Tip #21

How to say it in Hebrew
Tip #21

I am often asked ...

How do I say "it's" and why is it that sometimes when I say it I'm being corrected?"
(That's if you've got good Hebrew-speaking friends who are helpful enough to correct, otherwise you probably didn't even notice that something is wrong! :D )

"It's" in Hebrew

Let's start with the fact that there is no "is" in Hebrew. So - what's left? Just "it!" Or "this" - we have one and same word for it in Hebrew - זֶה - ZE!
(Makes me think, why do we need two words in English, then? Hmmm...)

So, for saying "It's a miracle!" we'd say - זֶה נֵס! Asking "What is this?" we say מָה זֶה? Asking "Is it always like this?" we'd ask זֶה תָּמִיד כָּכָה? :)

*Sometimes we'd use the feminine version of "it" - זֹאת - ZOT.
For example: הַשְּׁאֵלָה הַזֹּאת מַמָּשׁ טוֹבָה! This question is really good!

No "it's" in Hebrew

The examples above were with nouns, and what if I want to use an adjective? For example - "it's hot today"? Here - it's tricky. Here is the classic case in which I'd omit the "it's" and say just חַם הַיּוֹם. Adding זה would be very unnatural in this case. It's not a big mistake, but it just sounds kind of wrong. :)

Especially unnatural it is when the adjective is followed by a verb:
נֶחְמָד לָשֶׁבֶת בַּמִּרְפֶּסֶת עִם חֲבֵרִים - It's nice to sit on the balcony with friends
קָשֶׁה לַדָּבָר אִתּוֹ - It's difficult to talk to him
טוֹב לִקְרֹא סַפָּרִים - It's good to read books

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*Disclaimer - sometimes we DO use זה before adjectives! It's not a 100% rule!

However, my advice for learners - to be on the safe side - a rule of thumb for you - just don't use "it/this" before adjectives (good, bad, nice, etc..) - and you'll never be wrong! :D

Well, this is it for today!
Hope that you are finding these letters useful,
Happy Hebrew-learning!

Alisa