A complement clause is a sentence used as part of a larger sentence: אני חושב שהוא צודק contains the complete idea הוא צודק inside “I think…”. Hebrew marks that embedded idea with attached ש־. English often leaves that unspoken; Hebrew does not, so this tiny prefix is structural, not optional decoration.
ש־ introduces the content
After verbs of thinking, knowing, saying, noticing, and similar meanings, ש־ introduces the content that is thought, known, or said. It attaches directly to the first word of the embedded clause: שהוא, שתבוא, שזה.
אני חושב שהוא צודק הפעם.
aní khoshév shehú tsodék hapá'am
I think he's right this time. (m. speaker)
ידעתי שתבוא בסוף, אז שמרתי לך מקום.
yadáti shetavó basóf, az shamárti lekhá makóm
I knew you'd come in the end, so I saved you a place. (to a man)
נראה לי שזה סגור היום.
nir'é li shezé sagúr hayóm
It looks to me as though it's closed today.
The embedded clause keeps its own internal grammar. It has its own subject, predicate, negation, tense, and objects; ש־ simply marks the point where that clause begins. It does not replace anything inside it.
English can omit “that”; Hebrew cannot omit ש־
English permits both I think that she arrived and I think she arrived. Hebrew has only the first structure. A bare clause cannot simply follow חושב or יודע as its complement.
אני בטוח שהיא כבר הגיעה למשרד.
aní batúakh shehí kvar higí'a lamisrád
I'm sure she's already arrived at the office. (m. speaker)
The same spelling rule applies when more prefixes follow. שבבית is one word because ש־ attaches to ב־, which attaches to בית. The general uses of this subordinator—including relative clauses, which are outside this page—are on the ש־ overview.
Same subject: usually an infinitive
Hebrew makes a crucial distinction after desire, intention, ability, and attempts. When the subject of both actions is the same, the second action is normally an infinitive.
אני רוצה ללכת לפני שמתחיל הגשם.
aní rotsé lalékhet lifnéi shematkhíl hagéshem
I want to leave before it starts raining. (m. speaker)
היא מנסה לסיים את הדוח עד הערב.
hi menasá lesayém et hadúakh ad ha'érev
She's trying to finish the report by this evening.
There is no second overt subject here: the person who wants is the person who will go, and the person trying is the person finishing. English behaves similarly in I want to go, but this stops helping when the two subjects differ.
Different subject: ש־ plus a finite verb
When one person wants another person to act, Hebrew uses a full clause with its own subject and an inflected verb. English can use want + object + infinitive—I want him to go. Hebrew cannot copy that shape.
אני רוצה שהוא ילך איתנו.
aní rotsé shehú yelékh itánu
I want him to come with us. (m. speaker)
אני רוצה שתבואי מחר ותעזרי לי.
aní rotsé shetavói makhár veta'azrí li
I want you to come tomorrow and help me. (m. speaker to a woman)
The contrast is about control of the action, not merely sentence length:
| Who acts? | Hebrew frame | Example |
|---|---|---|
| same subject | verb + infinitive | אני רוצה ללכת |
| different subject | verb + ש־ clause | אני רוצה שהוא ילך |
The verbs that select each pattern are not all predictable. Some allow more than one complement with a difference in meaning, so the larger inventories belong on verbs with ש־ clauses and verbs followed by an infinitive.
After רוצה ש־, future form does not simply mean future time
Volitional predicates such as רוצה ש־ ordinarily place the embedded verb in the morphological future: שילך, שתבואי, שנעשה. Here the form presents the desired action as not yet realized—as something wanted into being. It does not independently locate the event on a calendar.
אני רוצה שתדברי איתי עכשיו, לא מחר.
aní rotsé shetedabrí ití akhsháv, lo makhár
I want you to talk to me now, not tomorrow. (m. speaker to a woman)
The adverb עכשיו makes the desired time present, while תדברי still has future morphology. English speakers sometimes assume every Hebrew future form must mean “later”; volitional clauses show why tense form and discourse time must be separated.
The embedded verb agrees with its own subject
Once ש־ opens the inner clause, agreement is calculated inside it. היא requires feminine singular תבוא; הם requires plural יבואו. The person and gender of the main-clause speaker do not control that verb.
הוא רוצה שהיא תבוא מוקדם והם רוצים שאנחנו נישאר.
hu rotsé shehí tavó mukdám vehém rotsím she'anákhnu nisha'ér
He wants her to come early, and they want us to stay.
In the first half, היא controls תבוא. In the second, אנחנו controls נישאר. This is why it helps to treat the complement as a real sentence, not as a long object attached to רוצה.
A ש־ clause can itself be the subject
Some common evaluations begin with a predicate and let the following ש־ clause name what is good, regrettable, or obvious. English often supplies dummy it: It's good that you came. Hebrew needs no equivalent dummy subject here.
טוב שבאת, בדיוק היינו צריכים עזרה.
tov shebáta, bediyúk hayínu tsrikhím ezrá
It's good you came—we needed help just now. (to a man)
חבל שלא אמרת לי קודם.
khavál sheló amárta li kódem
It's a shame you didn't tell me earlier. (to a man)
ברור שהוא לא ידע מה קרה.
barúr shehú lo yadá ma kará
It's obvious he didn't know what happened.
These are not fragments missing “it is.” In present-tense Hebrew, טוב, חבל, and ברור can serve as the matrix predicate, while the ש־ clause supplies the proposition being evaluated.
Nearby forms, different jobs
This page uses ש־ only as a complementizer. After a noun, the same prefix may introduce a relative clause; that belongs on relative ש־. כי can introduce cause and also appears as a complementizer in (formal) and journalistic prose. אשר is chiefly a (formal) relative marker, not a conversational substitute to scatter through complement clauses. The register choice among these items is handled on ש־ versus כי.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping ש־ because English drops “that.”
❌ אני חושב הוא צודק
Incorrect — a Hebrew complement clause must be introduced by ש־: אני חושב שהוא צודק.
✅ אני חושבת שהוא צודק אבל רוצה לבדוק שוב.
aní khoshévet shehú tsodék avál rotsá livdók shuv
I think he's right, but I want to check again. (f. speaker)
2. Copying English “want him to…” word for word.
❌ אני רוצה אותו ללכת
Incorrect — Hebrew cannot use an object plus infinitive here. Give the second action its own subject and finite verb: אני רוצה שהוא ילך.
✅ אני רוצה שהוא ילך לרופא עוד היום.
aní rotsé shehú yelékh larofé od hayóm
I want him to see a doctor today. (m. speaker)
3. Making the embedded verb agree with the main subject.
❌ אני רוצה שהיא יבוא מוקדם
Incorrect — the embedded subject היא requires feminine singular תבוא, regardless of the speaker's gender.
✅ אני רוצה שהיא תבוא מוקדם כדי שנדבר.
aní rotsé shehí tavó mukdám kdei shenedabér
I want her to come early so we can talk. (m. speaker)
4. Writing ש־ as a separate word.
❌ ידעתי ש אתה תבוא
Incorrect spelling — ש־ attaches directly to the next word: ידעתי שאתה תבוא.
✅ ידעתי שאתה תבוא ולכן חיכיתי לך.
yadáti she'atá tavó velakhén khikíti lekhá
I knew you would come, so I waited for you. (to a man)
Key Takeaways
- Attach ש־ to the first word of the embedded proposition: שהוא, שתבואי, שזה.
- Unlike English that, complement ש־ cannot be omitted.
- A shared subject usually selects an infinitive (אני רוצה ללכת); a different subject needs a finite ש־ clause (אני רוצה שהוא ילך).
- In volitional clauses, future morphology marks a desired, unrealized action and can occur even with עכשיו.
- The embedded verb agrees with its own subject, and an entire ש־ clause can serve as the subject of טוב, חבל, or ברור.
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- ש־: The Universal SubordinatorA2 — One attached letter does the work English splits across that, which, who and when: אמרתי שאני בא, החבר שהמליץ לי, ביום שהגענו. It is a prefix rather than a word, it is never optional, and it is the building block of אחרי ש־, לפני ש־, כדי ש־, למרות ש־ and the rest of the connective family — most of which have a bare twin that takes a noun instead of a clause.
- ש־, כי or אשר: Which SubordinatorB1 — The three are not three of a kind: ש־ is a bound prefix that does complements and relatives alike, כי is a free word that does complements and causes, and אשר is a free word that does relatives only. Measured on Hebrew Wikipedia, כי and אשר turn out to be in near-complementary distribution — אמר כי in the thousands against three hits for אמר אשר, and 68 for האיש אשר against eight for האיש כי, not one of which is a relative clause.
- Verbs Taking a ש־ Clause: אמר ש, חושב ש, מקווה שA2 — Connect verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, hoping and wanting to a complete clause with attached ש־.
- Verbs That Take an Infinitive (רוצה, אוהב, מנסה, מתחיל)A1 — The first two-verb sentence a beginner can build: one conjugated verb, then an infinitive that never changes for anything. The whole pattern turns on a single question — is the second action done by the same person as the first? If it is, use the infinitive; if it is not, Hebrew switches to ש plus a finite verb.