גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון, ניסיתי לאכול קצת מרק ולשתות מים.

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.

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

Because the sentence is not saying I was. It is using the possession/existence structure היה לי = I had.

Compare:

• הייתי עייף = I was tired
• היה לי תיאבון = I had an appetite

So היה here is part of the structure meaning there was / existed, not the ordinary I was form.

Also, היה is masculine singular, which works well here with תיאבון, a masculine singular noun.

פחות means less.

In this sentence:

• פחות תיאבון = less appetite

It comes before the noun it modifies. This is a very common pattern:

• פחות זמן = less time
• פחות אוכל = less food
• פחות עניין = less interest

So היה לי פחות תיאבון means I had less appetite.

תיאבון means appetite.

Yes, it is very common, especially in health, food, and everyday conversation.

Examples:

• יש לי תיאבון = I have an appetite
• אין לי תיאבון = I have no appetite
• יש לי פחות תיאבון היום = I have less appetite today

It is a masculine noun, which helps explain the use of היה in the sentence.

ניסיתי is the first person singular past form of the verb לנסות = to try.

So:

• ניסיתי = I tried

That means:

• ניסיתי לאכול = I tried to eat
• ניסיתי לשתות = I tried to drink

In the full sentence, the speaker is talking about what they did in the past.

Because Hebrew, like English, often uses try + infinitive.

So:

• ניסיתי לאכול = I tried to eat
• ניסיתי לשתות = I tried to drink

The infinitive in Hebrew usually begins with ל־:

• לאכול = to eat
• לשתות = to drink

This is a very common pattern:

• רציתי ללכת = I wanted to go
• התחלתי ללמוד = I started to study
• ניסיתי להבין = I tried to understand

Because there are two separate infinitives joined by ו־ = and:

• לאכול קצת מרק
• ולשתות מים

Hebrew usually keeps the infinitive marker with each verb. So this is the normal, natural way to say:

to eat a little soup and to drink water

You can think of it structurally as:

• I tried [to eat a little soup] and [to drink water].

קצת means a little, a bit, or sometimes some.

In this sentence:

• קצת מרק = a little soup / some soup

It often refers to a small amount.

Examples:

• קצת מים = a little water
• קצת אוכל = a little food
• קצת לנוח can also mean to rest a little

So here it softens the action: the person was not trying to eat a full meal, just a little soup.

Because את is generally used before definite direct objects.

Here the objects are indefinite:

• קצת מרק = some/a little soup
• מים = water in a general sense

So no את is needed.

Compare:

• אכלתי מרק = I ate soup

• אכלתי את המרק = I ate the soup

• שתיתי מים = I drank water
• שתיתי את המים = I drank the water

In your sentence, the speaker is talking about soup and water in a general, indefinite way.

Because מים here means water in a general sense, not a specific already-known water.

So:

• לשתות מים = to drink water
• לשתות את המים = to drink the water

In English, we often do the same thing:

• drink water = general
• drink the water = specific

The Hebrew sentence is using the general meaning.

גם often means also, but in this kind of sentence it can add the sense of even.

So:

• כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון = when I had less appetite
• גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון = even when I had less appetite

That makes the sentence sound a little stronger: despite reduced appetite, the speaker still tried to eat and drink.

Yes.

The main past-tense forms are:

• היה לי = I had
• ניסיתי = I tried

Then the verbs לאכול and לשתות are infinitives:

• to eat
• to drink

So the timeline is:

Even when I had less appetite, I tried to eat a little soup and drink water.

It has two main parts:

1. A time/condition-like opening clause:

   • גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון
   • Even when I had less appetite

2. The main clause:

   • ניסיתי לאכול קצת מרק ולשתות מים
   • I tried to eat a little soup and drink water

So the pattern is:

Even when X, I tried to Y.

This kind of sentence structure is very common in Hebrew.

Yes, Hebrew has some flexibility, but the given version is very natural.

For example, the sentence could theoretically be rearranged for emphasis, but:

גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון, ניסיתי לאכול קצת מרק ולשתות מים.

is clear, standard, and idiomatic.

Starting with גם כשהיה לי פחות תיאבון sets the context first, which is a very common Hebrew style.

פחות תיאבון is natural and correct.

But Hebrew could also express a similar idea in other ways, for example:

• כשהיה לי פחות חשק לאכול = when I had less desire to eat
• כשלא היה לי הרבה תיאבון = when I didn’t have much appetite
• כשלא כל כך היה לי תיאבון = when I didn’t really have much appetite

Your sentence is concise and natural, and it sounds like something someone might say when describing illness or recovery.

A few very useful Hebrew patterns appear here:

• היה לי... = I had...
• פחות + noun = less + noun
• ניסיתי + infinitive = I tried to...
• קצת + noun = a little / some + noun
• no את with indefinite objects like מרק and מים
• גם כש... can mean even when...

So this sentence is a great example of everyday Hebrew grammar, especially for talking about health, appetite, eating, and what someone tried to do.