pattern. Similar expressions are common, and learners should get used to Hebrew expressing manner this way.

Yes, Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, though some orders sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

The neutral order here is:

• הנשים מדברות זו לזו בשקט

But you may also hear:

• הנשים בשקט מדברות זו לזו — possible, but less neutral
• בשקט הנשים מדברות זו לזו — puts emphasis on quietly

The original sentence sounds like a normal, straightforward statement.

It would not be wrong, but it would mean something slightly different.

• הנשים מדברות בשקט = The women are speaking quietly
• הנשים מדברות זו לזו בשקט = The women are speaking quietly to each other

Without זו לזו, the sentence does not explicitly say that they are speaking to each other. They could simply be speaking in general.

Yes. In everyday Modern Hebrew, speakers often use expressions like:

• אחת עם השנייה
• אחת לשנייה

to mean with each other or to each other for feminine subjects.

So זו לזו is correct and elegant, but it may sound a bit more formal or literary than some everyday alternatives, depending on context.

Both the noun-related forms and the agreement would change to masculine.

For example:

• הגברים מדברים זה לזה בשקט.

Changes:

• הגברים = the men
• מדברים = masculine plural
• זה לזה = masculine reciprocal form

So Hebrew keeps the gender agreement throughout the sentence.

It is pronounced approximately zo la-zo.

A rough guide:

• זו = zo
• לזו = la-zo

So the whole phrase sounds like:

• zo la-zo

And the full sentence is approximately:

• ha-na-shim medabrot zo la-zo be-sheket

Because שקט here is being used in a general, adverb-like way: quietly / in quiet. It is not referring to a specific, definite the quiet.

So Hebrew says:

• בשקט = quietly / in quiet

not:

• בהשקט — which would not be the normal expression here

This is just the standard idiomatic form.

In standard Modern Hebrew pronunciation, מדברות is usually pronounced medabROT, with the main stress on the last syllable.

Roughly:

• me-da-BROT

This final stress is very common in Hebrew verb and noun forms.