שכחתי את כרטיס האשראי בבית, אבל הצלחתי לשלם בטלפון.

Because the verbs already show who the subject is.

Both שכחתי and הצלחתי end in ־תי, which marks first person singular past:

• שכחתי = I forgot
• הצלחתי = I succeeded / I managed

So Hebrew does not need אני here. You can add אני for emphasis, but it is usually omitted in normal speech.

No. Here את is not the pronoun you.

Hebrew את has two different uses:

1. אַתְּ = you (feminine singular)
2. אֶת = the definite direct object marker

In this sentence, it is the second one: אֶת.

So in שכחתי את כרטיס האשראי, the word את simply marks כרטיס האשראי as the direct object of the verb. It usually is not translated into English.

Because כרטיס האשראי is a definite direct object.

A very common Hebrew rule is:

• if the direct object is definite, use את
• if it is indefinite, do not use את

So:

• שכחתי את כרטיס האשראי = I forgot the credit card
• שכחתי כרטיס אשראי = I forgot a credit card

English does not have an equivalent word, so learners often find את strange at first.

Because this is a construct phrase (called smikhut).

כרטיס אשראי means credit card, literally something like card of credit. In this kind of noun phrase, the definiteness is usually marked on the second noun, but it makes the whole phrase definite.

So:

• כרטיס אשראי = a credit card
• כרטיס האשראי = the credit card

That is why you do not normally say הכרטיס האשראי here.

As written, the sentence literally says the credit card.

In real-life context, Hebrew often leaves possession unspoken if it is obvious. If you want to say it explicitly, you would normally say:

שכחתי את כרטיס האשראי שלי בבית

That means I forgot my credit card at home.

So the original sentence is natural, but it is a little less explicit than the English version often given to learners.

Because בית can mean both house and home, depending on context.

So בבית can mean:

• in the house
• at home

In this sentence, the natural meaning is at home.

Also, the ב־ prefix means in / at, and when it combines with the, Hebrew often contracts it. So בבית here is understood as at home / in the house without needing a separate word for the.

אבל means but.

It connects the two parts of the sentence and shows contrast:

• I forgot the credit card at home,
• but I still managed to pay by phone.

It works very much like English but, and putting a comma before it in writing is normal.

הצלחתי comes from the verb הצליח, which means to succeed or to manage.

Here it is:

• past tense
• first person singular

So הצלחתי means:

• I succeeded
• or more naturally here, I managed

In this sentence, הצלחתי לשלם is best understood as I managed to pay.

Because after הצליח Hebrew usually uses an infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• הצלחתי + infinitive
• I managed to + verb

Here:

• הצלחתי לשלם = I managed to pay

This is a very common Hebrew structure. Compare:

• רציתי ללכת = I wanted to go
• התחלתי ללמוד = I started to study

Not in this sentence.

Here בטלפון means by phone, using the phone, or with the phone. It refers to the method of payment, not to speaking on a call.

The prefix ב־ can mean more than just in. It can also mean by means of, with, or via, depending on context.

So לשלם בטלפון means paying using the phone.

It could be either.

In the first person singular past tense, Hebrew uses the same form for both male and female speakers in verbs like these:

• שכחתי
• הצלחתי

So a man or a woman could say this exact sentence. The verb form does not tell you the speaker’s gender here.

The given word order is very natural and neutral, but Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible.

This version: שכחתי את כרטיס האשראי בבית, אבל הצלחתי לשלם בטלפון sounds like a normal everyday sentence.

You might also hear variations for emphasis, such as putting בבית earlier or later. But the original order is a very standard way to say it.

So for a learner, this is a good model sentence to remember.