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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: יש לנו המון עבודה היום. - We have a lot of work today.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Disputing rental-deposit deductions
/יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

Word

יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

Meaning

We have a lot of work today.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Hebrew

Lesson

Disputing rental-deposit deductions

Breakdown of יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

Questions & Answers about יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

What does יש לנו mean literally, and why does Hebrew use that instead of a verb like have?

Literally, יש לנו means there is to us or there exists for us.

Hebrew usually does not use a separate present-tense verb meaning to have. Instead, possession is often expressed with:

יש = there is / there are
ל... = to / for ...
so יש לנו = we have

Examples:

יש לי זמן = I have time
יש לך שאלה = You have a question
יש לנו עבודה = We have work

So in your sentence, יש לנו המון עבודה היום is literally something like There is to us a lot of work today, but naturally it means We have a lot of work today.

What exactly does לנו mean, and how is it built?

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לנו means to us or for us.

It comes from the preposition ל־ (to/for) plus the pronoun אנחנו (we), but in Hebrew this combination becomes a fixed attached form:

לי = to me
לך = to you
לו = to him
לה = to her
לנו = to us
לכם / לכן = to you (plural)
להם / להן = to them

So:

יש לנו = we have
אין לנו = we do not have

Why is המון used here? Does it just mean a lot?

Yes. המון means a lot, tons, or loads, depending on context and tone.

In everyday Hebrew, המון is very common and natural. It often sounds a bit more conversational than הרבה.

Compare:

יש לנו המון עבודה היום = We have a lot / tons of work today
יש לנו הרבה עבודה היום = We have a lot of work today

Both are correct.
Very roughly:

הרבה = a lot / much / many
המון = a lot / loads / tons

So המון adds a slightly stronger or more informal feeling.

Why does המון have ה־ at the beginning? Is it definite here?

Great question. In המון, the ה־ is part of the word itself.

So here המון is a standalone word meaning a lot / a great deal / tons, not the lot in the ordinary definite sense.

That means:

המון עבודה = a lot of work
not the lot of work

This confuses many learners because ה־ often marks the, but in this word you should usually learn המון as one vocabulary item.

Why is עבודה singular? In English we say a lot of work, but shouldn't it be plural if there is a lot?

No—עבודה here is a mass noun, just like work in English.

So:

עבודה = work
המון עבודה = a lot of work

You do not need a plural noun here.

Hebrew often uses singular mass nouns after words like המון or הרבה when talking about something uncountable:

הרבה מים = a lot of water
המון כסף = a lot of money
המון עבודה = a lot of work

If you wanted to talk about individual jobs/tasks in a countable way, you might use a different noun, depending on the context.

Why isn't it העבודה? Why is there no the before work?

Because the sentence means a lot of work, not a lot of the work.

Compare:

המון עבודה = a lot of work
המון מהעבודה = a lot of the work / much of the work

In your sentence, the speaker is talking generally about how much work they have today, not referring to a specific already-known body of work as the work.

So עבודה without ה־ is the natural choice.

Why is היום at the end? Is Hebrew word order flexible here?

Yes, Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, and היום at the end is very natural.

The basic sentence is:

יש לנו המון עבודה היום

This feels like:

We have a lot of work today

But you can also move היום for emphasis:

היום יש לנו המון עבודה = Today we have a lot of work
יש היום לנו המון עבודה = possible in some contexts, but less neutral

The version with היום at the end is a very normal, unmarked everyday sentence.

How do you pronounce the sentence naturally?

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

yesh la-nu ha-mon a-vo-DA ha-YOM

More specifically:

יש = yesh
לנו = LA-nu
המון = ha-MON
עבודה = a-vo-DA
היום = ha-YOM

Stress usually falls like this:

laNU
haMON
avoDA
haYOM

In fast speech, יש לנו often flows together smoothly.

Is this sentence formal or informal?

It is neutral and very natural in everyday speech.

יש לנו עבודה היום = neutral
יש לנו הרבה עבודה היום = neutral
יש לנו המון עבודה היום = still normal, but a bit more conversational/emphatic

So this sentence sounds perfectly normal in speech and informal writing. It is not slangy, but המון makes it feel slightly more casual than a more formal alternative.

Can I say אנחנו יש לנו המון עבודה היום?

Usually, no—not as a neutral sentence.

The normal form is simply:

יש לנו המון עבודה היום

Hebrew does not usually add אנחנו unless you want special emphasis or contrast.

For example:

לנו יש המון עבודה היום, אבל להם אין.
= We have a lot of work today, but they don’t.

Even then, Hebrew would more naturally emphasize with word order than by adding אנחנו before יש.

So as a beginner, the best pattern to remember is:

יש + indirect pronoun + noun

For example:

יש לי
יש לך
יש לנו

How would I make this sentence negative?

You replace יש with אין:

אין לנו המון עבודה היום = We don’t have a lot of work today
אין לנו עבודה היום = We don’t have work today / We have no work today

This is a very important pair:

יש לנו = we have
אין לנו = we don’t have

So in present-tense possession, Hebrew uses:

יש for positive
אין for negative

How would I say this in the past or future, since יש is present-time only?

For past and future possession, Hebrew usually uses forms of היה (to be) with ל־.

Examples:

היה לנו המון עבודה היום = We had a lot of work today
יהיה לנו המון עבודה מחר = We will have a lot of work tomorrow

So the pattern is:

יש לנו = we have
היה לנו = we had
יהיה לנו = we will have

This is very useful because Hebrew possession works differently across tenses.

Is עבודה always work, or can it also mean job?

It can mean both work and job, depending on context.

Examples:

יש לי עבודה can mean I have work or I have a job
אני בעבודה = I’m at work
מצאתי עבודה = I found a job

But in your sentence, because of המון, the meaning is clearly a lot of work, not a lot of job.

So here עבודה is best understood as work in the uncountable sense.

Could I replace המון with הרבה, and is there any grammar difference?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

יש לנו הרבה עבודה היום

That is just as correct.

In this sentence, the grammar stays the same. The main difference is style:

הרבה עבודה = a lot of work
המון עבודה = a lot of work / tons of work

So:

הרבה is very common and neutral
המון is also very common, but a bit stronger or more conversational

For a learner, both are worth knowing, and both are natural here.

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