המשכיר חייב להשיב את הערובה.

direct object marker

Breakdown of המשכיר חייב להשיב את הערובה.

• להיות חייב: to have to
• משכיר: landlord; lessor
• ערובה: rental security; guarantee

Questions & Answers about המשכיר חייב להשיב את הערובה.

What does המשכיר mean exactly, and how is it different from השוכר?

המשכיר means the landlord / the lessor—literally, the one who rents out.

A very common point of confusion is:

• המשכיר = the person who rents out the property
• השוכר = the person who rents the property for themselves, i.e. the tenant / renter

So in rental Hebrew:

• להשכיר = to rent out
• לשכור = to rent

That distinction is very important.

Why does המשכיר begin with ה־?

The ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• משכיר = a landlord / one who rents out
• המשכיר = the landlord

The same thing happens later in the sentence with הערובה = the security / deposit / guarantee.

What does חייב mean here?

Here חייב means obligated, required, or more naturally in English, must.

So המשכיר חייב... means:

• the landlord is obligated to...
• or simply the landlord must...

Grammatically, חייב is an adjective, but in sentences like this it functions very much like a modal idea such as must or has to.