הרוקח אמר שאפשר לקנות את המשחה גם בלי לחכות הרבה, אבל רציתי לשאול עוד שאלה.

ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

• רוקח = pharmacist
• הרוקח = the pharmacist

So הרוקח אמר means the pharmacist said.

Hebrew attaches the definite article directly to the noun as a prefix, instead of using a separate word like English the.

ש־ is a very common Hebrew connector meaning that.

So:

• אמר שאפשר... = said that it is possible...

This is the normal way to connect the verb אמר (said) to the following clause.

Compare:

• הוא אמר = he said
• הוא אמר שאפשר לקנות = he said that it’s possible to buy

In everyday Hebrew, ש־ is attached directly to the next word, which is why you see שאפשר as one unit.

Yes, in this sentence אפשר is being used in an impersonal way to mean something like:

• it is possible
• one can
• you can

So:

• אפשר לקנות את המשחה = it is possible to buy the ointment
• more naturally in English: you can buy the ointment

A key point: אפשר does not change for person or gender here. It is a fixed impersonal expression.

Because after אפשר, Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive, usually marked with ל־.

• לקנות = to buy
• לחכות = to wait

So:

• אפשר לקנות = it is possible to buy / you can buy
• בלי לחכות = without waiting

This is very normal Hebrew structure:

• אפשר + infinitive
• צריך + infinitive
• רוצה + infinitive, etc.

את marks a definite direct object.

Here:

• המשחה = the ointment / the cream
• because it is definite, Hebrew uses את before it

So:

• לקנות משחה = to buy an ointment / cream
• לקנות את המשחה = to buy the ointment / cream

Important: את usually does not have a direct English translation. It is a grammatical marker.

Again, the ה־ makes the noun definite:

• משחה = an ointment / a cream / ointment
• המשחה = the ointment / the cream

Because the sentence is referring to a specific ointment already known in context, Hebrew uses the definite form.

Also notice the pattern:

• את המשחה = the ointment as a definite direct object

So both את and ה־ work together here.

גם means also, too, or sometimes even, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• גם בלי לחכות הרבה = also without waiting a long time

The idea is that this is an additional possibility or condition.

Hebrew often places גם right before the part it is modifying. Here it modifies the phrase בלי לחכות הרבה.

A natural English translation may shift the wording a little, but in Hebrew this placement is very normal.

Because בלי means without, and it is the standard word to use before an infinitive when you want to say without doing something.

• בלי = without
• לחכות = to wait
• בלי לחכות = without waiting

By contrast, לא לחכות means not to wait, which is different in tone and function.

Compare:

• אפשר לקנות את זה בלי לחכות = you can buy it without waiting
• אמרו לי לא לחכות = they told me not to wait

So בלי + infinitive is the correct structure for without doing.

Yes, הרבה often means a lot, but it can also function adverbially and mean something like much or for long depending on the verb.

Here:

• לחכות הרבה = to wait a lot / to wait long / to wait for a long time

In natural English, we usually say wait long or wait for a long time, but Hebrew commonly uses הרבה in this kind of way.

So the phrase means:

• בלי לחכות הרבה = without waiting long

This is a very common question. In Hebrew, the past tense can be used politely or softly, much like English I wanted to ask...

So:

• רציתי לשאול literally = I wanted to ask
• but in context it often means something like I wanted to ask or I’d like to ask

This sounds more polite, less direct, or more tentative than:

• אני רוצה לשאול = I want to ask

English does something similar:

• I want to ask a question = more direct
• I wanted to ask a question = softer, more polite

So the Hebrew past tense here is very natural.

עוד means more, another, or one more, depending on context.

So:

• שאלה = question
• עוד שאלה = another question / one more question

This is a very common Hebrew phrase.

Examples:

• יש לי עוד שאלה = I have another question
• רציתי לשאול עוד שאלה = I wanted to ask one more question

Hebrew word order is flexible, but this order is very natural.

• אבל = but
• רציתי = I wanted
• לשאול = to ask
• עוד שאלה = another question

So the structure is:

• but + wanted + to ask + another question

That is a perfectly standard Hebrew pattern. Hebrew often places the main conjugated verb early in the clause, followed by the infinitive and then the object.

Yes. אבל is the normal everyday Hebrew word for but.

In this sentence it introduces a contrast:

• the pharmacist said something was possible,
• but the speaker still wanted to ask another question.

So אבל works very much like English but.