Sheli, shelcha, shelo: "my" through shel
There are no possessive endings here: my, your, his are made by one word — shel — plus a pronoun. Habait sheli — my house, literally "the house that is to me". It stands after the noun, and that is the only place it can stand. For example: “הטלפון שלי בתיק שלך.” — My phone is in your bag. A rule from the Hebrew course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
There are no possessive endings here: my, your, his are made by one word — shel — plus a pronoun. Habait sheli — my house, literally "the house that is to me". It stands after the noun, and that is the only place it can stand.
One trap, and you have already heard it: shelo — his, shela — hers. One vowel apart, and the mix-up is expensive: his bag and her bag are different bags. Listen to the vowel.
The forms repeat the prepositions: shelcha — your (to a man), shelach — your (to a woman), shelachem — your (plural). "Whose" joins it too: hatik shelcha — the bag is yours; hatik shel baal habait — the landlord's bag: after shel a whole name can stand.
In speech shel is sometimes dropped where the kinship is obvious: aba — dad, not "my dad". But in writing and with strangers the shel form is always safe.
Table
| who | Hebrew | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| I | שלי | sheli |
| you (m) | שלך | shelcha |
| you (f) | שלך | shelach |
| he | שלו | shelo |
| she | שלה | shela |
| we | שלנו | shelanu |
| you (pl) | שלכם | shelachem |
| they | שלהם | shelahem |
By example
- הטלפון שלי בתיק שלך.ха-телефон шели ба-тик шелха.My phone is in your bag.
- המפתח שלה על השולחן.ха-мафтеах шеля аль ха-шульхан.Her key is on the table.
- הבית שלנו קרוב לגן.ха-байит шелану каров ла-ган.Our house is close to the park.
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How to say my in Hebrew?
In speech shel is sometimes dropped where the kinship is obvious: aba — dad, not "my dad". But in writing and with strangers the shel form is always safe.
Difference between shelo and shela?
One trap, and you have already heard it: shelo — his, shela — hers. One vowel apart, and the mix-up is expensive: his bag and her bag are different bags. Listen to the vowel.
Where does shel go in a Hebrew sentence?
In speech shel is sometimes dropped where the kinship is obvious: aba — dad, not "my dad". But in writing and with strangers the shel form is always safe.
How to say our house in Hebrew?
There are no possessive endings here: my, your, his are made by one word — shel — plus a pronoun. Habait sheli — my house, literally "the house that is to me". It stands after the noun, and that is the only place it can stand.
What does it look like in a Hebrew example sentence?
“הטלפון שלי בתיק שלך.” (ха-телефон шели ба-тик шелха.) — My phone is in your bag. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.