זה, זאת, אלה: This and These | Hebrew Grammar

זה is the first Hebrew word most people learn to use in a real sentence, and it earns that place: it points at something, it agrees with what it points at, and it needs nothing else around it. This page covers the near set — this and these. The far set (ההוא, ההיא) is on that and those.

The forms

	Form	Reads	Historical layer	Register today
m. sg	זה	ze	—	everyday
f. sg	זאת	zot	Biblical	everyday
f. sg	זו	zo	Mishnaic	a shade more written
pl (m. and f.)	אלה	éle	Biblical	everyday
pl (m. and f.)	אלו	élu	Mishnaic	a shade more written

Two things in that table are worth pausing on. First, the plural makes no gender distinction — אלה covers masculine and feminine alike, which is a relief after the singular. Second, the doublets are not free variation that appeared from nowhere: זאת and אלה are the Biblical Hebrew forms, זו and אלו the Mishnaic ones, and Modern Hebrew inherited both layers and kept both alive. Neither set is wrong, neither is archaic, and you will hear and read all four. זו and אלו lean towards writing and towards careful speech; that is as strong a claim as the facts support.

Use them as pronouns first

The demonstrative can stand alone as the subject of a sentence, and because Hebrew has no present-tense copula, nothing goes between it and what follows. זה ספר is a whole sentence: "this is a book". There is no is to insert and no place to insert it.

זה ספר ממש טוב, אני ממליץ.

ze séfer mamásh tov, aní mamlíts

This is a really good book, I recommend it. (m. speaker)

זאת המורה שלי לעברית.

zot hamorá shelí le'ivrít

This is my Hebrew teacher.

אלה החברים שלי מהצבא.

éle hakhaverím shelí mehatsavá

These are my friends from the army.

The gender is chosen by the thing pointed at, not by the speaker: a woman introducing her brother says זה אחי, and a man introducing his sister says זאת אחותי. Get this wrong and it is audible immediately, because Hebrew agreement runs through everything.

זאת לא הכתובת שנתת לי.

zot lo haktóvet shenatáta li

This isn't the address you gave me. (to a man — כתובת is feminine, so זאת)

The Mishnaic pair in use, one in careful speech and one in a written register:

זו הפעם הראשונה שאני מבקר כאן.

zo hapá'am harishoná she'aní mevakér kan

This is the first time I've been here. (m. speaker; זאת would be just as correct and a touch more casual)

אלו התוצאות של הבדיקה שקיבלנו אתמול.

élu hatotsa'ót shel habdiká shekibálnu etmól

These are the results of the test we got yesterday. (written register — a letter, a report)

זה ספר and הספר הזה

Here is the single most productive fact in this whole subgroup, and it is worth over-learning:

Hebrew	Reads	Is
זה ספר	ze séfer	this is a book — a complete sentence
הספר הזה	haséfer hazé	this book — a noun phrase, still waiting for a predicate

Two articles appear, the demonstrative moves behind the noun, and a sentence turns into a name for a thing. English gives you no warning of this, because this book and this is a book differ by a word you can hear. In Hebrew they differ by two ה's and a reordering.

הספר הזה עזר לי יותר מכל קורס שעשיתי.

haséfer hazé azár li yotér mikól kurs she'asíti

This book helped me more than any course I've taken. (הספר הזה is only the subject — the sentence still needs a verb to say anything)

💡

Test yourself with the question "have I said anything yet?" זה ספר has said something. הספר הזה has not — it has only named something, and if you stop there your listener is still waiting. Attributive position, agreement and word order are worked out in full on demonstratives in the noun phrase.

זה as an all-purpose "it"

In speech, זה also works as a subject with nothing visible to point at — the Hebrew equivalent of English's empty it. This use is masculine by default and never changes form.

זה לא משנה מי אמר את זה, זה פשוט לא נכון.

ze lo meshané mi amár et ze, ze pashút lo nakhón

It doesn't matter who said it — it's just not true.

זה בסדר, אני אחכה בחוץ.

ze beséder, aní akhaké bakhúts

It's fine, I'll wait outside.

סליחה, כמה זה עולה?

slikhá, káma ze olé?

Excuse me, how much is this?

One frozen phrase built on the feminine is worth learning whole, because Israelis use it constantly to check they have understood:

רגע, זאת אומרת שאתה לא בא?

réga, zot oméret she'atá lo ba?

Hang on — you mean you're not coming? (to a man)

The wider discourse uses of זה — pointing back at a whole clause, standing in as a dummy subject — belong to the Pronouns group: see זה as a dummy subject.

💡

Do not extend the dummy זה to people. It is for situations, propositions and unidentified things — it's fine, it depends, how much is it. A named woman is never זה, and neither is a feminine noun you can point at.

Common Mistakes

1. Saying a sentence when you meant a phrase. The most common demonstrative error at A1, and the result is grammatical, so nobody stops you.

❌ זה הספר

Incorrect as 'this book' — it means 'this is the book'. The phrase is הספר הזה, with the article on both words and the demonstrative after the noun.

✅ קראתי את הספר הזה בתיכון ולא הבנתי כלום.

karáti et haséfer hazé batikhón veló hevánti klum

I read this book in high school and didn't understand a thing.

2. Using the bare demonstrative attributively inside a sentence. English word order transplanted whole.

❌ אני רוצה לקנות זה ספר

Incorrect — a demonstrative modifying a noun follows it and both words take the article, and a definite object then needs את: אני רוצה לקנות את הספר הזה.

✅ אני רוצה לקנות את התיק הזה, כמה הוא עולה?

aní rotsá liknót et hatík hazé, káma hu olé?

I want to buy this bag — how much is it? (f. speaker)

3. Defaulting to זה for a feminine referent. English this is genderless, so there is no habit to transfer; the agreement step has to be added.

❌ זה אחותי

Incorrect — אחותי is feminine, so the demonstrative must be too: זאת אחותי (or זו אחותי).

✅ זאת אחותי, היא גרה בבאר שבע.

zot akhotí, hi gará biv'ér shéva

This is my sister, she lives in Be'er Sheva.

4. Putting the demonstrative in front of the noun. Hebrew has no position there for it.

❌ הזה הבית שלי

Incorrect — the demonstrative follows its noun: הבית הזה שלי, 'this house is mine'.

✅ הבית הזה שלנו כבר ארבעים שנה.

habáyit hazé shelánu kvar arba'ím shaná

This house has been ours for forty years.

Key Takeaways

The near demonstratives are זה (m. sg), זאת or זו (f. sg), and אלה or אלו (pl., both genders). The plural does not distinguish gender.
זאת/אלה are the Biblical set and זו/אלו the Mishnaic set; Modern Hebrew kept both. זו and אלו read as somewhat more written — neither pair is wrong or dated.
As a pronoun, the demonstrative takes no copula: זה ספר, זאת המורה שלי, אלה החברים שלי are complete sentences.
זה ספר ("this is a book") versus הספר הזה ("this book") — two articles and a reordering separate a sentence from a noun phrase. Over-learn this pair.
Spoken Hebrew uses זה as an empty "it": זה בסדר, זה לא משנה, כמה זה עולה. It stays masculine, and it is for situations, not for people.
Agreement is chosen by the thing referred to, so זה אחי but זאת אחותי, whoever is speaking.

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