6. Possession: של, יש לי and Smichut
Hebrew has no verb “to have” and hardly any possessive pronouns in the familiar sense. “My book”, “I have time” and “phone number” are built in three different ways, and all three are needed from day one: the word שֶׁל, the construction יֵשׁ לִי and the smichut.
שֶׁל: whose?
In spoken Hebrew possession is expressed with the word שֶׁל (shel) after the noun. The noun takes the article: literally “the book that is mine”.
| Person | Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | שֶׁלִּי | sheli | my, mine |
| you (m) | שֶׁלְּךָ | shelcha | your |
| you (f) | שֶׁלָּךְ | shelach | your |
| he | שֶׁלּוֹ | shelo | his |
| she | שֶׁלָּהּ | shela | her |
| we | שֶׁלָּנוּ | shelanu | our |
| you (m pl) | שֶׁלָּכֶם | shelachem | your |
| you (f pl) | שֶׁלָּכֶן | shelachen | your |
| they (m) | שֶׁלָּהֶם | shelahem | their |
| they (f) | שֶׁלָּהֶן | shelahen | their |
- הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁלִּי (ha-sefer sheli) – my book;
- הַבַּיִת שֶׁל דָּוִד (ha-bayit shel David) – David’s house;
- הַהוֹרִים שֶׁל הַיְּלָדִים – the children’s parents;
- זֶה שֶׁלְּךָ? (ze shelcha) – Is this yours?
- הַמְּכוֹנִית שֶׁלָּהּ חֲדָשָׁה – Her car is new.
The form of שֶׁל does not depend on the gender or number of the thing owned: שֶׁלִּי is “my” for a book, a car and books alike. It changes only with the owner.
Possessive endings
There is a second way: an ending attached to the noun itself, as in סִפְרִי (sifri) – my book. People hardly ever speak like this, but these forms appear all the time in writing, songs and signs, and in a few words that are never used otherwise:
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| אִשְׁתִּי / בַּעֲלִי | ishti / ba’ali | my wife / my husband |
| אִמִּי / אָבִי | imi / avi | my mother / my father |
| אָחִי / אֲחוֹתִי | achi / achoti | my brother / my sister (also “bro”) |
| בְּנִי / בִּתִּי | bni / biti | my son / my daughter |
| שְׁמִי | shmi | my name: שְׁמִי דָּוִד – my name is David |
| חַיַּי | chayai | my life (a term of endearment) |
The singular endings are the same as those of the preposition שֶׁל: ־ִי, ־ְךָ, ־ֵךְ, ־וֹ, ־ָהּ, ־ֵנוּ, ־כֶם, ־ָם. Full tables for singular and plural nouns are in the Tables section. A noun with such an ending is already definite: it takes no article, and as an object it is preceded by אֶת: אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אֶת אִשְׁתִּי – I love my wife.
יֵשׁ לִי: I have
There is no verb “to have”. “I have” is the word יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) plus the preposition לְ with an ending: literally “there is to me”. “I don’t have” is אֵין (ein) with the same preposition.
| Person | Have | Don’t have | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | יֵשׁ לִי (yesh li) | אֵין לִי (ein li) | I have / don’t have |
| you (m) | יֵשׁ לְךָ (yesh lecha) | אֵין לְךָ | you have / don’t have |
| you (f) | יֵשׁ לָךְ (yesh lach) | אֵין לָךְ | you have / don’t have |
| he | יֵשׁ לוֹ (yesh lo) | אֵין לוֹ | he has / doesn’t have |
| she | יֵשׁ לָהּ (yesh la) | אֵין לָהּ | she has / doesn’t have |
| we | יֵשׁ לָנוּ (yesh lanu) | אֵין לָנוּ | we have / don’t have |
| you (pl) | יֵשׁ לָכֶם (yesh lachem) | אֵין לָכֶם | you have / don’t have |
| they | יֵשׁ לָהֶם (yesh lahem) | אֵין לָהֶם | they have / don’t have |
- יֵשׁ לִי זְמַן (yesh li zman) – I have time.
- אֵין לִי כֶּסֶף (ein li kesef) – I have no money.
- יֵשׁ לְךָ אָח? (yesh lecha ach) – Do you have a brother?
- יֵשׁ לָנוּ שְׁאֵלָה – We have a question.
If the owner is named by a noun rather than a pronoun, the preposition לְ is attached to it: יֵשׁ לְדָוִד כֶּלֶב – David has a dog, אֵין לַיְּלָדִים שִׁעוּרִים הַיּוֹם – The children have no lessons today. The thing owned normally comes without אֶת even when definite, although in speech you will hear יֵשׁ לִי אֶת הַסֵּפֶר.
In the past and future, יֵשׁ and אֵין are replaced by the verb “to be”, which agrees with the thing owned:
| Tense | Hebrew | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| present | יֵשׁ לִי זְמַן (yesh li zman) | I have time |
| past | הָיָה לִי זְמַן (haya li zman) | I had time |
| past, feminine | הָיְתָה לִי מְכוֹנִית (hayta li mechonit) | I had a car |
| past, plural | הָיוּ לִי סְפָרִים (hayu li sfarim) | I had books |
| future | יִהְיֶה לִי זְמַן (yihye li zman) | I will have time |
| negative, past | לֹא הָיָה לִי זְמַן (lo haya li zman) | I had no time |
| negative, future | לֹא יִהְיֶה לִי זְמַן (lo yihye li zman) | I will have no time |
Do not confuse יֵשׁ לִי with the preposition אֵצֶל (etsel) – “at somebody’s place”: הַמַּפְתֵּחַ אֶצְלִי – the key is with me, אֲנִי אֵצֶל רוֹפֵא – I am at the doctor’s.
Smichut: two nouns in one
The smichut (סְמִיכוּת) is a combination of two nouns in which the second one specifies the first: “house of book” = school, “family Cohen”, “number of phone”. English uses “of” or a compound noun. In Hebrew the first word takes a special short form and the second does not change.
| First word | Smichut form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| m. sg.: usually unchanged or with a shortened vowel | בַּיִת → בֵּית־ | בֵּית סֵפֶר (beit sefer) – school, בֵּית קָפֶה – café, בֵּית חוֹלִים – hospital |
| m. sg. | חֶדֶר → חֲדַר־ | חֲדַר שֵׁנָה (chadar shena) – bedroom |
| f. in ־ָה → ־ַת | מִשְׁפָּחָה → מִשְׁפַּחַת־ | מִשְׁפַּחַת כֹּהֵן – the Cohen family, תַּחֲנַת אוֹטוֹבּוּס – bus stop |
| m. pl. ־ִים → ־ֵי | יְלָדִים → יַלְדֵי־ | יַלְדֵי הַגַּן (yaldei ha-gan) – the kindergarten children, סִפְרֵי לִמּוּד – textbooks |
| f. pl. ־וֹת: unchanged | מְכוֹנִיּוֹת | מְכוֹנִיּוֹת מִשְׁטָרָה – police cars |
Learn the most common smichut compounds as single words:
- בֵּית סֵפֶר (beit sefer) – school;
- גַּן יְלָדִים (gan yeladim) – kindergarten;
- קֻפַּת חוֹלִים (kupat cholim) – health fund;
- מִסְפַּר טֶלֶפוֹן (mispar telefon) – phone number;
- יוֹם הֻלֶּדֶת (yom huledet) – birthday;
- סוֹף שָׁבוּעַ (sof shavua) – weekend;
- שֵׁם מִשְׁפָּחָה (shem mishpacha) – surname;
- כַּרְטִיס אַשְׁרַאי (kartis ashrai) – credit card;
- תְּעוּדַת זֶהוּת (te’udat zehut) – identity card.
Two rules people get wrong most often:
- The article goes only before the second word, but applies to the whole compound: בֵּית הַסֵּפֶר – the school, מִסְפַּר הַטֶּלֶפוֹן שֶׁלְּךָ – your phone number. הַבֵּית סֵפֶר is impossible.
- An adjective comes after the whole smichut and agrees with the first word: בֵּית סֵפֶר גָּדוֹל – a big school, תַּחֲנַת אוֹטוֹבּוּס חֲדָשָׁה – a new bus stop.
The three ways side by side
Compare: הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁל הַמּוֹרֶה – the teacher’s book (concrete possession, colloquial), סֵפֶר לִמּוּד – a textbook (a fixed concept, smichut), יֵשׁ לַמּוֹרֶה סֵפֶר – the teacher has a book (having). One English “of” splits into three constructions.
What to remember
- “My, your, his” is שֶׁל with an ending after a noun with the article: הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁלִּי.
- “I have / don’t have” is יֵשׁ לִי / אֵין לִי; in the past and future הָיָה לִי / יִהְיֶה לִי.
- Smichut: the first word is shortened, the article goes before the second, the adjective after both.
- Endings on nouns (סִפְרִי) belong to the written style and to a few family words.
Practise this in the app. In Shoresh every textbook topic comes with trainers: verb conjugation, tenses, binyanim, the imperative and choosing the right word in a sentence.
