Word
גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון, ניסיתי לאכול קצת מרק ולשתות מים.
Meaning
Even when I had less appetite, I tried to eat a little soup and drink water.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון, ניסיתי לאכול קצת מרק ולשתות מים.
מים
water
לי
to me
ו
and
לאכול
to eat
Questions & Answers about גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון, ניסיתי לאכול קצת מרק ולשתות מים.
What does גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון mean literally?
Literally, it is something like:
- גם = also / even
- כש־ = when
- היה לי = there was to me / I had
- פחות תיאבון = less appetite
So the whole beginning is very close to:
Even when I had less appetite...
In natural English, that usually becomes Even when I had less of an appetite or Even when I wasn’t very hungry depending on context.
Why does Hebrew say היה לי for I had?
This is a very common Hebrew pattern.
Hebrew often expresses possession with יש ל־ in the present and היה ל־ in the past:
- יש לי ספר = I have a book
- היה לי זמן = I had time
Literally, this is more like There is/was to me..., but in normal English we simply translate it as I have / I had.
So:
- היה לי תיאבון = I had an appetite
- היה לי פחות תיאבון = I had less appetite / less of an appetite
Why is it היה and not הייתי?