After “think,” “say,” and “hope,” English can often omit that: “I think she knows.” Hebrew cannot omit ש־. The ordinary structure is verb or predicate + ש־ + complete clause: חושב שהיא יודעת, literally “think that-she knows.” ש־ is a one-letter prefix, so it is written attached to the next word.
ש־ Introduces the Content
A content clause tells us what somebody said, thought, knew, heard, saw, remembered, or understood. The clause has its own subject and its own tense, just like an independent sentence; ש־ turns that sentence into a complement of the preceding expression.
אני חושב שהוא כבר יצא.
aní khoshév shehú kvar yatsá.
I think he has already left.
נועה אמרה שהרכבת מאחרת.
nó'a amrá sheharakévet me'akhéret.
Noa said that the train was running late.
אנחנו יודעים שהחנות סגורה בשבת.
anákhnu yod'ím shehakhanút sgurá beshabát.
We know that the store is closed on Shabbat.
This is not limited to grammatical verbs. בטוח “sure” is an adjective, while נראה “it seems” and מסתבר “it turns out” are impersonal predicates; all can select the same kind of content clause.
אני בטוחה שהכתובת נכונה.
aní betukhá shehaktóvet nekhoná.
I'm sure the address is correct.
נראה לי שהמסעדה כבר נסגרה.
nir'é li shehamis'adá kvar nisgerá.
It seems to me that the restaurant has already closed.
Which Expressions Commonly Take This Frame?
The following groups are high-yield. Register depends more on the particular verb than on ש־ itself; ש־ is neutral in both conversation and ordinary writing.
| Meaning | Common heads | Typical content |
|---|---|---|
| saying and reporting | אמר, סיפר, הודיע | what someone communicated |
| thought and knowledge | חושב, יודע, זוכר, מבין | a belief, fact, or memory |
| perception and feeling | שמע, ראה, מרגיש | what was perceived or felt |
| hope and desire | מקווה, רוצה, מבקש | a hoped-for or desired event |
| evaluation or inference | בטוח, נראה, מסתבר, כדאי | an assessment or conclusion |
שמעתי שמצאת דירה ליד הים.
shamáti shematsáta dirá leyád hayám.
I heard that you found an apartment near the sea.
היא זוכרת שהשארנו את האור דולק.
hi zokhéret shehishárnu et ha'or dolék.
She remembers that we left the light on.
אני מרגיש שמשהו פה לא מסתדר.
aní margísh shemáshehu po lo mistadér.
I feel that something here isn't adding up.
Some English translations use no “that” at all—“I heard you found an apartment”—but the Hebrew complementizer remains. For the wider range of relative, temporal, and result uses, see ש־ as the universal subordinator.
Infinitives and Subject Control
When the embedded subject is understood as the same participant, Hebrew often uses a compact infinitive: אני רוצה לחזור. This is especially natural after רוצה and מעדיף. It is not a ban on a coreferential finite clause: אני מקווה לסיים and אני מקווה שאסיים are both ordinary.
אני רוצה לחזור הביתה מוקדם.
aní rotsé lakhazór habáyta mukdám.
I want to go home early.
אנחנו מקווים לסיים עד יום חמישי.
anákhnu mekavím lesayém ad yom khamishí.
We hope to finish by Thursday.
English also uses an infinitive here, so this part feels familiar. An overt subject inside the embedded clause requires ש־ plus a finite verb: אני רוצה שהוא יבוא.
An Overt Embedded Subject: ש־ + Future Form
With desire, requests, recommendations, and advice, the subordinate event is not presented as an established fact. Modern Hebrew commonly uses a future form after ש־: רוצה שהוא יבוא “want him to come,” ביקשה שנחכה “asked us to wait,” כדאי שתבדקי “you should check.” English often uses an object plus infinitive instead, so direct translation fails.
אני רוצה שהוא יבוא איתנו מחר.
aní rotsé shehú yavó itánu makhár.
I want him to come with us tomorrow.
המנהלת ביקשה שנשלח לה תשובה עד הערב.
hamnahélet bikshá shenishlákh la tshuvá ad ha'érev.
The manager asked us to send her an answer by this evening.
Different participants do not always require a finite clause. With an object-control verb such as ביקש, a מ־ phrase can supply the understood subject of a following infinitive:
ביקשתי ממנה לחכות בחוץ.
bikáshti miména lekhakót bakhúts.
I asked her to wait outside.
Compare the finite alternative ביקשתי שהיא תחכה בחוץ. The first construction lets ממנה control the understood subject of לחכות; the second states the embedded subject overtly as היא.
כדאי שתבדקי שוב את המספר.
kedái shetivdekí shuv et hamispár.
You should check the number again.
Calling these forms “future” describes their morphology. In this construction they also do work similar to an English mandative or subjunctive: they present the embedded action as wanted, requested, or advisable rather than as a current fact. Hebrew has no separate present subjunctive paradigm.
Negating the Embedded Content
To negate what is said, thought, or intended, put לא inside the embedded clause. Since ש־ attaches to the first word, the result is שלא “that not.” This does not negate the act of saying; it negates the proposition that follows.
אמרתי שלא אבוא לפגישה.
amárti shelo avó lapgishá.
I said that I wouldn't come to the meeting.
הוא חושב שלא שמנו לב לטעות.
hu khoshév shelo sámnu lev lata'út.
He thinks that we didn't notice the mistake.
Compare לא אמרתי שאבוא “I did not say I would come,” where לא negates אמרתי. The location of לא determines which claim is denied.
Fronted נראה ש־ and מסתבר ש־
Impersonal predicates can introduce the whole sentence. נראה ש־ “it seems that” is neutral; מסתבר ש־ “it turns out that” is also common in speech and writing, often after evidence changes the speaker’s understanding.
מסתבר שהקובץ נשמר בתיקייה אחרת.
mistabér shehakóvets nishmár betikiyá akhéret.
It turns out that the file was saved in another folder.
These are not subjects followed by a copula. Treat נראה ש־ and מסתבר ש־ as ready-made clause frames. Detailed tense interpretation belongs on sequence of tenses: Hebrew does not automatically backshift every embedded verb merely because the reporting verb is past.
ש־ and כי After Reporting Verbs
In everyday conversation and neutral prose, אמר ש־ is the default. אמר כי is also grammatical, especially in (formal), journalistic, legal, and administrative writing. It is not an error and does not mean “said because” in that frame.
השר הודיע כי ההסכם ייכנס לתוקף בחודש הבא.
hasár hodí'a ki haheském yikanés letókef bakhódesh habá.
The minister announced that the agreement would take effect next month. (formal)
Do not replace every conversational ש־ with כי to sound sophisticated. The two complementizers differ by construction and register; ש־ versus כי versus אשר gives the full decision guide.
Common Mistakes
Omitting ש־ as English omits “that”
❌ הוא זוכר השארנו את החלון פתוח.
Incorrect — Hebrew requires a complementizer before the complete clause.
✅ הוא זוכר שהשארנו את החלון פתוח.
hu zokhér shehishárnu et hakhalón patúakh.
He remembers that we left the window open.
Writing ש as a separate word
❌ היא אמרה ש היא עייפה.
Incorrect spelling — the one-letter prefix ש־ attaches to היא.
✅ היא אמרה שהיא עייפה.
hi amrá shehí ayefá.
She said that she was tired.
Using an infinitive for a different subject
❌ אני רוצה הוא לבוא מוקדם.
Incorrect — a new subject needs ש־ and a finite verb.
✅ אני רוצה שהוא יבוא מוקדם.
aní rotsé shehú yavó mukdám.
I want him to come early.
Negating the wrong clause
✅ לא אמרתי שאבוא.
lo amárti she'avó.
I didn't say that I would come. (לא negates אמרתי)
✅ אמרתי שלא אבוא.
amárti shelo avó.
I said that I wouldn't come. (לא negates אבוא)
Key Takeaways
- A finite content clause after אמר, חושב, יודע, מקווה, and similar expressions begins with obligatory ש־.
- Write ש־ attached: שהוא, שהיא, שלא, שהכול.
- An overt embedded subject takes ש־ plus a finite verb. Without one, an infinitive may be controlled by the matrix subject or, with verbs such as ביקש, by an object.
- After wants, requests, and advice, the embedded verb is commonly future in form.
- אמר כי is valid (formal) Hebrew; the real learner error is omitting the complementizer altogether.
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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?B1 — English says that for four different jobs, and Hebrew splits them across a prefix, a causal word that is also a complementiser, and a relative that careful writing still uses. The register facts here get turned into false errors constantly — אמר כי is standard formal Hebrew and אשר is a live literary choice, not a mistake.
- Tense Inside a Subordinate ClauseB2 — Keep the speaker’s tense in reported complements, but use the future in future temporal clauses—even where English backshifts one and puts a present in the other.
- 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.