Relative Clauses with שֶׁ
One short prefix does the work of who, which and that. Learn where it goes, what the verb agrees with, and why Hebrew says “the city I lived in it”.
You already know the hardest part: the inflected prepositions לוֹ, אִתָּהּ, בָּהּ. In this lesson they point back to the noun you are describing.
שֶׁ: who, which and thatone word, no space
One word instead of three
To say which person or thing you mean, Hebrew adds a whole small sentence after the noun and opens it with שֶׁ. English chooses between who, which and that, and often drops them (“the book I bought”). Hebrew uses שֶׁ for people and things alike and never drops it.
The clause comes right after the noun. Apart from שֶׁ at the front, it is an ordinary sentence with its own subject and verb, in any tense.
You met this שֶׁ in the Connecting Words lesson, after verbs like חוֹשֵׁב and אוֹמֵר. It is the same word with a new job: here it describes a noun.
The pattern: noun + שֶׁ + sentence
| Noun | שֶׁ + clause | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| הָאִישׁ | שֶׁגָּר פֹּה | the man who lives here |
| הַסֵּפֶר | שֶׁקָּנִיתִי | the book (that) I bought |
| הַמַּכֹּלֶת | שֶׁלְּיַד הַבַּיִת | the grocery store next to the house (no verb needed) |
| חָבֵר | שֶׁמְּדַבֵּר רוּסִית | a friend who speaks Russian |
The noun keeps its own article, and שֶׁ adds nothing to it. An indefinite noun works too: חָבֵר שֶׁמְּדַבֵּר רוּסִית.
In everyday speech
אֵיפֹה הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁקָּנִיתִי אֶתְמוֹל?
eifo ha-sefer she-kaniti etmol?
Where's the book I bought yesterday?
הָאִישׁ שֶׁגָּר פֹּה הוּא רוֹפֵא.
ha-ish she-gar po hu rofe
The man who lives here is a doctor.
יֵשׁ לְךָ חָבֵר שֶׁמְּדַבֵּר רוּסִית?
yesh lekha khaver she-medaber rusit?
Do you have a friend who speaks Russian?
זֶה הַשִּׁיר שֶׁשָּׁמַעְנוּ בָּרַדְיוֹ.
ze ha-shir she-shamanu ba-radyo
That's the song we heard on the radio.
Written together with the next word
שֶׁ is a prefix, like ו and בְּ: it is written together with whatever word comes next. Unlike בְּ and לְ, it never swallows the article ה.
With nikud, the letter after שֶׁ takes a dagesh (except the gutturals א, ה, ח, ע and ר, which never take one), so ב, כ, פ are read b, k, p: שֶׁבָּא (she-ba), שֶׁכָּתַבְתִּי (she-katavti), שֶׁפָּגַשְׁתִּי (she-pagashti).
Agreement inside the clause
The verb agrees with whoever does the action
Inside the clause the verb follows the usual agreement rules. When the noun itself does the action, the verb agrees with that noun: a man שֶׁגָּר פֹּה, a woman שֶׁגָּרָה פֹּה, people שֶׁגָּרִים פֹּה.
When someone else does the action, the verb agrees with that someone: הַסְּפָרִים שֶׁדָּנִי קָנָה. The books are plural, but Dani did the buying, so the verb is קָנָה, masculine singular.
In the present tense, שֶׁ + verb often matches an English -ing phrase: הַיְלָדִים שֶׁמְּשַׂחֲקִים בַּחוּץ, the kids playing outside.
One clause, four forms
| Form | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| masc. sing. | הָאִישׁ שֶׁגָּר פֹּה | ha-ish she-gar po | the man who lives here |
| fem. sing. | הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁגָּרָה פֹּה | ha-isha she-gara po | the woman who lives here |
| masc. plural | הָאֲנָשִׁים שֶׁגָּרִים פֹּה | ha-anashim she-garim po | the people who live here |
| fem. plural | הַבָּנוֹת שֶׁגָּרוֹת פֹּה | ha-banot she-garot po | the girls who live here |
Who is doing it?
The noun does the action
הַבַּחוּרָה שֶׁיּוֹשֶׁבֶת שָׁם
ha-bakhura she-yoshevet sham
the girl (who's) sitting there
הַיְלָדִים שֶׁמְּשַׂחֲקִים בַּחוּץ
ha-yeladim she-mesakhakim ba-khuts
the kids (who are) playing outside
Someone else does the action
הַסְּפָרִים שֶׁדָּנִי קָנָה
ha-sfarim she-Dani kana
the books Dani bought: קָנָה agrees with Dani
הָעוּגָה שֶׁאִמָּא שֶׁלִּי אוֹפָה
ha-uga she-ima sheli ofa
the cake my mom bakes: אוֹפָה agrees with Mom
No pronoun for the subject
When the noun is the one doing the action, don't repeat it with הוּא, הִיא or הֵם: הַיְלָדִים שֶׁמְּשַׂחֲקִים, not שֶׁהֵם מְשַׂחֲקִים. The ending of the verb already shows who it is. (One exception: when there is no verb and a noun follows, הוּא works as “is”: חָבֵר שֶׁהוּא רוֹפֵא, a friend who is a doctor.)
Quick check
Complete: “The man who lives here is a doctor.”
___ הוּא רוֹפֵא.
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Frequently asked questions
- How do you say “who”, “which” and “that” in Hebrew?
- After a noun all three are שֶׁ, written together with the next word: הָאִישׁ שֶׁגָּר פֹּה (the man who lives here), הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁקָּנִיתִי (the book that I bought). Unlike English “that”, it can never be left out. מִי and אֵיזֶה only ask questions.
- What is the difference between שֶׁ and אֲשֶׁר?
- None in meaning, only in register. אֲשֶׁר is the formal written form found in the news, official letters, laws and literature, and it is a separate word: הַנַּהָג אֲשֶׁר בָּרַח. שֶׁ is what everyone says, and it attaches to the next word: הַנַּהָג שֶׁבָּרַח. Recognise אֲשֶׁר, but use שֶׁ in conversation.
- Why does Hebrew say “the city that I lived in it”?
- Because a Hebrew preposition can't be left at the end of the clause the way English leaves “in”. It stays with the verb and takes a pronoun that points back to the noun: הָעִיר שֶׁגַּרְתִּי בָּהּ. You may also move it up next to שֶׁ: הָעִיר שֶׁבָּהּ גַּרְתִּי. After a preposition, that pronoun is never optional.
- How do you say “whose” in Hebrew?
- There is no separate word. Use שֶׁ, then the noun followed by שֶׁלּוֹ, שֶׁלָּהּ or שֶׁלָּהֶם pointing back: הַשָּׁכֵן שֶׁהַכֶּלֶב שֶׁלּוֹ נוֹבֵחַ, the neighbour whose dog barks.
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- שֶׁ: who, which and that
- Agreement inside the clause
- When the noun is the object (Free account)
- With a preposition, the pronoun is required (Free account)
- Whoever, whatever: מִי שֶׁ, מָה שֶׁ, אֵיפֹה שֶׁ (Free account)
- אֲשֶׁר, the formal שֶׁ (Free account)
- Common mistakes and summary (Free account)
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