המכונאי ראה נורת אזהרה וניסה להתניע את המנוע.

A natural pronunciation is:

ha-mekho-NAI ra-A no-RAT az-ha-RA ve-ni-SA le-hat-NI-a et ha-ma-NO-a

A rough word-by-word guide:

• המכונאי — ha-mekho-NAI
• ראה — ra-A
• נורת אזהרה — no-RAT az-ha-RA
• וניסה — ve-ni-SA
• להתניע — le-hat-NI-a
• את המנוע — et ha-ma-NO-a

Because Hebrew verbs often already show the person, gender, and number.

Here, ראה means he saw, and ניסה means he tried.
So Hebrew does not need to add a separate pronoun like הוא unless you want emphasis or contrast.

So:

• ראה = he saw
• ניסה = he tried

ראה is the past tense, 3rd person masculine singular form of the verb לראות (to see).

So it means:

• he saw

If the subject were feminine, it would be different:

• היא ראתה = she saw

Since המכונאי is masculine singular, ראה matches it.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the.

So:

• מכונאי = a mechanic / mechanic
• המכונאי = the mechanic

This sentence is talking about a specific mechanic, so Hebrew uses ה־.

This is a construct phrase in Hebrew, called סמיכות.

The basic noun is:

• נורה = lamp / light bulb / light

But when it comes before another noun to mean X of Y or a combined expression, it often changes form:

• נורה → נורת

So:

• נורת אזהרה = literally warning-light
• more naturally: a warning light

This change from ־ה to ־ת is very common in feminine nouns in construct form.

No. אזהרה is a noun, meaning warning.

So נורת אזהרה is not really a light that is warning as an adjective phrase.
It is a noun-noun combination: warning light.

Compare:

• אזהרה = warning
• נורת אזהרה = warning light

This is different from an adjective pattern like:

• נורה אדומה = a red light

There, אדומה is an adjective and must agree in gender and number with נורה.

Because את is used before a definite direct object.

In this sentence:

• נורת אזהרה = a warning light → indefinite, so no את
• המנוע = the engine → definite, so it takes את

So:

• ראה נורת אזהרה = he saw a warning light
• להתניע את המנוע = to start the engine

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

The prefix ו־ means and.

So:

• ניסה = he tried
• וניסה = and he tried

Hebrew very often attaches short words like ו־ directly to the next word.

Because ניסה means tried, and Hebrew usually follows it with an infinitive: tried to...

So:

• ניסה להתניע = tried to start

This works much like English:

• He tried to start the engine

The infinitive here is להתניע = to start (an engine, car, etc.).

No. להתניע is more specific.

It means to start an engine / start a vehicle.

So in this sentence:

• להתניע את המנוע = to start the engine

It is not the general verb to begin.
For example, if you want to say to begin a meeting or to begin working, you would usually use a different verb, such as להתחיל.

המנוע means the engine, with the definite article ה־.

This suggests a specific engine, probably the one in the vehicle or machine being discussed.

So:

• מנוע = an engine / engine
• המנוע = the engine

Because the object is definite, Hebrew also adds את:

• את המנוע

The sentence follows a very natural Hebrew order:

• המכונאי — the subject
• ראה — the verb
• נורת אזהרה — the object
• וניסה — another verb
• להתניע את המנוע — infinitive phrase with its object

So the structure is basically:

The mechanic + saw + a warning light + and tried + to start the engine

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is neutral and natural.

Yes. If you wanted to say the warning light, the construct phrase would become definite through the second noun.

For example:

• נורת אזהרה = a warning light
• נורת האזהרה = the warning light

Notice that in a construct phrase, the ה־ usually appears on the second noun, not the first.

So Hebrew does not normally say:

• הנורת אזהרה ✗

Instead it says:

• נורת האזהרה ✓