זה ספר טוב.

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually left out in simple sentences. So זה ספר טוב literally looks like this book good, but it means This is a good book.

Hebrew does use to be in other tenses, for example:

• זה היה ספר טוב = This was a good book
• זה יהיה ספר טוב = This will be a good book

The sentence breaks down like this:

• זה = this
• ספר = book
• טוב = good

So the structure is basically:

• זה = the subject, this
• ספר טוב = a good book

Together: This is a good book.

Because in Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• ספר טוב = literally book good
• natural English = good book

This is one of the most basic word-order differences between Hebrew and English.

Because Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

• ספר is a masculine singular noun
• so the adjective must also be masculine singular
• that form is טוב

If the noun were feminine singular, you would usually use טובה:

• מתנה טובה = a good gift

Hebrew does not have an indefinite article like English a or an.

So:

• ספר can mean a book
• ספר טוב can mean a good book

Context tells you whether English should use a/an when translating.

Because ה־ means the, and this sentence is not saying the book.

• ספר = a book / book
• הספר = the book

So:

• זה ספר טוב = This is a good book
• זה הספר הטוב would mean something like This is the good book

In Hebrew, if the noun is definite with ה־, the adjective also becomes definite.

So:

• ספר טוב = a good book
• הספר הטוב = the good book

Both words become definite:

• הספר = the book
• הטוב = the good

That is different from English, where only the appears once.

Not always. זה is a very common Hebrew word and can have different uses depending on context. In this sentence, it is best understood as this in This is a good book.

In other contexts, זה can also be translated in ways that feel more like it, that, or this one, depending on what sounds natural in English.

Yes, זה is the masculine singular form.

If the thing referred to is feminine singular, Hebrew often uses:

• זאת
• or זו

For example:

• זאת מתנה טובה = This is a good gift

Since ספר is masculine, זה is the expected form here.

With vowel marks, it is:

• זֶה סֵפֶר טוֹב

A simple transliteration is:

• ze sefer tov

Roughly:

• ze = zeh
• sefer = SEH-fer
• tov = tohv

Because most modern Hebrew is normally written without vowel marks, which are called niqqud.

So in everyday writing you usually see:

• זה ספר טוב

rather than:

• זֶה סֵפֶר טוֹב

Learners often see vowel marks in textbooks, children’s materials, dictionaries, and some religious texts.

The most natural everyday Hebrew would usually be:

• הספר הזה טוב

Literally:

• the-book this good

Hebrew often expresses this book as the book this, not as this book before the noun.

So compare:

• זה ספר טוב = This is a good book
• הספר הזה טוב = This book is good

Yes. זהו ספר טוב is possible.

It can sound a bit more:

• formal
• literary
• emphatic

In everyday speech, זה ספר טוב is very common and natural. So both exist, but זה ספר טוב is usually the simpler, more conversational form.