יש
“יש” (йеш) — to have in Hebrew. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. Hebrew has no verb to have: there is stands with to me — yesh li. Literally "there is to me". In a live sentence: “יש קפה?” — Is there coffee? Written with the characters י, ש. One of 86 words in the set “verbs” in the Hebrew course.
In short
| Written in Hebrew | יש |
| Read in Latin letters | йеш |
| Translation | to have |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Hebrew has no verb to have: there is stands with to me — yesh li. Literally "there is to me"
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- יש קפה?йеш кафе?Is there coffee?
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
- אני רוצהани роцеI wantA woman says ani rotza. The polite order at a cafe goes through rotse, not through a command
- אני אוהבани охевI loveA woman says ani ohevet. Loving a taste and loving a person is the same word
- ללכתлалехетto goThe present comes from another root: holech, holechet, holchim. The means of travel (by what) is said separately
- לאכולлеэхольto eatThe present: ochel, ochelet, ochlim. The same ochel also means food — only the place in the sentence tells them apart
- לשתותлиштотto drinkThe present: shote, shota, shotim. One form drinks water, coffee and takes medicine
- לקרואликроto readFrom the same root as call: the reader, as it were, calls the words. The present: kore, koret, korim
- לדברледаберto speakA language is spoken with the preposition be-: medaber ivrit — I speak Hebrew. The present: medaber, medaberet, medabrim
- לעבודлааводto workThe present: oved, ovedet, ovdim. One root with avoda, work
- אני חייבани хайавI mustA woman says ani chayevet. The infinitive follows: chayav laavod — must work
- לגורлагурto live (reside)Residing, not life in general. The present: ger, gara, garim — the place takes the preposition be-
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to have” in Hebrew?
Hebrew has no verb to have: there is stands with to me — yesh li. Literally "there is to me"
- How do you say “to speak” in Hebrew?
A language is spoken with the preposition be-: medaber ivrit — I speak Hebrew. The present: medaber, medaberet, medabrim
- How do you say “to go” in Hebrew?
The present comes from another root: holech, holechet, holchim. The means of travel (by what) is said separately
- How do you say “to live (reside)” in Hebrew?
Residing, not life in general. The present: ger, gara, garim — the place takes the preposition be-
- How do you say “to read” in Hebrew?
From the same root as call: the reader, as it were, calls the words. The present: kore, koret, korim
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to have” in Hebrew?
«יש», read “йеш”. In a live sentence: “יש קפה?” — Is there coffee? Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”; written with the characters י, ש.
How is “יש” written in Latin letters?
йеш. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Hebrew has no verb to have: there is stands with to me — yesh li. Literally "there is to me". A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.