# כבד/  כבדה



## Chazz

Shalom!


Let's say my friend is picking up heavy grocery bags do i say:

?לא כבד לך אני יעזור לך

or 

?לא כבדה לך אני יעזור לך

I always get confused which form to use 

Toda


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## Drink

כבדה is just the feminine form. It depends on whether you see the bags of groceries as masculine or feminine, singular or plural. Bags (שקיות) are feminine plural, while groceries (מצרכים) are masculine plural, so I would use either of the two plurals.

I will assume that you are aware that "אני יעזור" is the colloquial pronunciation. The correct form is "אני אעזור" ('ani 'e`ezor).


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## origumi

Drink said:


> It depends on whether you see the bags of groceries as masculine or feminine, singular or plural.


The implicit subject in such sentence is זה or alike, so the usual question is לא כבד לך. Other alternatives sound bad: לא כבדה לך, לא כבדים לך, לא כבדות לך.
 Unless the subject is provided somehow, for example: ?לא כבדות לך, השקיות, which is good.


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## yakirb

Hey,
The right form here is 
לא כבד לך? אני *א*עזור לך


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## arielipi

origumi said:


> The implicit subject in such sentence is זה or alike, so the usual question is לא כבד לך. Other alternatives sound bad: לא כבדה לך, לא כבדים לך, לא כבדות לך.
> Unless the subject is provided somehow, for example: ?לא כבדות לך, השקיות, which is good.


all in all i agree, though i'd like to add a tiny correction:
colloquially when theres no direct subject in the question, or it is implicit, people go with זה, though in truth the gender should be chosen related to what the thing one is talking about.
for instance, if referring to a plate one should use זו, if referring to a boy one should use זה


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## hadronic

Questioning a different part of the sentence : in French, but I guess it's the same in English, when asking to someone if he's doing ok,  it has to be "c'est pas *trop* lourd ?" ( "isn't it *too* heavy"). Just asking "is it heavy? " just sounds detached and mathematical, no empathy involved whatsoever, not willing to help.

Does this part have to be left out  in Hebrew, and does actually לך act for that? 
How does  the direct translation sound to natives : לא יותר מדי כבד? לא  כבד יותר מדי? Or :  לא כבד מדי?


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## arielipi

hadronic said:


> Questioning a different part of the sentence : in French, but I guess it's the same in English, when asking to someone if he's doing ok,  it has to be "c'est pas *trop* lourd ?" ( "isn't it *too* heavy"). Just asking "is it heavy? " just sounds detached and mathematical, no empathy involved whatsoever, not willing to help.
> 
> Does this part have to be left out  in Hebrew, and does actually לך act for that?
> How does  the direct translation sound to natives : לא יותר מדי כבד? לא  כבד יותר מדי? Or :  לא כבד מדי?


The way i perceive it, putting in לא gives empathy, if its taken out then its cynical/detached.
you can add מדי if you want, thats ok and just extends the weight.


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## hadronic

Err, you're right I forgot the "לא" in my translation. 
So, in French, if you ask to someone carrying heavy bags "c'est pas lourd ? " (isn't it heavy?)  without the "trop"  (too), makes a weird, disconnected sentence. 
Obviously, in Hebrew you can cut it with "לא כבד?"  only?


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## hadronic

At least, it would mean more something like "wow, you're carrying 10 bags of 5 pounds each!". It would mean surprise. Not empathy in trying to help out.


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## arielipi

לא כבד is also fine in my opinion. it may deliver through tone exhausting patience.


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