היא אישה.

she

Breakdown of היא אישה.

• אישה: woman

Questions & Answers about היא אישה.

Why is there no Hebrew word for is in היא אישה?

In the present tense, Hebrew usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are in simple sentences like this.

So:

• היא אישה = She is a woman
• literally: she woman

This kind of sentence is very normal in Hebrew.

But in other tenses, Hebrew does use forms of to be:

• היא הייתה אישה חזקה = She was a strong woman
• היא תהיה אישה חזקה = She will be a strong woman

So the missing is is not an omission by accident; it is just how present-tense Hebrew works.

Why is the word order היא אישה and not something else?

Hebrew commonly uses the same basic order here as English:

• היא = she
• אישה = woman

So the structure is:

• subject + predicate noun
• she + woman

That is why היא אישה is the natural order for She is a woman.

You may sometimes see other word orders in Hebrew for emphasis or style, but for a basic learner sentence, היא אישה is the standard straightforward form.

How do you pronounce היא אישה?

A common pronunciation is:

• היא = hee
• אישה = ee-SHA

Together:

• hee ee-SHA

A more learner-friendly transliteration is:

• hi isha

A few pronunciation notes:

• The stress in אישה is on the last syllable: i-SHA
• The א in אישה does not make a strong consonant sound in modern Israeli Hebrew
• The final ה in אישה helps mark the ending, and the word ends with an -a sound

Why is אישה spelled with an א at the beginning if it sounds like it starts with i?

That is just how the word is spelled historically and conventionally in Hebrew.

• אישה = woman
• It is pronounced isha

In modern Hebrew, the letter א is often silent or very weak in pronunciation, especially for beginners' purposes. It can still be important in spelling even when you do not hear a strong sound from it.

So even though the word sounds like it begins with i-, the correct spelling is still אישה.

Why doesn’t Hebrew use a word for a in this sentence?

Hebrew has no separate indefinite article like English a / an.

So:

• אישה can mean a woman or just woman, depending on context

In this sentence, היא אישה naturally means She is a woman.

If you want to say the woman, Hebrew adds the definite article ה־ to the noun:

• האישה = the woman

So:

• היא אישה = She is a woman
• היא האישה = She is the woman

What is the difference between היא and הוא?

These are the third-person singular pronouns:

• היא = she
• הוא = he

So:

• היא אישה = She is a woman
• הוא איש = He is a man

Hebrew marks grammatical gender much more often than English, so choosing the correct pronoun matters.

Is אישה feminine because it refers to a woman, or is that just vocabulary?

Both.

The word אישה means woman, so its meaning is female, and it is also a grammatically feminine noun.

That matters because Hebrew nouns belong to grammatical gender classes, and this affects agreement elsewhere in the language, such as adjectives and verbs.

For example:

• היא אישה טובה = She is a good woman

Here טובה is the feminine form of good because אישה is feminine.

Can היא ever mean it instead of she?

Yes, sometimes.

Hebrew has grammatical gender, so nouns are often treated as he or she depending on whether they are grammatically masculine or feminine.

That means היא can refer to:

• an actual female person: she
• a feminine noun: sometimes translated as it

But in היא אישה, the meaning is clearly about a female person, so she is the right translation.

Why isn’t there an object marker like את in this sentence?

Because אישה is not a direct object here.

In היא אישה, the word אישה is a predicate noun: it tells you what she is.

Compare:

• היא אישה = She is a woman
  No direct object, so no את

But:

• היא רואה את האישה = She sees the woman
  Here האישה is a direct object, so את is used

So the reason is grammatical: this sentence is describing the subject, not acting on an object.

Can I add the and say היא האישה?

Yes.

• היא אישה = She is a woman
• היא האישה = She is the woman

The second version is definite and usually depends more on context. For example, it might mean:

• She is the woman we were talking about
• She is the woman in charge
• She is the woman from the photo

So both are correct, but they do not mean exactly the same thing.

Can Hebrew leave out היא and just say אישה?

Usually not if you want this full sentence by itself.

• היא אישה is a complete sentence: She is a woman
• אישה by itself just means woman or a woman

In some conversational contexts, people may omit words if the subject is already extremely clear, but for normal standard usage, you should keep היא here.

How would this sentence look with vowel marks?

With nikud (vowel marks), it is usually written:

• הִיא אִשָּׁה

This can help beginners see the pronunciation more clearly:

• הִיא = hi
• אִשָּׁה = isha

In everyday modern Hebrew, vowel marks are usually omitted, so you will normally see:

• היא אישה

Is the period placed on the left because Hebrew is written right-to-left?

Yes. Hebrew is written from right to left, so the sentence begins on the right:

• היא אישה.

The punctuation still belongs at the end of the sentence, but because the writing direction is right-to-left, that end appears on the left side of the line.

This is normal for Hebrew text.