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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: זה שולחן. - This is a table.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Lesson 1
/זה שולחן.

זה שולחן.

זה שולחן.

This is a table.

Breakdown of זה שולחן.

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Questions & Answers about זה שולחן.

In which direction do I read this sentence?

Hebrew is read from right to left.

So זה שולחן is read as:

זה
then שולחן

not the other way around.

How do you pronounce זה שולחן?

A common pronunciation is ze shul-KHAN.

זה = ze
שולחן = shulkhan or shulchan
The stress is on the last syllable: shul-KHAN
The letter ח makes a throaty kh sound, like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch, not the English ch in chair

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense in simple sentences like this.

So:

זה שולחן = This is a table

Literally, Hebrew is more like:

This — table

But the meaning naturally includes is.

In other tenses, Hebrew does use forms of to be, for example:

זה היה שולחן = This was a table

What does זה mean here?

Here, זה means this.

It is a demonstrative pronoun, used to point something out or identify it.

In sentences like this, זה + noun often means:

This is a ...
sometimes, depending on context, something closer to It is a ...

So in זה שולחן, זה is the word doing the job of this.

Does זה שולחן mean this table?

No, not usually. זה שולחן is a full sentence, meaning This is a table.

That is a very common beginner confusion.

If you want to say this table as a noun phrase, Hebrew usually says:

השולחן הזה = this table

Literally, that is more like:

the-table this

So:

זה שולחן = This is a table
השולחן הזה = this table

Why is there no word for a before שולחן?

Hebrew has no indefinite article. In other words, there is no separate word for a or an.

So:

שולחן can mean a table
השולחן means the table

That is why זה שולחן naturally means This is a table, even though there is no word corresponding to a.

Is שולחן masculine or feminine, and does that matter here?

שולחן is masculine.

Yes, that matters, because Hebrew words often have grammatical gender, and other words may need to agree with them.

Here, using זה fits well, because זה is the standard masculine singular form for this.

You will see the gender show up more clearly in other examples, especially with adjectives and demonstratives.

What would happen if the noun were feminine instead of masculine?

In standard Hebrew, you would normally use a feminine form such as זאת or זו.

For example:

זאת דלת = This is a door
זו דלת = This is a door

So compare:

זה שולחן = This is a table (masculine noun)
זאת דלת / זו דלת = This is a door (feminine noun)

How would I say the table or This is the table?

To say the table, Hebrew adds ה־ to the noun:

השולחן = the table

So:

זה שולחן = This is a table
זה השולחן = This is the table

That ה־ is the definite article, the equivalent of English the.

How do I know the vowels if the Hebrew is written without vowel marks?

Most everyday Hebrew is written without niqqud (vowel marks), so learners have to get used to recognizing words by pattern and familiarity.

In this sentence:

זה is normally read ze
שולחן is normally read shulkhan

At first this can feel difficult, but very common words like these become easy to recognize quickly. In beginner materials, you may sometimes see vowel marks added to help you learn:

זֶה שׁוּלְחָן

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