בכתבה אחרת קראתי על מישהי שעברה לכפר קטן כדי לחיות בשקט.

Because ב־ is a prefixed preposition in Hebrew. It usually means in, at, or sometimes on, and it attaches directly to the noun.

So:

• ב־ = in
• כתבה = article / report
• בכתבה = in an article

This is very normal in Hebrew. Other common prefixed prepositions are:

• ל־ = to
• כ־ = as / like
• מ־ = from

So Hebrew often writes what English writes as two words as a single word.

In Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• כתבה אחרת = another article
• literally: article another

Also, the adjective has to agree with the noun in gender and number:

• כתבה is feminine singular
• so the adjective is אחרת, the feminine singular form of other / another

Compare:

• ספר אחר = another book
• כתבה אחרת = another article

Hebrew often puts a context phrase first, especially when setting the scene: in another article, yesterday, at home, in that city, and so on.

So בכתבה אחרת קראתי... means something like:

• In another article, I read...

This fronting gives the sentence a natural discourse flow. It is not the only possible word order, though. Hebrew word order is fairly flexible.

A more neutral order could be:

• קראתי בכתבה אחרת על מישהי...

But the original sentence is completely natural and emphasizes the source first.

Yes, קראתי means I read or I was reading / I read depending on context, but the preposition changes the meaning:

• קראתי ספר = I read a book
• קראתי את הכתבה = I read the article
• קראתי על מישהי = I read about a woman / about someone

So לקרוא על is the normal way to say to read about.

מישהי means someone / somebody, specifically female.

It is the feminine counterpart of:

• מישהו = someone (masculine)

So:

• מישהי שעברה... = some woman / someone (female) who moved...

It often sounds natural when the speaker does not name the person, but does know that the person is a woman.

It is a very common everyday word.

This is a very common Hebrew structure:

• ש־ = a relative particle meaning that / who / which
• עברה = she moved / she passed

Together:

• שעברה = who moved or that moved

Hebrew often uses ש־ where English uses who, that, or which.

So:

• מישהי שעברה לכפר קטן = someone who moved to a small village

Because the verb has to agree with מישהי, which is feminine singular.

• עבר = he moved / passed
• עברה = she moved / passed

Since מישהי refers to a female person, Hebrew uses the feminine form:

• מישהי שעברה = a woman who moved

If it were masculine, you would say:

• מישהו שעבר = a man / someone who moved

Yes, the root ע־ב־ר often has the basic idea of passing or crossing, but in some contexts it can also mean move, especially when talking about relocating.

In this sentence:

• עברה לכפר קטן = she moved to a small village

The combination with ל־ plus a destination makes the meaning clear.

Hebrew often uses verbs whose meanings are a bit broader than a single English verb, so context matters a lot.

Because this means to a small village, not to the small village.

Breakdown:

• ל־ = to
• כפר = village
• קטן = small

So:

• לכפר קטן = to a small village

If it were definite, you would say:

• לכפר הקטן = to the small village

Also notice again that the adjective comes after the noun:

• כפר קטן = small village

And כפר is masculine singular, so the adjective is קטן.

כדי introduces a purpose: in order to, so as to.

So:

• כדי לחיות בשקט = in order to live quietly / in peace

You can think of it as answering why she moved:

• She moved to the village in order to live quietly.

The infinitive after it is very common:

• כדי ללמוד = in order to study
• כדי לעבוד = in order to work
• כדי לחיות = in order to live

In everyday Hebrew, people sometimes omit כדי when the purpose is obvious, but using it is very standard and clear.

בשקט literally means in quiet, but in natural English it often means:

• quietly
• in peace
• without disturbance
• in a calm way

In this sentence, לחיות בשקט most naturally means:

• to live quietly
• to live in peace
• to live a quiet life

The ב־ is part of an adverbial expression. Hebrew often uses ב־ this way:

• בשקט = quietly / in quiet
• בשמחה = happily / with joy
• בזהירות = carefully

So even though English often uses an -ly adverb, Hebrew frequently uses ב־ + noun.

Hebrew verbs carry a lot of information in their forms.

Here:

• קראתי = I read
  The ־תי ending shows first person singular: I
• עברה = she moved
  The ־ה ending here shows third person feminine singular: she
• לחיות = to live
  This is the infinitive: no specific subject is marked directly

So the sentence structure tells you:

• I read
• about a woman
• who moved
• to a small village
• in order to live quietly

A rough pronunciation guide:

• בכתבה — be-kha-ta-VA
• אחרת — a-KHE-ret
• קראתי — ka-RA-ti
• מישהי — MI-she-hi
• שעברה — she-av-RA
• לכפר — le-kfar
• כדי — ke-DEI
• לחיות — likh-YOT
• בשקט — be-SHE-ket

A few notes:

• כ / ח often sound like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
• ש־ in שעברה is the relative that / who
• מישהי can feel a little tricky because of the -הי ending, but it is a very common word in speech