יש שמחה גדולה במשפחה.

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Breakdown of יש שמחה גדולה במשפחה.

• יש: there is
• משפחה: family
• שמחה: joy

Questions & Answers about יש שמחה גדולה במשפחה.

What does יש mean in this sentence?

יש is the Hebrew existential word meaning there is or there are.

So יש שמחה גדולה במשפחה literally works like:

there is + great joy + in the family

Hebrew often uses יש to say that something exists or is present somewhere.

Examples:

• יש ספר על השולחן — There is a book on the table.
• יש ילדים בחצר — There are children in the yard.

Why isn’t there a separate word for is?

In the present tense, Hebrew usually does not use a separate verb equivalent to English is / am / are in simple sentences.

So where English says:

• The family is happy

Hebrew often expresses related ideas differently, and for existence it uses יש:

• יש שמחה במשפחה — There is joy in the family.

So this sentence is not built like X is Y. It is built like There is Y in X.

Why does גדולה come after שמחה?

In Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• שמחה גדולה = great joy
• literally: joy great

This is the normal Hebrew word order for noun + adjective.

More examples:

• בית גדול — a big house
• ילדה חכמה — a smart girl