הקרציה על הכלב.

In Hebrew, present-tense sentences like this often do not use a separate word for is/are.

So הקרציה על הכלב literally looks like the tick on the dog, but it means the tick is on the dog.

This is called a nominal sentence in the present tense.
If you wanted past tense, you would add a form of to be, for example:

הקרציה הייתה על הכלב = The tick was on the dog

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

So:

• קרציה = a tick
• הקרציה = the tick
• כלב = a dog
• הכלב = the dog

It appears on both nouns because both are definite in this sentence: the tick and the dog.

A common pronunciation is:

ha-kartsi-YA al ha-KE-lev

More carefully:

• הקרציה = ha-kartsi-YA
• על = al
• הכלב = ha-KE-lev

A few sound notes:

• צ sounds like ts in cats
• כ in כלב is k here, not kh
• The stress is usually on -YA in קרציה and on KE in כלב

Here, על means on.

So על הכלב means on the dog.

In other contexts, על can also mean things like about, over, or against, but in this sentence it clearly shows physical location: the tick is on the dog.

Because הכלב is not a direct object here.

את is used before a definite direct object, but in this sentence הכלב is part of a prepositional phrase:

• על הכלב = on the dog

Since הכלב comes after the preposition על, you do not use את.

The subject is הקרציה = the tick.

The phrase על הכלב = on the dog tells you where the tick is.

So the structure is:

• הקרציה = subject
• על הכלב = location phrase / predicate

This is very similar to English The tick is on the dog, except Hebrew leaves out is in the present tense.

קרציה is feminine.

One clue is the ending ־יה, which is often feminine. You can also see this if you use an adjective or past-tense verb with it:

• הקרציה קטנה = The tick is small
• הקרציה הייתה על הכלב = The tick was on the dog

The feminine forms קטנה and הייתה match קרציה.

Yes, but it changes the meaning.

Compare:

• הקרציה על הכלב = The tick is on the dog
• קרציה על הכלב = A tick is on the dog
• הקרציה על כלב = The tick is on a dog
• קרציה על כלב = A tick is on a dog

So the ה־ matters a lot. It tells you whether the noun is the or a/an.

In the present tense, Hebrew usually omits is. But in past and future, you use forms of to be.

Examples:

• הקרציה הייתה על הכלב = The tick was on the dog
• הקרציה תהיה על הכלב = The tick will be on the dog

So the sentence you were given is specifically the present-tense version.

The normal, neutral order is:

הקרציה על הכלב

That is:

subject + location phrase

Hebrew can sometimes move things around for emphasis, but this order is the most straightforward and natural for a beginner to learn first.

Usually, no. Everyday Hebrew is normally written without vowel marks.

So you will usually see:

הקרציה על הכלב

A fully pointed version would look something like:

הַקַּרְצִיָּה עַל הַכֶּלֶב

Beginners may see vowel marks in textbooks, children's books, dictionaries, or learning materials, but most real-world Hebrew leaves them out.

Yes. In spoken Hebrew, קרציה can also be slang for an annoying, clingy person, something like a pest or a leech.

But in this sentence, because of על הכלב, the literal meaning tick is the natural one.