יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

there is

Breakdown of יש לנו המון עבודה היום.

• היום: today
• עבודה: work
• לנו: to us

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?

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?