הוא איש טוב.

He is a good man.

Breakdown of הוא איש טוב.

• הוא: he
• טוב: good
• איש: man

Questions & Answers about הוא איש טוב.

How is הוא איש טוב pronounced?

It is pronounced roughly hu ish tov.

A more detailed breakdown:

• הוא = hu
• איש = ish
• טוב = tov

A natural English approximation is: hoo eesh tove
But the final v in tov should be a real v sound, not a ve syllable.

What does each word mean individually?

Word by word:

• הוא = he
• איש = man
• טוב = good

So the sentence is literally something like he man good, but in normal English it means He is a good man.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not written in the present tense.

So instead of saying:

• He is a good man

Hebrew simply says:

• He good man / He a good man

That is completely normal Hebrew grammar.

However, in the past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be:

• הוא היה איש טוב = He was a good man
• הוא יהיה איש טוב = He will be a good man

Why does the sentence start with הוא if there is no verb?

Because הוא is the subject: he.

Even though Hebrew often omits to be in the present tense, it still needs a subject if you want to say who the sentence is about.

So:

• הוא איש טוב = He is a good man

Without הוא, the phrase איש טוב would just mean:

• a good man
• or good man

not a full sentence with he as the subject.

Why is the adjective טוב after איש? In English, good comes before man.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• איש טוב = literally man good
• natural English: a good man

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

More examples:

• ילד קטן = small boy
• בית גדול = big house
• אישה חכמה = smart woman

Why is it טוב and not some other form of good?

Because טוב is the masculine singular form of the adjective.

The noun איש is masculine singular, so the adjective must match it.

Hebrew adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number.

For example:

• איש טוב = a good man
• אישה טובה = a good woman
• אנשים טובים = good men / good people
• נשים טובות = good women

So טוב is used here because איש is masculine singular.

Is איש the normal word for man?

Yes, איש is a common Hebrew word meaning man, especially in a general or somewhat formal sense.

But learners often also see בן אדם or אדם:

• איש = man
• אדם = person / human
• בן אדם = person, guy, human being

In many everyday situations, modern Hebrew may prefer other words depending on context.
Still, איש טוב is a very normal and useful phrase meaning a good man.

Is איש טוב definite or indefinite? Why is there no word for a?

Hebrew does not have a separate word for a or an.

So איש טוב can mean:

• a good man

If you wanted to say the good man, Hebrew would use the definite article ה on both the noun and the adjective:

• האיש הטוב = the good man

So:

• איש טוב = a good man
• האיש הטוב = the good man

Why does Hebrew put ה on both the noun and the adjective in the good man?

Because in Hebrew, when a noun is definite, its adjective usually becomes definite too.

So:

• איש טוב = a good man
• האיש הטוב = the good man

Both words get ה:

• האיש = the man
• הטוב = the good

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

Can הוא also mean it?

Yes. Hebrew grammatical gender works differently from English.

הוא usually means he, but it can also be used for it when referring to a masculine noun.

Likewise, היא can mean she or it for a feminine noun.

But in הוא איש טוב, the meaning is clearly he, because the sentence is about a male person.

Could this sentence mean He is nice rather than He is a good man?

Not by itself.

הוא איש טוב specifically means He is a good man or He is a good person/man.

If you wanted just He is good / nice, you would normally say:

• הוא טוב = He is good

Adding איש makes the description about the kind of person he is.

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or old-fashioned?

It is mostly neutral and fully understandable.

However, in very casual spoken Hebrew, people might sometimes choose different wording depending on what exactly they mean. For example:

• הוא בן אדם טוב = He is a good person
• הוא גבר טוב = He is a good man (depending on context)

Still, הוא איש טוב is a solid, standard sentence and a good example for learning Hebrew grammar.

Can Hebrew drop the subject here and just say איש טוב?

Not if you mean the full sentence He is a good man.

• איש טוב by itself means a good man or good man
• הוא איש טוב means He is a good man

So the subject הוא is necessary if you want a complete sentence with he.

How would this change if the subject were she instead of he?

You would change both the pronoun and the adjective form:

• היא אישה טובה = She is a good woman

Changes:

• הוא → היא = he → she
• איש → אישה = man → woman
• טוב → טובה = masculine good → feminine good

This shows how Hebrew often changes word forms to match gender.