זה בית חדש.

This is a new house.

Breakdown of זה בית חדש.

• זה: this
• בית: house
• חדש: new

Questions & Answers about זה בית חדש.

Why is there no word for is in זה בית חדש?

Because Hebrew usually drops the verb to be in the present tense.

So:

• זה בית חדש literally looks like this house new
• but it means this is a new house

This kind of sentence is very common in Hebrew.

In other tenses, Hebrew does use a form of to be:

• זה היה בית חדש = This was a new house
• זה יהיה בית חדש = This will be a new house

Why is there no word for a?

Hebrew has no indefinite article. There is no separate word for a or an.

So:

• בית can mean a house
• הבית means the house

That means בית חדש is simply a new house, even though there is no word corresponding to a.

What exactly does זה mean here?