yesh and ein יש ואין
יש says something is there or that someone has it; אין says the opposite. Hebrew has no verb have in the present, so יש לי זמן is how you say I have time.
Use יש / אין for existence, and יש / אין plus ל plus an owner for have; they do not inflect for person in the present.
יש מים means there is water / there are waters. אין בעיה means there is no problem. The thing that exists is a noun after יש or אין. You do not conjugate יש. Place words sit around it: יש כאן מקום, אין שם מקום.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| יש מים | yesh mayim | There is water. | |
| אין בעיה | ein be'aya | No problem. / There is no problem. | |
| יש כאן מקום | yesh kan makom | There is room here. |
יש לי, יש לך, יש לו, יש לה, יש לנו, יש לכם, יש לכן, יש להם, יש להן is the have chart. The owner is on ל, not a subject pronoun before a verb. אין לי כסף is I do not have money. The possessed thing stays a bare noun unless you mean a specific one.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| יֵשׁ לִי | yesh li | I have |
| יֵשׁ לְךָ | yesh lekha | you have (ms) |
| יֵשׁ לָךְ | yesh lakh | you have (fs) |
| יֵשׁ לוֹ | yesh lo | he has |
| יֵשׁ לָהּ | yesh lah | she has |
| יֵשׁ לָנוּ | yesh lanu | we have |
| אֵין לִי | ein li | I do not have |
יש לך זמן is already a question if the intonation rises; האם יש לך זמן is more formal. Short answers are יש or אין, or יש לי / אין לי. מה יש is a set phrase, what’s up / what is there. כמה יש asks how many there are.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| יש לך זמן? | yesh lekha zman? | Do you have time? | |
| אין לי | ein li | I do not (have any). | |
| מה יש? | ma yesh? | What's up? / What is there? |
Present יש has no person. Past uses היה / היתה / היו plus ל: היה לי זמן, לא היה לי זמן. Future uses יהיה / תהיה / יהיו plus ל: יהיה לי זמן. The verb היה agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner: היתה לי בעיה because בעיה is feminine.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| היה לי זמן | haya li zman | I had time. | |
| היתה לי בעיה | hayta li be'aya | I had a problem. | |
| יהיה לי זמן מחר | yihye li zman makhar | I will have time tomorrow. |
Exceptions
יש ש־ and אין מה
יש ש־ can mean there are those who. אין מה לעשות is there is nothing to do. אין ל־ plus an infinitive can mean must not. These are constructions on top of the basic existence pair; learn them as phrases after the main chart is solid.
| אין מה לעשות | ein ma la'asot | There is nothing to do. |
Agreement is with the thing, not the owner
היו לי רעיונות uses היו because רעיונות is plural, even if the owner is אני. English I had hides that agreement. Watch the noun after ל, then conjugate היה to that noun.
Common mistakes
אני יש ספר → יש לי ספר
Have is יש plus ל plus the owner, not אני plus יש.
יש אני זמן → יש לי זמן
The owner is לי, the fused ל plus I.
היה לי בעיה → היתה לי בעיה
היה agrees with בעיה (feminine), not with the speaker.
Go on to
Personal pronouns
Hebrew personal pronouns mark person, gender, and number. You need them most in the present tense, where the verb does not tell you who the subject is.
A1 · 10 minNegation
Israeli Hebrew splits negation by what you are denying: לֹא before verbs and adjectives, אֵין for “there isn’t” and “don’t have,” and אַל before an imperative. Extra words such as שׁוּם and אַף sit comfortably beside that first negator.
A1 · 10 minQuestion words
Israeli yes-no questions are often just a statement with rising pitch, but content questions open with a small closed set: מַה, מִי, אֵיפֹה, מָתַי, לָמָּה, אֵיךְ, כַּמָּה. Formal writing may add הַאִם in front of a yes-no question.
A1 · 10 min