14. Sentence Structure, Questions and Negation
Hebrew word order is close to English, so building sentences is easy. The main differences: a sentence without a verb (“I student”) is the norm, a question does not change the word order, and there are three negation words, each with its own place.
Word order
The basic order is subject, verb, object, as in English.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| אֲנִי קוֹרֵא סֵפֶר | ani kore sefer | I am reading a book |
| הִיא הוֹלֶכֶת לָעֲבוֹדָה | hi holechet la-avoda | She is going to work |
| הַיְּלָדִים אָכְלוּ אֶת הָעוּגָה | ha-yeladim achlu et ha-uga | The children ate the cake |
| מָחָר נִסַּע לְחֵיפָה | machar nisa le-Cheifa | Tomorrow we will go to Haifa |
A time expression often goes first (מָחָר, אֶתְמוֹל, בְּשַׁבָּת), and in speech the subject then stays before the verb. The adjective follows the noun (chapter 4), and an object with אֶת follows the verb (chapter 3). In the past tense the pronoun can be dropped, because the ending shows the person: אָכַלְנוּ בַּמִּסְעָדָה – We ate at the restaurant.
Sentences without a verb
There is no verb “to be” in the present tense, so the predicate can be a noun, an adjective, an adverb or a preposition with a noun:
- אֲנִי מוֹרֶה – I am a teacher.
- הַבַּיִת גָּדוֹל – The house is big.
- הֵם בַּבַּיִת – They are at home.
- הַסֵּפֶר עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן – The book is on the table.
- קַר הַיּוֹם – It is cold today.
When both the subject and the predicate are nouns, the copula הוּא / הִיא / הֵם / הֵן is usually put between them, agreeing with the subject: תֵּל אָבִיב הִיא עִיר גְּדוֹלָה – Tel Aviv is a big city. דָּוִד וְדָנָה הֵם חֲבֵרִים שֶׁלִּי – David and Dana are my friends. Without the copula דָּוִד רוֹפֵא is still understood, but sounds like a headline.
Impersonal sentences: I am cold, there is time
A person’s state is expressed by an adjective + לְ with a suffix: קַר לִי (kar li) – I am cold, חַם לְךָ? – are you hot? מְשַׁעֲמֵם לָנוּ – we are bored, כּוֹאֵב לִי הָרֹאשׁ – I have a headache, אִכְפַּת לִי – I care. Existence uses יֵשׁ / אֵין: יֵשׁ בְּעָיָה – there is a problem, אֵין זְמַן – there is no time, יֵשׁ פֹּה מִסְעָדָה טוֹבָה? – Is there a good restaurant here? Possession is יֵשׁ לִי (chapter 6).
Yes / no questions
A yes/no question is asked by intonation: the word order is the same as in a statement, and the voice rises at the end.
| Statement | Question |
|---|---|
| אַתָּה מְדַבֵּר עִבְרִית. – You speak Hebrew. | אַתָּה מְדַבֵּר עִבְרִית? – Do you speak Hebrew? |
| יֵשׁ לָךְ זְמַן. – You have time. | יֵשׁ לָךְ זְמַן? – Do you have time? |
| זֶה יָקָר. – It is expensive. | זֶה יָקָר? – Is it expensive? |
In written and formal language a question begins with הַאִם (ha’im): הַאִם אַתָּה מְדַבֵּר עִבְרִית?. In conversation it is not used. Answers: כֵּן (ken) – yes, לֹא (lo) – no, בֶּטַח (betach) – of course, אוּלַי (ulay) – maybe. The tag “right?” is נָכוֹן? (nachon): אַתָּה מֵרוּסְיָה, נָכוֹן? – You are from Russia, right?
Questions with a question word
The question word goes to the beginning of the sentence and the rest of the order does not change (the full list of question words is in chapter 5):
- מָה אַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה? (ma ata ose) – What are you doing?
- אֵיפֹה הַיְּלָדִים? (eifo ha-yeladim) – Where are the children?
- מָתַי מַתְחִיל הַסֶּרֶט? (matay matchil ha-seret) – When does the film start?
- לָמָּה אַתְּ לֹא בָּאָה? (lama at lo ba’a) – Why aren’t you coming?
- עִם מִי דִּבַּרְתָּ? (im mi dibarta) – Who did you talk to?
Three negations
| Word | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| לֹא (lo) | before a verb in any tense, before an adjective or a noun; the answer “no” | אֲנִי לֹא יוֹדֵעַ – I don’t know. זֶה לֹא נָכוֹן – That’s not right. הוּא לֹא רוֹפֵא – He is not a doctor. לֹא, תּוֹדָה – No, thank you. |
| אֵין (ein) | “there is no”: negation of existence and possession | אֵין זְמַן – There is no time. אֵין לִי כֶּסֶף – I have no money. אֵין בְּעָיָה – No problem. |
| אַל (al) | prohibition, negative command: only with the future tense | אַל תִּדְאַג – Don’t worry. אַל תֵּלֵךְ – Don’t go. |
Compare: אֲנִי לֹא רוֹצֶה – I don’t want (negating an action), אֵין לִי זְמַן – I have no time (negating existence). The opposite of אֵין is יֵשׁ; in the past and future both are replaced by the verb “to be”: לֹא הָיָה זְמַן – there was no time, לֹא יִהְיֶה זְמַן – there will be no time. In news and notices אֵין also negates a present-tense verb: הַמִּשְׂרָד אֵינוֹ פָּתוּחַ – the office is not open; in conversation it is simply לֹא פָּתוּחַ.
Nobody, nothing, never
Unlike English, Hebrew requires double negation: the negative word + לֹא.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| אַף פַּעַם לֹא | af pa’am lo | never | אֲנִי אַף פַּעַם לֹא מְאַחֵר – I am never late |
| אַף אֶחָד לֹא | af echad lo | nobody | אַף אֶחָד לֹא בָּא – Nobody came |
| שׁוּם דָּבָר לֹא / לֹא … כְּלוּם | shum davar lo / lo … klum | nothing | לֹא קָרָה כְּלוּם – Nothing happened |
| בְּשׁוּם מָקוֹם | be-shum makom | nowhere | לֹא מָצָאתִי אֶת זֶה בְּשׁוּם מָקוֹם – I couldn’t find it anywhere |
| עוֹד לֹא | od lo | not yet | עוֹד לֹא אָכַלְתִּי – I haven’t eaten yet |
| כְּבָר לֹא | kvar lo | no longer | הוּא כְּבָר לֹא גָּר פֹּה – He doesn’t live here any more |
| לֹא … וְלֹא … | lo … ve-lo … | neither … nor … | לֹא חַם וְלֹא קַר – Neither hot nor cold |
Complex sentences: the particle שֶׁ
Subordinate clauses are joined by the particle שֶׁ (she-), which is written together with the next word and means both “that” and “which / who”:
- אֲנִי חוֹשֵׁב שֶׁזֶּה נָכוֹן (ani choshev she-ze nachon) – I think that this is right.
- הִיא אָמְרָה שֶׁהִיא בָּאָה – She said that she is coming.
- הָאִישׁ שֶׁגָּר פֹּה – the man who lives here.
- הַסֵּפֶר שֶׁקָּנִיתִי – the book that I bought.
Many conjunctions are built from שֶׁ: כְּשֶׁ – when, בִּגְלַל שֶׁ – because, לִפְנֵי שֶׁ – before, אַחֲרֵי שֶׁ – after, כְּדֵי שֶׁ – so that (chapter 15).
What to remember
- Word order as in English: subject, verb, object.
- A sentence without a verb is the norm; between two nouns the copula הוּא / הִיא is used.
- Yes/no questions by intonation; the question word goes first and the order does not change.
- לֹא – not, אֵין – there is no, אַל – don’t (command). Double negation is obligatory.
- שֶׁ = that, which; written together with the next word.
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.
