Lesson 10: Existence (יש / אין). Possession (yesh le-). Question words. Negation lo. Connectors

Part 1: yesh and ein — existential "there is" and "there isn't"

English has "there is" / "there are" for existence: There's a table here. There's a book on the table. Hebrew has exactly such a word — יֵשׁ (yesh).

And exactly the negative partner — אֵין (ein), "there isn't, there's no": There's no table here. There's no book on the table.

Hebrew	Translit	English
יֵשׁ	yesh	there is, there are, exists
אֵין	ein	there isn't, there are no, doesn't exist

Almost a 1-to-1 match with English "there is/there isn't". A rare gift — Hebrew existential sentences are built nearly the way English builds them. Don't try to "improve" — write it the English way and you'll land it.

Impersonal sentences with yesh / ein

Hebrew	Translit	English
יֵשׁ סֵפֶר עַל הַשּׁוּלְחָן	yesh sefer al ha-shulchan	There's a book on the table
אֵין סֵפֶר עַל הַשּׁוּלְחָן	ein sefer al ha-shulchan	There's no book on the table
יֵשׁ אֹכֶל בַּמְקָרֵר	yesh okhel ba-mekarer	There's food in the fridge
אֵין אֹכֶל בַּמְקָרֵר	ein okhel ba-mekarer	There's no food in the fridge
יֵשׁ זְמַן	yesh zman	There's time
אֵין זְמַן	ein zman	There's no time
יֵשׁ בְּעָיָה	yesh be'aya	There's a problem
אֵין בְּעָיָה	ein be'aya	No problem (the classic "no problem!")

Notice: there is no copula verb — neither "there is" nor "is not" is a verb in Hebrew, just a particle. So it doesn't conjugate for person or for tense (in the present).

Trap: don't confuse yesh ("there is" — existence) with hu / hi / hem / hen ("he is = he is identified as" — the pronominal copula from L5). Ha-sefer hu adom — "the book — it's red" (copula). Yesh sefer adom — "there's a red book" (existence).

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Part 2: Possession through yesh le- — literally "there is to (someone)"

Hebrew has no verb "to have". None. At all.

To say "I have a book", Hebrew literally says: "there is to me a book", yesh li sefer. The construction is yesh + le- ("to, at") with a pronoun suffix.

Structurally — almost like English "there is X to me". Except English usually picks "have"; Hebrew sticks with "there is + to whom + what". The principle — "there is + to someone + something" — is the same.

The yesh li / yesh lekha paradigm — all ten forms

This is the most important table of the lesson. Ten forms. Run it through your mouth until it sounds like one word.

Hebrew	Translit	English	To whom
יֵשׁ לִי	yesh li	I have	ani (I)
יֵשׁ לְךָ	yesh lekha	you have	ata (you, m.)
יֵשׁ לָךְ	yesh lakh	you have	at (you, f.)
יֵשׁ לוֹ	yesh lo	he has	hu
יֵשׁ לָהּ	yesh la	she has	hi
יֵשׁ לָנוּ	yesh lanu	we have	anachnu
יֵשׁ לָכֶם	yesh lakhem	you (pl.) have	atem (you, m.)
יֵשׁ לָכֶן	yesh lakhen	you (pl.) have	aten (you, f.)
יֵשׁ לָהֶם	yesh lahem	they have	hem
יֵשׁ לָהֶן	yesh lahen	they have	hen

Watch out: "to you" in Hebrew is different for m. and f. — lekha (m.) vs. lakh (f.). "To him" / "to her" too — lo (m., with holam) vs. la (f., with kamatz and a mappiq dot in ה). Gender slips in everywhere, as L4 warned.

Trap for the English ear: lo (לוֹ) = "to him", but lo (לֹא) = "no, not". They're written with different letters (vav vs. alef), but sound identical. Distinguish by context: יֵשׁ לוֹ סֵפֶר yesh lo sefer ("he has a book") vs. לֹא יוֹדֵעַ lo yodea ("I don't know").

Negating possession — ein le-

"I don't have…" — ein li. The same paradigm, just yesh is replaced by ein.

Hebrew	Translit	English
אֵין לִי	ein li	I don't have
אֵין לְךָ	ein lekha	you don't have (m.)
אֵין לָךְ	ein lakh	you don't have (f.)
אֵין לוֹ	ein lo	he doesn't have
אֵין לָהּ	ein la	she doesn't have
אֵין לָנוּ	ein lanu	we don't have
אֵין לָכֶם	ein lakhem	you don't have (m.)
אֵין לָכֶן	ein lakhen	you don't have (f.)
אֵין לָהֶם	ein lahem	they don't have
אֵין לָהֶן	ein lahen	they don't have

Examples

Hebrew	Translit	English
יֵשׁ לִי סֵפֶר	yesh li sefer	I have a book
אֵין לִי זְמַן	ein li zman	I don't have time
יֵשׁ לְךָ שְׁאֵלָה?	yesh lekha she'ela?	Do you have a question? (to m.)
יֵשׁ לָנוּ שִׁעוּר	yesh lanu shi'ur	We have a lesson
אֵין לָהּ כֶּסֶף	ein la kesef	She doesn't have money
יֵשׁ לָהֶם יְלָדִים	yesh lahem yeladim	They have children
יֵשׁ לוֹ חָבֵר טוֹב	yesh lo chaver tov	He has a good friend

No cases here. The possessed object (sefer, zman, kesef…) appears in the same form as in the dictionary. No "genitive" / "accusative" — Hebrew is not Latin or Russian, nouns don't decline.

The article on the possessed object — by meaning. יֵשׁ לִי סֵפֶר Yesh li sefer — "I have a book" (any book). יֵשׁ לִי הַסֵּפֶר Yesh li ha-sefer — "I have the (specific) book". In L11 you'll learn that for a definite direct object you need the particle אֵת (et), but yesh li / ein li are not a direct object, they're an existential — so et is not used here (more on this in a footnote in L11).

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Part 3: Question words — a closed list of seven

Good news: Hebrew has few question words, and they're a closed list. Learn them in one lesson and they pay you back for 50.

Hebrew	Translit	English	When
מִי	mi	who	about people
מָה	ma	what	about things, events
אֵיפֹה	eifo	where	about location
מָתַי	matai	when	about time
לָמָּה	lama	why, what for	about cause
אֵיךְ	eikh	how	about manner, state
כַּמָּה	kama	how much / how many	about quantity

The extended set — for recognition

These four more you need to recognize; we'll actively learn them as they come up:

Hebrew	Translit	English	Note
מֵאַיִן / מֵאֵיפֹה	me-ayin / me-eifo	from where	literary vs. colloquial
לְאָן	le'an	to where, whither	direction
אֵיזֶה / אֵיזוֹ	eize (m.) / eizo (f.)	which	agrees in gender
הַאִם	ha-im	whether (yes-no question particle)	formal; usually dropped in speech

How a question is built

The main point: the question word goes at the start of the sentence, just like in English.

Hebrew	Translit	English
מִי זֶה?	mi ze?	Who is this?
מָה זֶה?	ma ze?	What is this?
אֵיפֹה הַסֵּפֶר?	eifo ha-sefer?	Where's the book?
מָתַי הַשִּׁעוּר?	matai ha-shi'ur?	When's the lesson?
לָמָּה לֹא?	lama lo?	Why not?
אֵיךְ קוֹרְאִים לְךָ?	eikh kor'im lekha?	What's your name? (m.)
כַּמָּה זֶה עוֹלֶה?	kama ze ole?	How much does it cost?
כַּמָּה סְפָרִים יֵשׁ לְךָ?	kama sfarim yesh lekha?	How many books do you have?

Yes/no questions — just intonation

If it's a yes/no question, Hebrew does not use an auxiliary verb (no do/does as in English). You simply raise the intonation at the end:

Hebrew	Translit	English
יֵשׁ לְךָ סֵפֶר?	yesh lekha sefer?	Do you have a book?
אַתָּה תַּלְמִיד?	ata talmid?	Are you a student?
הִיא מוֹרָה?	hi mora?	Is she a teacher?

Simpler than English: no "do/does/are/is" gymnastics. The word order doesn't change, only the intonation rises.

Formal ha-im: in the news or in official speech you may see הַאִם (ha-im) — "whether": הַאִם יֵשׁ לְךָ סֵפֶר? Ha-im yesh lekha sefer? Almost never used in conversation.

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Part 4: Negation — the universal לֹא (lo)

Hebrew negates very simply: place לֹא (lo) before whatever you're negating. It works almost everywhere.

Hebrew	Translit	English	What's negated
לֹא	lo	no (as an answer)	—
אֲנִי לֹא תַּלְמִיד	ani lo talmid	I'm not a student	predicate noun
הִיא לֹא יוֹדַעַת	hi lo yoda'at	She doesn't know	verb
זֶה לֹא טוֹב	ze lo tov	That's not good	adjective
הוּא לֹא כָּאן	hu lo kan	He's not here	adverb of place
אֲנִי לֹא רוֹצֶה	ani lo rotse	I don't want	verb

Simple rule: lo goes before the thing being negated (verb, adjective, predicate noun). Just like English "not".

Notice: lo is both "no" as an answer and "not" as a negation particle. The same as English's two "no/not", except Hebrew uses one word — lo — for both.

A special case: ein as negation of the present tense

In literary (and occasionally colloquial) Hebrew there's a second negation — ein before a present-tense participle:

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register
אֲנִי לֹא יוֹדֵעַ	ani lo yodea	I don't know	colloquial, regular
אֵינֶנִּי יוֹדֵעַ	eineni yodea	I don't know	literary

For now, stick with lo. All 50 lessons run on the colloquial standard; eineni / einkha / eino is the literary form you'll meet in texts but rarely use in speech.

lo vs. ein li: lo negates an action or a property. ein li negates possession. Don't mix them: "I don't have" = אֵין לִי ein li, not "lo yesh li" (that's not Hebrew).

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Part 5: Connectors — ve- (and), aval (but), o (or), ki (because)

To stitch sentences and words together, four connectors will get you through.

Hebrew	Translit	English	Note
וְ-	ve- (vu-, va-, u-)	and	prefix, written together with the next word
אֲבָל	aval	but, however	a separate word
אוֹ	o	or	a separate word
כִּי	ki	because, since	introduces a reason

ve- is a prefix, not a separate word

The biggest trick: "and" in Hebrew is one letter ו glued to the next word. The pronunciation shifts depending on what follows:

Hebrew	Translit	English
תַּלְמִיד וּמוֹרָה	talmid u-mora	A student and a (female) teacher
סֵפֶר וְדַף	sefer ve-daf	A book and a sheet
יֵשׁ לִי סֵפֶר וְעֵט	yesh li sefer ve-et	I have a book and a pen

Pronunciation nuance: before labials (ב, מ, פ) and before a shewa — usually "u-" (or "v-"). Elsewhere — "ve-". Details in L11–L15. For now, write ve- and you won't be wrong in meaning.

aval — "but"

Hebrew	Translit	English
יֵשׁ לִי סֵפֶר, אֲבָל אֵין לִי זְמַן	yesh li sefer, aval ein li zman	I have a book, but no time
הוּא תַּלְמִיד, אֲבָל הִיא מוֹרָה	hu talmid, aval hi mora	He's a student, but she's a teacher

o — "or"

Hebrew	Translit	English
תֵּה אוֹ קָפֶה?	te o kafe?	Tea or coffee?
הוּא אוֹ הִיא?	hu o hi?	He or she?

ki — "because"

Hebrew	Translit	English
אֲנִי לֹא בָּא, כִּי אֵין לִי זְמַן	ani lo ba, ki ein li zman	I'm not coming because I don't have time
הוּא שָׂמֵחַ, כִּי יֵשׁ לוֹ חָבֵר	hu sameach, ki yesh lo chaver	He's happy because he has a friend

ki vs. lama: lama is the question "why?". ki is the answer "because". Don't mix them: לָמָּה יֵשׁ לִי סֵפֶר? lama yesh li sefer? — "Why do I have a book?"; כִּי אַתָּה נָתַתָּ לִי ki ata natata li — "Because you gave it to me". In L31 we'll meet ki as "that" (a complement-clause conjunction) — but that's later.

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Part 6: Putting it together — existential dialogues

Now you have everything for a normal everyday dialogue. Let's combine.

Mini-dialogue: meeting in a café

— שָׁלוֹם! מָה שְׁלוֹמְךָ? — טוֹב, תּוֹדָה. וְאַתְּ? — גַּם כֵּן טוֹב. יֵשׁ לָךְ זְמַן לְקָפֶה? — כֵּן, יֵשׁ לִי זְמַן. אֲבָל אֵין לִי כֶּסֶף הַיּוֹם. — אֵין בְּעָיָה, אֲנִי מַזְמִין. תֵּה אוֹ קָפֶה? — קָפֶה, בְּבַקָּשָׁה. תּוֹדָה רַבָּה!

Translit:

— Shalom! Ma shlomkha? — Tov, toda. Ve-at? — Gam ken tov. Yesh lakh zman le-kafe? — Ken, yesh li zman. Aval ein li kesef ha-yom. — Ein be'aya, ani mazmin. Te o kafe? — Kafe, bevakasha. Toda raba!

Translation:

— Hi! How are you (to m.)? — Good, thanks. And you (to f.)? — Also good. Do you have time for a coffee? — Yes, I have time. But I don't have money today. — No problem, I'm treating. Tea or coffee? — Coffee, please. Thank you very much!

Notice: shlomkha (to m.) → at (to f., you-f.) → lakh (to you-f.) — the addressee's gender shifts through the dialogue. That's natural in Hebrew; you'll have to get used to switching too.

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