אצל: At Someone's Place | Hebrew Grammar

Hebrew אצל has no single English equivalent. It locates a person or thing at somebody's place, in somebody's keeping, or within somebody's social or professional domain. English spreads those meanings across at the doctor's, the book is with me, and in our office; Hebrew sees one relation: the reference point is a person or group rather than an ordinary place.

That is why the real lesson is not a translation list. It is the contrast among אצל, locative ב־, and possessive יש ל־.

The compact paradigm

אצל takes pronoun suffixes. The two second-person singular forms have the same unpointed spelling אצלך, but different vowels and stress. The third-person plurals are אצלם / אצלן—never a form built by attaching אצל to להם or להן.

Meaning	Form	Reads
at/with me	אֶצְלִי	etslí
at/with you (m. sg.)	אֶצְלְךָ	etslekhá
at/with you (f. sg.)	אֶצְלֵךְ	etslékh
at/with him	אֶצְלוֹ	etsló
at/with her	אֶצְלָהּ	etslá
at/with us	אֶצְלֵנוּ	etslénu
at/with you (m./mixed pl.)	אֶצְלְכֶם	etslekhém
at/with you (f. pl.)	אֶצְלְכֶן	etslekhén
at/with them (m./mixed)	אֶצְלָם	etslám
at/with them (f.)	אֶצְלָן	etslán

אני יכולה להשאיר את התיק אצלך עד הערב?

aní yekholá lehash'ír et hatík etslekhá ad ha'érev?

Can I leave the bag with you until this evening? (f. speaker to a man; neutral)

נשב אצלך או אצלי?

neshév etslekhá o etslí?

Shall we hang out at your place or mine? (to a man; informal)

💡

אצלך is one spelling and two spoken words: etslekhá to a man, etslékh to a woman. The suffix makes gender audible even though ordinary unpointed writing hides it.

Use one: physical location at a person

With a named person, family, or professional, אצל means “at that person's place” or “in that person's care.” The physical building stays in the background; the person anchors the visit.

היינו אצל ההורים שלה כל סוף השבוע.

hayínu étsel hahorím shelá kol sof hashavúa

We were at her parents' all weekend. (neutral)

קבעתי בדיקה אצל רופאת השיניים ליום שני.

kaváti bdiká étsel rofát hashináyim leyóm shení

I booked a check-up with the dentist for Monday. (the dentist is a woman; neutral)

הילדים ישנים הלילה אצל סבא וסבתא.

hayeladím yeshením haláyla étsel sába vesávta

The children are sleeping at Grandpa and Grandma's tonight. (neutral)

English speakers often avoid אצל and build בבית של… “in the house of…”. That phrase is grammatical when the house itself matters. It is needlessly literal when Hebrew conceptualizes a professional appointment or a social visit through the person.

חיכיתי בבית של הרופא בזמן שהתקינו שם מזגן.

khikíti babáyit shel harofé bizmán shehitkínu sham mazgán

I waited in the doctor's house while they installed an air conditioner there. (the physical house matters; neutral)

חיכיתי אצל הרופא כמעט שעה לפני הבדיקה.

khikíti étsel harofé kim'át sha'á lifnéi habdiká

I waited at the doctor's for almost an hour before the examination. (the professional visit matters; neutral)

Both are good Hebrew, but they describe different scenes.

Use two: in someone's keeping

אצל can locate an object in a person's temporary custody. English often uses have here, which makes learners reach automatically for יש ל־. Hebrew distinguishes current keeping from ownership.

הדרכון שלך אצלי, מצאתי אותו במכונית.

hadarkón shelkhá etslí, matsáti otó bamekhonít

I've got your passport; I found it in the car. (to a man; currently in my keeping)

המפתח נשאר אצל השכנה, אז נצטרך לעבור דרכה.

hamaftéakh nish'ár étsel hashkhená, az nitstarékh la'avór darká

The key is still with the neighbour, so we'll have to go via her. (neutral)

החוזה אצל עורכת הדין והיא תחזיר אותו מחר.

hakhozé étsel orékhet hadín vehi takhzír otó makhár

The contract is with the lawyer, and she'll return it tomorrow. (the lawyer is a woman; neutral-professional)

אצל, ב־, and יש ל־

These three sentences answer three different questions:

Hebrew	What it asserts	Natural English
הספר בבית	location at a place	the book is at home
הספר אצלי	current keeping by a person	I have the book / the book is with me
יש לי ספר	possession or availability	I have a book

יש לי ספר על ירושלים, אבל כרגע הוא אצל דני.

yesh li séfer al yerushaláyim, avál karéga hu étsel Dáni

I own a book about Jerusalem, but Dani has it at the moment. (יש לי = ownership; אצל דני = current keeping)

התרופות בבית, אבל המרשם עדיין אצל הרופא.

hatrufót babáyit, avál hamirshám adáyin étsel harofé

The medicines are at home, but the prescription is still with the doctor. (place versus personal keeping)

The possession construction has its own logic on יש לי. Do not translate English have before deciding whether it means ownership or temporary custody.

Use three: within a person's or group's domain

The reference point can be a household, organization, discipline, or social group. This אצל means roughly “among,” “in the practice of,” or “on our side.” It is (neutral) and especially common as אצלנו “where we are / in our organization.”

אצלנו במשרד לא קובעים ישיבות בימי שישי.

etslénu bamisrád lo kov'ím yeshivót biméi shishí

In our office, we don't schedule meetings on Fridays. (neutral workplace norm)

אצל הילדים הגדולים המשחק הזה כבר לא פופולרי.

étsel hayeladím hagdolím hamiskhák hazé kvar lo populári

Among the older children, this game is no longer popular. (neutral group-domain use)

💡

The group use does not literally put everybody in one house. אצל identifies the people whose habits, knowledge or practice define the domain being discussed.

A service encounter

At a clinic, אצל connects an appointment to the professional rather than merely to the building.

שלום, יש לי תור אצל דוקטור לוי בשעה עשר.

shalóm, yesh li tor étsel dóktor Lévi besha'á éser

Patient: Hello, I have an appointment with Dr Levi at ten. (neutral-polite)

רגע, אני בודקת. היית אצלה בעבר?

réga, aní bodéket. hayíta etslá be'avár?

Receptionist: One moment, I'm checking. Have you seen her before? (f. speaker to a man)

לא, זאת הפעם הראשונה שלי אצלה.

lo, zot hapá'am harishoná shelí etslá

Patient: No, this is my first time seeing her. (neutral)

מצוין, תחכה בבקשה ליד חדר שלוש.

metsuyán, tekhaké bevakashá leyád khéder shalósh

Receptionist: Great. Please wait by room three. (to a man; neutral-polite)

Common Mistakes

1. Leaving the pronoun separate. אצל must carry the suffix.

❌ הספר נשאר אצל אני.

Incorrect—‘with me’ is the single inflected form אצלי; אצל אני exists in no register.

✅ הספר נשאר אצלי מאז הפגישה.

haséfer nish'ár etslí me'áz hapgishá

The book has been with me since the meeting. (neutral)

2. Adding ב־ before אצל. אצל already is the preposition.

❌ הייתי באצל רופאת השיניים אתמול.

Incorrect—do not stack ב־ on אצל; the professional visit is הייתי אצל רופאת השיניים.

✅ הייתי אצל רופאת השיניים בגלל כאב חד.

hayíti étsel rofát hashináyim biglál ke'év khad

I was at the dentist's because of a sharp pain. (neutral)

3. Extending the להם pattern into אצל. The plural suffix attaches directly to אצל.

❌ המסמכים החשובים עדיין אצלהם.

Incorrect—‘with them’ is אצלם, not אצלהם.

✅ המסמכים החשובים עדיין אצלם בכספת.

hamismakhím hakhashuvím adáyin etslám bakaséfet

The important documents are still with them in the safe. (neutral)

Key Takeaways

אצל anchors location to a person or group: at somebody's place, in somebody's keeping, or within somebody's domain.
The paradigm is אצלי, אצלך, אצלו, אצלה, אצלנו, אצלכם, אצלכן, אצלם, אצלן. There is no אצלהם.
אצלך is etslekhá to a man and etslékh to a woman.
ב־ locates something at a place; אצל locates it with a person; יש ל־ asserts possession or availability.
Use אצל naturally for social and professional visits: אצל ההורים, אצל הרופא, אצל רופאת השיניים.

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