הוא שואל: "את רוצה קפה?" ואני עונה: "לא, תודה."

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Breakdown of הוא שואל: "את רוצה קפה?" ואני עונה: "לא, תודה."

• הוא: he
• קפה: coffee
• לרצות: to want

Questions & Answers about הוא שואל: "את רוצה קפה?" ואני עונה: "לא, תודה."

Why is it את רוצה and not אתה רוצה?

Because את is you when speaking to one female.

• אתה = you (to a male)
• את = you (to a female)

So if the speaker is asking a woman, Do you want coffee?, Hebrew uses את רוצה קפה?

If he were speaking to a man, it would be:

• אתה רוצה קפה?

Why is the verb רוצה and not something different for you?

In the Hebrew present tense, verbs usually change for gender and number, but not as clearly for person as in English.

Here:

• רוצה = singular masculine/feminine pattern depending on context? More precisely, the written form without ניקוד can serve different present-tense uses, but in this sentence it matches the feminine singular addressee because of את.
• רוצה after את is understood as you (feminine) want
• רוצה after היא would be she wants

So the pronoun helps tell you exactly who is meant.

Why does the sentence include את at all? Could Hebrew just say רוצה קפה?