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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: זה הצעד הראשון. - This is the first step.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Disputing an unrecognized card charge
/זה הצעד הראשון.

זה הצעד הראשון.

זה הצעד הראשון.zeh hatsa'ad harishon

This is the first step.

Breakdown of זה הצעד הראשון.

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Questions & Answers about זה הצעד הראשון.

How do you pronounce זה הצעד הראשון?

A common pronunciation is:

ze ha-TSA-ad ha-ri-SHON

More slowly:

זה = ze
הצעד = ha-tza'ad
הראשון = ha-rishon

A few notes:

צ sounds like ts in cats
ע in modern Hebrew is often very weak or silent for many speakers, but it can slightly separate vowels in צעד
The stress is usually at the end of הראשון: ri-SHON

What does each word do in the sentence?

Word by word:

זה = this / this is
הצעד = the step
הראשון = the first

So the structure is literally:

This — the step the-first

Natural English: This is the first step.

Where is the word is in the Hebrew sentence?

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted.

So instead of saying something equivalent to This is the first step with a separate word for is, Hebrew simply says:

זה הצעד הראשון

This is called a nominal sentence. It is very common in Hebrew.

Compare:

הוא מורה = He is a teacher
זה טוב = This is good
זה הצעד הראשון = This is the first step

Why is the word order different from English?

Hebrew often puts things in a different order from English.

In English:

the first step

In Hebrew:

the step first
הצעד הראשון

That is because adjectives and ordinal numbers like ראשון usually come after the noun in Hebrew.

So:

צעד ראשון = a first step
הצעד הראשון = the first step

Why do both הצעד and הראשון have ה־ at the beginning?

Because the phrase is definite: the first step, not just a first step.

In Hebrew, when a noun is definite and it has an adjective or ordinal after it, the adjective/ordinal also usually becomes definite.

So:

צעד ראשון = a first step
הצעד הראשון = the first step

This is a very important Hebrew pattern:

ספר טוב = a good book
הספר הטוב = the good book

The same thing happens here with the ordinal:

צעד ראשון
הצעד הראשון

Why is ראשון after the noun? Doesn't first come before the noun?

In English, yes:

the first step

In Hebrew, ordinal numbers usually come after the noun:

הצעד הראשון

This is the normal pattern.

More examples:

היום הראשון = the first day
הפרק השני = the second chapter
הפעם האחרונה = the last time

So if you want to say first + noun in Hebrew, think: noun + ראשון

Why is it זה and not זאת?

זה is the masculine singular form of this.

Since צעד is a masculine singular noun, זה fits naturally here.

Also, in sentences like this, זה is very commonly used as a general this is... opener:

זה הבית = This is the house
זה רעיון טוב = This is a good idea

If the noun were feminine, you might often see:

זאת הדרך הראשונה = This is the first way/path

In everyday speech, however, Hebrew speakers sometimes use זה quite broadly even where strict agreement might suggest another form.

Is צעד masculine or feminine?

צעד is masculine.

You can tell from the ordinal:

הצעד הראשון = masculine not
הצעד הראשונה = which would be feminine and incorrect here

This matters because adjectives and ordinal numbers must agree with the noun in gender and number.

So:

masculine singular: צעד ראשון
feminine singular: פסיעה ראשונה or דרך ראשונה, depending on the noun

What is the basic form of הצעד?

The basic form is צעד = step

The ה־ at the beginning is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

צעד = step
הצעד = the step

This ה־ is attached directly to the noun.

What is the basic form of הראשון?

The basic form is ראשון = first (masculine singular)

With the definite article:

ראשון = first
הראשון = the first

Because it describes a definite noun (הצעד), it also becomes definite.

Related forms:

ראשונה = feminine singular
ראשונים = masculine plural
ראשונות = feminine plural

If I wanted to say this step instead of this is the first step, would I say the same thing?

No. That would be a different structure.

זה הצעד הראשון means:

This is the first step

But this step as a noun phrase is usually:

הצעד הזה = this step

So compare:

זה הצעד הראשון = This is the first step
הצעד הזה הוא הראשון = This step is the first one
הצעד הזה = this step

This is a very useful distinction:

זה + noun phrase = this is ...
noun + הזה/הזאת = this noun

Can זה mean it as well as this?

Yes, depending on context, זה can sometimes be understood as this, that, or even it in English translation.

In this sentence, the most natural translation is:

This is the first step

But Hebrew זה is often used in a broader way than English this.

For example:

זה טוב = It’s good / This is good
מה זה? = What is this?

So the exact English wording depends on context.

Can I also say זהו הצעד הראשון?

Yes. זהו הצעד הראשון is also correct.

זהו is a slightly more formal or emphatic version of זה in this kind of sentence.

So:

זה הצעד הראשון = normal, common
זהו הצעד הראשון = also correct, a bit more formal/emphatic

Both mean:

This is the first step

What should I pay special attention to as a beginner in this sentence?

This sentence teaches several very common Hebrew patterns:

No present-tense "is"
- זה הצעד הראשון = This is the first step
The definite article is attached
- צעד → הצעד
- ראשון → הראשון
Adjectives/ordinals come after the noun
- הצעד הראשון
Adjectives/ordinals agree with the noun
- צעד is masculine, so ראשון is masculine

If you understand those four points, you understand a lot of basic Hebrew sentence structure.

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