בכל פעם שהיא נתקלת בשאלה קשה, היא קוראת את המשפט עוד פעם ורק אחר כך עונה.

בכל פעם ש־ means every time that... or simply whenever....

So:

• בכל = in every / every
• פעם = time / occasion
• ש־ = that / when

Together, בכל פעם שהיא נתקלת... means every time she encounters...

This is a very common Hebrew pattern:

• בכל פעם שאני רואה אותו... = Every time I see him...
• בכל פעם שהם באים... = Whenever they come...

The ש־ is a very common linking word in Hebrew. Here it introduces the clause after בכל פעם.

So:

• בכל פעם = every time
• שהיא נתקלת בשאלה קשה = that she encounters a difficult question

In natural English, we usually say every time she encounters... without saying that, but Hebrew often keeps the ש־.

You can think of it as a connector meaning that / when depending on context.

נתקלת means encounters / runs into / comes across.

It comes from the root ק-ל-ה in the verb להיתקל or more commonly listed as נתקל / להיתקל ב־ in actual usage, meaning to encounter / come across.

Important point: this verb is used with the preposition ב־.

So:

• להיתקל בשאלה = to encounter a question
• להיתקל בבעיה = to run into a problem

In this sentence:

• היא נתקלת = she encounters
• בשאלה קשה = a difficult question

Because the verb להיתקל requires the preposition ב־.

So Hebrew says literally something like:

• she encounters in/with a difficult question

But in natural English, we translate it simply as:

• she encounters a difficult question

This is very common in Hebrew: many verbs require a specific preposition that does not match English exactly.

Examples:

• להאמין ב־ = to believe in
• לחכות ל־ = to wait for
• להסתכל על־ = to look at
• להיתקל ב־ = to encounter / run into

Because the subject is היא = she.

In the present tense, Hebrew verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

For this verb:

• נתקל = masculine singular
• נתקלת = feminine singular
• נתקלים = masculine plural
• נתקלות = feminine plural

Since the sentence is about she, Hebrew uses נתקלת.

The same thing happens later with:

• קוראת = she reads
• עונה = she answers

Because שאלה is a feminine noun.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

• שאלה קשה = a difficult question
  
  • שאלה is feminine singular
  • קשה here is the feminine singular form

Compare:

• ספר קשה = a difficult book (masculine singular)
• שאלות קשות = difficult questions (feminine plural)

את marks a definite direct object.

Since המשפט means the sentence, it is definite because of ה־ = the. So Hebrew puts את before it:

• היא קוראת את המשפט = she reads the sentence

But if the object were indefinite, you would not use את:

• היא קוראת משפט = she reads a sentence

This is one of the most important grammar points in Hebrew:

• use את before a definite direct object
• do not translate את into English

Both can mean again.

In this sentence:

• עוד פעם = again / one more time

So:

• היא קוראת את המשפט עוד פעם = she reads the sentence again

שוב is also very common and often slightly more neutral or formal:

• היא קוראת את המשפט שוב

Both are natural.
עוד פעם can feel a bit more conversational, and literally means one more time.

It means and only afterward or and only after that.

Breakdown:

• ו־ = and
• רק = only
• אחר כך = afterward / later / after that

So the sentence says she does not answer immediately. First she reads the sentence again, and only then does she answer.

Very natural translations include:

• and only afterward she answers
• and only then does she answer

Because אחר כך is a fixed expression meaning after that / afterward / later.

It is very common in Hebrew:

• קודם... אחר כך... = first... afterward...
• אחר כך נדבר = we’ll talk later

You should learn it as a phrase rather than trying to translate each word separately every time.

Hebrew can use עונה by itself to mean answers / responds when the thing being answered is already understood from context.

Here, the context is the difficult question, so עונה naturally means she answers.

If you want to mention the thing answered explicitly, Hebrew often uses:

• עונה על השאלה = answers the question

If you want to say she answers a person, Hebrew usually uses:

• עונה לו / לה = answers him / her
• literally answers to him / her

So in this sentence, leaving the object unstated is completely natural.

Hebrew often omits the subject in the second part of a sentence when it is already clear.

So:

• היא קוראת את המשפט עוד פעם ורק אחר כך עונה

means:

• she reads the sentence again and only afterward answers

You could repeat היא:

• היא קוראת את המשפט עוד פעם ורק אחר כך היא עונה

But it is usually less natural here unless you want extra emphasis.

Because Hebrew often uses the present tense for habitual or repeated actions.

This sentence is not describing one single event. It describes what she generally does whenever this situation happens.

So the present tense here means something like:

• Whenever this happens, she does this

This is very normal in Hebrew and also possible in English:

• Every time she sees him, she smiles
• Whenever she encounters a difficult question, she reads the sentence again...

Historically, yes, it is built from:

• ב־ = in
• כל = every
• פעם = time

But as a phrase, you should understand בכל פעם simply as every time / whenever.

Hebrew often uses prepositions in ways that do not match English word-for-word, so the best approach is to learn the whole expression.

פעם means time / occasion / once, and פעמים is the plural times.

In the phrase בכל פעם, Hebrew uses the singular, even though English says every time too. So this is perfectly parallel to English.

Examples:

• פעם אחת = one time / once
• שתי פעמים = two times
• בכל פעם = every time

Yes. משפט can mean:

• sentence in language
• trial / legal case
• sometimes statement

In this sentence, because she is reading it again before answering a question, המשפט most naturally means the sentence.

This is a good reminder that many Hebrew words, like English words, have more than one meaning, and context tells you which one fits.

The comma separates the whenever-clause from the main clause.

Structure:

• בכל פעם שהיא נתקלת בשאלה קשה, = subordinate clause
• היא קוראת את המשפט עוד פעם ורק אחר כך עונה. = main clause

English often does the same:

• Every time she encounters a difficult question, she reads the sentence again...

So the comma helps show the sentence structure clearly.

Yes. Literally, עוד פעם is another time / one more time.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• again
• once more
• one more time

So here:

• קוראת את המשפט עוד פעם
  can be understood as
• reads the sentence again
• reads the sentence one more time

Both are good translations.