זה ספר.

this

Breakdown of זה ספר.

• ספר: book

Questions & Answers about זה ספר.

How do you pronounce זה ספר?

It is usually pronounced ze sefer.

• זה = ze
• ספר = sefer

So the whole sentence sounds like ze sefer.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

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

So where English says This is a book, Hebrew simply says זה ספר.

This is completely normal. Hebrew often makes simple present-tense sentences without a separate word for is / am / are.

What role does זה play here?

Here, זה means this.

In sentences like this, זה can act like this or this is, depending on how you think about the English translation. Because Hebrew leaves out is in the present tense, זה naturally ends up corresponding to English this in This is a book.

Why doesn’t ספר have ה־ if the English meaning is a book?