הווטרינר בדק את כף הרגל כי הכלב צלע.

הווטרינר means the veterinarian.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English. So:

• ווטרינר = a veterinarian / veterinarian
• הווטרינר = the veterinarian

Hebrew usually attaches the directly to the noun instead of writing it as a separate word.

בדק is the past tense form of the verb לבדוק, meaning to check / to examine.

In this sentence, בדק means checked or examined.

More specifically, בדק is:

• 3rd person
• masculine singular
• past

So it matches הווטרינר if the veterinarian is being referred to as male, or if Hebrew is simply using the masculine form.

את is the direct object marker. It does not get translated into English, but it tells you that the next word is the definite direct object of the verb.

Here:

• בדק = checked
• את כף הרגל = the foot / paw that was checked

Hebrew uses את before a definite direct object, such as one with ה־ (the) or a proper name.

So:

• בדק כף רגל would sound like checked a foot
• בדק את כף הרגל = checked the foot

Because רגל can mean leg or foot, depending on context, while כף רגל is more specific and refers to the foot.

So:

• רגל = leg / foot
• כף רגל = foot
• in an animal context, it can also feel closer to paw depending on the translation

In this sentence, כף הרגל makes it clearer that the veterinarian examined the dog’s foot/paw area, not the whole leg.

This is because כף הרגל is a construct phrase (called smikhut in grammar). In this structure, two nouns are linked together, roughly like the foot of the leg or more naturally just the foot.

In many construct phrases, definiteness is shown on the second noun, but it makes the whole phrase definite.

So:

• כף רגל = a foot
• כף הרגל = the foot

Even though כף itself does not take ה־ here, the whole phrase is definite because הרגל is definite.

Yes, historically and literally, כף can mean something like palm or sole-shaped surface.

For example:

• כף היד = palm of the hand
• כף הרגל = sole/foot

So Hebrew uses כף for the curved lower part of a hand or foot. But in normal usage, כף הרגל is just the standard expression for foot.

כי means because in this sentence.

So:

• הווטרינר בדק את כף הרגל כי הכלב צלע
• The veterinarian examined the foot because the dog limped

כי introduces the reason.

Depending on context, כי can sometimes have other meanings in Hebrew, but because is the right one here.

צלע means limped.

It is the past tense of the verb לצלוע = to limp.

Here, צלע is:

• 3rd person
• masculine singular
• past

So it matches הכלב = the dog.

Examples:

• הכלב צלע = the dog limped
• היא צלעה = she limped
• הם צלעו = they limped

Hebrew often uses subject–verb order in simple past sentences, especially in modern everyday language.

So:

• הכלב צלע = the dog limped

Hebrew can sometimes allow different word orders for style or emphasis, but הכלב צלע is the neutral, natural order here.

The full sentence also sounds very natural as:

• הווטרינר בדק את כף הרגל כי הכלב צלע

Hebrew past-tense verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here, בדק is masculine singular, so it matches a male subject:

• הווטרינר בדק = the male veterinarian checked

If the veterinarian were female, it would be:

• הווטרינרית בדקה = the female veterinarian checked

Likewise, the second verb matches the dog in masculine singular:

• הכלב צלע = the dog limped

If it were a female dog, you would normally say:

• הכלבה צלעה = the female dog limped

Yes. That is a very natural way to understand it.

Hebrew does not explicitly say of the dog here. Instead, the connection is understood from context:

• the veterinarian checked the foot
• because the dog was limping

So English often makes the relationship more explicit and says the dog’s foot or the dog’s paw, even though Hebrew simply says את כף הרגל.

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

ha-vet-e-ri-NAR ba-DAK et kaf ha-RE-gel ki ha-KE-lev tsa-LA

A few notes:

• הווטרינר = ha-veterinar
• בדק = badak
• כף הרגל = kaf haregel
• הכלב = hakelev
• צלע = tsala

The צ sound is like ts in cats.

It can be either, depending on context.

The verb לבדוק is broad and can mean:

• check
• inspect
• examine

In a medical or veterinary context, examined is often a very natural translation:

• הווטרינר בדק את כף הרגל = The veterinarian examined the foot/paw

In less formal contexts, checked is also perfectly fine.