יש לי מה לעשות does not mean “I have to do”; it means “I have something to do.” Hebrew builds this idea with four pieces: יש / אין + a person in ל־ + a question word + an infinitive. The question word is the productive heart of the frame: change מה to איפה, למי or על מה, and you change what is available or missing.
יש לי מה לעשות ברכבת, הבאתי ספר ועבודה.
yesh li ma la'asót barakévet, hevéti séfer va'avodá
I've got things to do on the train — I brought a book and some work.
אין לי מה להגיד לו עד שנראה את התוצאות.
ein li ma lehagíd lo ad shenir'é et hatotsa'ót
I have nothing to tell him until we see the results.
The slot that makes the pattern productive
English hides several different relations inside have something to do. Hebrew names the missing relation with the same words used in a question. מה asks for a thing, איפה for a place, מתי for a time and מי for a person. If the relation needs a preposition, that preposition stays attached to the question phrase: למי, עם מי, על מה, לאן.
| Slot | What it supplies | Model |
|---|---|---|
| מַה ma | a thing or action | יֵשׁ לִי מַה לִקְרוֹא yesh li ma likró |
| אֵיפֹה éifo | a place | אֵין לָנוּ אֵיפֹה לִישׁוֹן ein lánu éifo lishón |
| מָתַי matái | a time | אֵין לָנוּ מָתַי לְדַבֵּר ein lánu matái ledabér |
| לְמִי lemí | a person to receive the action | אֵין לָהּ לְמִי לִפְנוֹת ein la lemí lifnót |
| עִם מִי im mi | a companion | יֵשׁ לִי עִם מִי לִנְסוֹעַ yesh li im mi linsóa |
| עַל מַה al ma | a topic or basis | אֵין עַל מַה לְדַבֵּר ein al ma ledabér |
| לְאָן le'án | a destination | אֵין לְאָן לָלֶכֶת ein le'án lalékhet |
יש לך מה לאכול בבית, או שנזמין משהו?
yesh lekhá ma le'ekhól babáyit, o shenazmín máshehu?
Have you got anything to eat at home, or shall we order something? (to a man)
אין לנו איפה לישון אחרי החתונה, כל המלונות מלאים.
ein lánu éifo lishón akharéi hakhatuná, kol hamelonót mele'ím
We have nowhere to stay after the wedding; all the hotels are full.
יש לך עם מי לחזור, או שאזמין לך מונית?
yesh lekhá im mi lakhazór, o she'azmín lekhá monít?
Have you got someone to go back with, or shall I order you a taxi? (to a man)
The preposition cannot be stranded at the end as it can in English someone to talk to. Hebrew puts it before the question word: עם מי לדבר or אל מי לדבר, and על מה לדבר, not a translated word order with עם, אל or על left after the infinitive. This is the same logic as a direct question: על מה דיברתם? “What did you talk about?”
The dative names whose options they are
The inflected ל־ phrase is not the subject of a verb meaning have. Hebrew starts from existence: something exists for me, for you or for them. That is why the person appears as לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, לכם, לכן, להם or להן. The same dative series appears in possession, but here the “thing” that exists is an open possibility described by the question word and infinitive.
אין לה למי לפנות במשרד עד שהמנהלת תחזור.
ein la lemí lifnót bamisrád ad shehamenahélet takhazór
There is nobody at the office she can turn to until the manager comes back.
אין לנו מתי לדבר אחרי הישיבה, אז בואו נעבור על זה עכשיו.
ein lánu matái ledabér akharéi hayeshivá, az bó'u na'avór al ze akhsháv
We won't have time to talk after the meeting, so let's go over it now.
Remove the person and the sentence becomes general. אין מה לעשות means “there is nothing to be done,” often with the pragmatic force “that's how it is.” אין על מה לדבר can be literal “there is nothing to discuss,” and in context it can close an issue decisively. These are ordinary neutral expressions, not formal passives.
ניסינו הכול; אין מה לעשות עד שהמערכת תחזור.
nisínu hakól; ein ma la'asót ad shehama'arékhet takhazór
We've tried everything; there is nothing we can do until the system comes back.
תחזיר לי את הכסף היום, אין על מה לדבר.
takhazír li et hakésef hayóm, ein al ma ledabér
Give me the money back today — this isn't up for discussion. (firm, informal)
A different יש + infinitive: formal obligation
There is a second construction that looks dangerously similar but has no dative and no question word: יש + infinitive can mean “one must / it is necessary to.” Its negative is אין + infinitive, often “one must not.” This is formal or administrative Hebrew: regulations, official instructions, academic prose and public notices.
יש להגיש את הבקשה עד יום ראשון בצהריים.
yesh lehagísh et habakashá ad yom rishón batsohoráyim
The application must be submitted by Sunday at noon. (formal / administrative)
אין לעשן בתחנה או ליד דלתות האוטובוס.
ein le'ashén batakhaná o leyád daltót ha'otóbus
Smoking is prohibited at the stop or near the bus doors. (formal notice)
In ordinary conversation, use צריך for obligation: אני צריך להגיש, את צריכה ללכת. Adding a dative to the formal pattern does not produce the neutral English construction I have to. If you drop לי and say יש לעשות, you have not “fixed” a personal spoken sentence; you have switched into the register of a municipal notice or written instruction. Keep the meanings apart:
- יש לי מה למלא — I have something to fill in.
- יש למלא את הטופס — the form must be filled in (formal).
- אני צריך למלא את הטופס — I need to fill in the form (neutral speech).
The bare sequence יש לי לעשות should not be branded impossible in every context: Hebrew can build a larger availability phrase around a noun, as in יש לי עבודה לעשות “I have work to do.” It is nevertheless not the neutral modal translation of I have to do. For that meaning, retrieve אני צריך לעשות; for impersonal officialese, retrieve יש לעשות.
The impersonal command use, including signs with נא and bare infinitives, is developed on infinitives as commands.
Common Mistakes
1. Replacing the dative with a direct object. English makes me look like an object; Hebrew possession and availability require ל־.
❌ יש אותי מה לעשות הערב
Incorrect — the person must be in the ל־ series: יש לי מה לעשות הערב.
✅ יש לי מה לעשות הערב, אז ניפגש מחר.
yesh li ma la'asót ha'érev, az nipagésh makhár
I've got things to do tonight, so let's meet tomorrow.
2. Stranding the preposition after the infinitive. Hebrew fronts the whole preposition-plus-question phrase.
❌ אין לי מה לדבר על
Incorrect — Hebrew does not leave על stranded here. Put it before מה: אין לי על מה לדבר.
✅ אין לי על מה לדבר איתו עד שהוא יתנצל.
ein li al ma ledabér itó ad shehú yitnatsél
I have nothing to discuss with him until he apologises.
3. Giving מה and the infinitive a second direct object. In מה למלא, מה already fills the object slot of למלא.
❌ יש לי מה למלא את הטופס
Incorrect — מה and את הטופס compete for the same object slot. Say יש לי טופס למלא or יש לי מה למלא.
✅ יש לי טופס למלא לפני הפגישה.
yesh li tófes lemalé lifnéi hapgishá
I have a form to fill in before the meeting.
4. Repeating the prepositional object after למי. The preposition is already carried by למי.
❌ אין לי למי להתקשר אליו
Incorrect — למי already means ‘to whom’; אליו repeats the same complement. Say אין לי למי להתקשר.
✅ אם הקו ייפול שוב, אין לי למי להתקשר.
im hakav yipól shuv, ein li lemí lehitkashér
If the line goes down again, I have nobody to call.
Key Takeaways
- Everyday availability is יש / אין + dative + question word + infinitive: יש לי מה לעשות, אין לה למי לפנות.
- The question-word slot is productive: מה, איפה, מתי, למי, עם מי, על מה and לאן each specify what is available or missing.
- Keep a preposition with its question word: על מה לדבר, not a stranded על at the end.
- With no dative, אין מה לעשות and אין על מה לדבר make a general statement.
- יש + infinitive with no dative expresses obligation in formal or administrative Hebrew: יש להגיש. Ordinary speech uses צריך.
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- יש and אין: There Is and There Isn'tA1 — יש and אין assert that something exists or does not. In everyday Modern Hebrew each is a single unchanging word — no person, no gender, no number, no tense — though both keep an inflected set (ישנו, ישנם; אינני, אינו) in formal writing and careful speech. Past and future use היה: standard Hebrew shows agreement, while colloquial speech often defaults to masculine singular.
- Possession with יש ל־A1 — Hebrew has no verb meaning 'have' — it says a thing exists to someone, יש לי אח. This page is the semantic half of that: which relations Hebrew actually routes through יש ל־, how it divides the work with של, and the English 'have's that are not יש ל־ at all, from having a coffee to having to leave.
- Infinitive as Impersonal Command (נא לא לעשן)B1 — Read and produce impersonal instructions with נא, אין and the bare infinitive, while distinguishing infinitive prohibitions from noun signs such as אין כניסה.
- צריך: Need and MustA1 — One word covers English's need, have to and should — and it is not a verb. צריך is an adjective, so it agrees with its subject (צריך, צריכה, צריכים, צריכות) and has no tense of its own. It takes either an infinitive or a plain noun, and it can also stand with no subject at all.