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?

זה usually means this and is the masculine singular form.

In this sentence, it works like this is:

• זה בית חדש = This is a new house

A learner may notice that English uses this plus is, while Hebrew uses just זה and then the noun phrase.

Because בית is masculine singular, זה is the expected form here.

With a feminine singular noun, you would usually use זאת or זו:

• זאת דירה חדשה = This is a new apartment

Why does חדש come after בית?

Because in Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• בית חדש = literally house new
• natural English translation: new house

This is the normal pattern in Hebrew:

• ספר טוב = good book
• ילדה קטנה = small girl

For English speakers, this is one of the most important word-order differences to get used to.

Why is the adjective חדש in that form?

Because Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• and, in noun phrases, definiteness

Here, בית is:

• masculine
• singular

So the adjective is also masculine singular:

• חדש = new for a masculine singular noun

Compare:

• בית חדש = a new house
• דירה חדשה = a new apartment (feminine singular)
• בתים חדשים = new houses (masculine plural)
• דירות חדשות = new apartments (feminine plural)

What is the difference between בית חדש, הבית החדש, and הבית חדש?

This is a very common and very important question.

• בית חדש = a new house
• הבית החדש = the new house
• הבית חדש = the house is new

Why?

In a noun phrase, both the noun and the adjective are definite:

• הבית החדש = the new house

But in a sentence where the adjective is the predicate, the adjective does not take ה־:

• הבית חדש = the house is new

So:

• הבית החדש is a thing
• הבית חדש is a complete statement

How do I pronounce זה בית חדש?

A rough pronunciation is:

zeh BAH-yit kha-DASH

A few notes:

• זה = zeh
• בית = BAH-yit
• חדש = kha-DASH

The letter ח in חדש is a throaty sound, like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach.
If you cannot make that sound yet, a soft h is often understood, but the more native-like sound is kh.

Also, חדש is normally stressed on the last syllable: kha-DASH.

Is the word order flexible? Could I say חדש בית?

As a beginner, you should treat this pattern as not flexible.

The normal order is:

• זה
  • noun phrase
• inside the noun phrase: noun + adjective

So:

• זה בית חדש = correct
• חדש בית = not the normal way to say new house

Hebrew can sometimes change word order for style or emphasis, but the standard beginner pattern is:

• בית חדש = new house
• זה בית חדש = this is a new house