In Hebrew you can build a perfectly correct sentence with no verb at all. That is where this starts, and everything else builds on it.
Almost every beginner mistake at sentence level comes from translating word by word. Start from the Hebrew pattern instead.
In the Hebrew present tense there is simply no verb to be. Put a subject next to a description and you already have a complete sentence: אֲנִי מוֹרֶה, הוּא רָעֵב, הַקָּפֶה חַם.
In the past and the future the situation is entirely different, and there the verb היה is required: הָיִיתִי מוֹרֶה, אֶהְיֶה מוֹרֶה.
In a formal register, or for emphasis, you may insert a copula pronoun: הַסֵּפֶר הוּא מַתָּנָה. Everyday speech does without it.
אֲנִי מוֹרֶה.
ani more
I am a teacher
הוּא רָעֵב.
hu ra’ev
He is hungry
הַקָּפֶה חַם.
ha-kafe kham
The coffee is hot
זֶה טָעִים.
ze ta’im
This is tasty
The moment you move to the past or the future, the verb היה comes back:
hayiti more
Past: I was a teacher
ehye more
Future: I will be a teacher
The default order in a statement is subject, verb, object, and then any adverbials. Adopt that order until the language starts to feel natural.
That said, Hebrew is more flexible than English. A time expression in particular likes to open the sentence: אֶתְמוֹל הָלַכְנוּ לַיָּם.
One rule that is not flexible: an adjective always follows the noun it describes.
הַיֶּלֶד קוֹרֵא אֶת הַסֵּפֶר בַּסָּלוֹן.
ha-yeled kore et ha-sefer ba-salon
The boy is reading the book in the living room
אֶתְמוֹל הָלַכְנוּ לַיָּם.
etmol halakhnu la-yam
Yesterday we went to the sea — the time phrase opens
Hebrew has no equivalent of the verb "to have". Instead it uses יש or אין together with the preposition ל: יֵשׁ לִי, אֵין לִי.
יש and אין never change for gender or number. What changes is the preposition: יֵשׁ לִי, יֵשׁ לְךָ, יֵשׁ לָנוּ.
Note that the owner is marked by ל, while the thing owned is the grammatical subject of the sentence.
יֵשׁ סֵפֶר עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן.
yesh sefer al ha-shulchan
Existence: there is a book on the table
יֵשׁ לִי אָח.
yesh li akh
Possession: I have a brother
אֵין לִי זְמַן.
ein li zman
Negated possession: I have no time
אֵין כָּאן אַף אֶחָד.
ein kan af ekhad
Negated existence: there is nobody here
| Tense | Have | Do not have |
|---|---|---|
| Present | יֵשׁ לִי | אֵין לִי |
| Past | הָיָה לִי / הָיוּ לִי | לֹא הָיָה לִי |
| Future | יִהְיֶה לִי / יִהְיוּ לִי | לֹא יִהְיֶה לִי |
In the past and future the form agrees with the thing owned: הָיָה לִי סֵפֶר, but הָיוּ לִי סְפָרִים.
“I have a book”.
לֹא is ordinary negation and stands before the verb or the adjective. אֵין negates existence or possession. אַל negates an imperative, and only an imperative.
And unlike English, double negation in Hebrew is not a mistake but a requirement. After אף אחד, שום דבר or אף פעם, the word לֹא must still appear.
אַל תִּדְאַג is a correct negative imperative. לֹא תִּדְאַג would be a statement about the future, not a request.
אֲנִי לֹא אוֹכֵל בָּשָׂר.
ani lo okhel basar
לא before the verb — I don't eat meat
אֵין לִי מַפְתֵּחַ.
ein li mafteakh
אין for possession — I have no key
אַל תִּדְאַג!
al tid’ag
אל for a negative imperative — don't worry!
אַף אֶחָד לֹא בָּא.
af ekhad lo ba
Double negation — nobody came
אף אחד לֹא בא, שום דבר לֹא קרה, אף פעם לֹא הייתי שם. The word לא stays in every one of these sentences.
A Hebrew question keeps exactly the same word order as a statement. There is no auxiliary verb like "do" and no inversion of subject and verb.
A yes-or-no question is marked by intonation alone. In a formal register you may add האם at the front; in speech it is almost never used.
Question words that need a preposition drag it along: לְאָן הָלַכְתָּ, מִמִּי קִבַּלְתָּ.
ma
what
mi
who
eifo
where
matai
when
lama
why
eikh
how
kama
how much, how many
eize
which
le’an
where to
mimi
from whom
אֵיפֹה אַתָּה גָּר?
eifo ata gar
Information question — the question word opens
אַתָּה גָּר בְּתֵל אָבִיב?
ata gar be-Tel Aviv
Yes-or-no question — intonation only
הַאִם אַתָּה גָּר בְּתֵל אָבִיב?
ha’im ata gar be-Tel Aviv
The same question in a formal register, with האם
ש attaches to the front of a word and turns a full sentence into a clause. English can drop "that"; Hebrew can never drop ש.
The same ש is built into other connectors: כְּשֶׁ, אַחֲרֵי שֶׁ, לִפְנֵי שֶׁ, בִּגְלַל שֶׁ. כְּדֵי, by contrast, attaches to an infinitive.
כדי takes an infinitive, while כי takes a full clause: בָּאתִי כְּדֵי לִלְמֹד, but בָּאתִי כִּי רָצִיתִי לִלְמֹד.
| Connector | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| שֶׁ־ | that — opens a clause | אֲנִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁהוּא בָּא |
| כִּי | because — reason | נִשְׁאַרְתִּי בַּבַּיִת כִּי יָרַד גֶּשֶׁם |
| אִם | if — condition | אִם יִהְיֶה זְמַן, נֵלֵךְ לַיָּם |
| כְּשֶׁ־ | when — time | כְּשֶׁאֲנִי לוֹמֵד, אֲנִי שׁוֹתֶה קָפֶה |
| כְּדֵי לְ־ | in order to — purpose | בָּאתִי כְּדֵי לִלְמֹד |
| אַחֲרֵי שֶׁ־ | after — sequence | אַחֲרֵי שֶׁאָכַלְנוּ, יָצָאנוּ |
The same ש also builds relative clauses, describing a noun: הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁקָּנִיתִי אֶתְמוֹל
Possession is built with יש plus the preposition ל, not with a bare pronoun.
לא negates verbs and adjectives. יש is negated with אין.
In Hebrew double negation is the rule, not an error.
ש cannot be dropped, even where English would drop "that".
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