יש לך מים?

Do you have water?

Breakdown of יש לך מים?

• יש: there is
• מים: water
• לך: to you

Questions & Answers about יש לך מים?

What does יש mean here? Is it the verb to have?

Not exactly. Hebrew usually does not use a normal verb meaning to have in everyday present-tense sentences.

Instead, Hebrew says possession with:

• יש = there is / there are
• plus a word like לי / לך / לו = to me / to you / to him

So יש לך מים? is literally something like:

• Is there to you water?

Natural English:

• Do you have water?
• Have you got water?

So יש is the existence word, not a direct equivalent of English have.

Why is לך used? What exactly does it mean?

לך means to you.

In Hebrew possession structures, to someone often expresses someone has.

Examples:

• יש לי מים = I have water
• יש לך מים = you have water
• יש לו מים = he has water
• יש לה מים = she has water

So in יש לך מים?, the idea is:

• יש = there is
• לך = to you
• מים = water

Together: Do you have water?

Why doesn’t the sentence include a word for you, like אתה or את?

Because לך already tells you who the possessor is: to you.

Hebrew does not need to add אתה or את here unless you want emphasis.

So the normal sentence is:

• יש לך מים?

If you said:

• יש לך מים, אתה?

that would sound unusual in most contexts.

If you want emphasis, Hebrew would usually do it in other ways, for example through tone or context.

Does לך mean speaking to a man or to a woman?

It can be either one in writing without vowels, but the pronunciation changes:

• to a man: לְךָ → usually pronounced lekha
• to a woman: לָךְ → usually pronounced lakh

Without vowel marks, both are written לך.

So:

• יש לך מים? can mean Do you have water? to a man or to a woman
• the difference is mainly in pronunciation, not spelling

How would I say this to more than one person?

To a group, use לכם or לכן:

• יש לכם מים? = Do you (masculine/mixed plural) have water?
• יש לכן מים? = Do you (feminine plural) have water?

So the pattern is:

• יש לך מים? = singular
• יש לכם מים? / יש לכן מים? = plural

Why is מים plural-looking? Isn’t water singular in English?

Yes, this often surprises learners.

מים is the normal Hebrew word for water, and it has a plural-looking form ending in -ים. But it refers to the substance water, not necessarily to waters in the English sense.

So you should usually just learn:

• מים = water

Even though the form looks plural, the meaning is usually the ordinary uncountable noun water.

Example:

• המים קרים = The water is cold

So in יש לך מים?, just understand מים as water.

Why is the word order יש לך מים? and not something closer to English word order?

Because Hebrew possession works differently from English.

English:

• Do you have water?

Hebrew:

• יש לך מים?
• literally: Is there to you water?

The normal order is:

1. יש
2. the possessor phrase (לי, לך, לו, לה...)
3. the thing possessed

So this word order is very standard and natural in Hebrew.

How do I pronounce the whole sentence?

Common pronunciations are:

• to a man: yesh lekha mayim?
• to a woman: yesh lakh mayim?

Breakdown:

• יש = yesh
• לך = lekha / lakh
• מים = mayim

A rough English-friendly guide:

• yesh LE-kha MA-yim?
• yesh lakh MA-yim?

How would I say You don’t have water?

Use אין instead of יש.

• אין לך מים = You don’t have water

So:

• יש לך מים? = Do you have water?
• אין לך מים = You don’t have water

This is a very important pair in Hebrew:

• יש = there is / have
• אין = there isn’t / don’t have

Can this also mean Do you have any water?

Yes. In many contexts, יש לך מים? naturally means:

• Do you have water?
• Do you have any water?

Hebrew often does not need a separate word for any in this kind of sentence. Context gives that sense.

So if someone is thirsty, יש לך מים? is very naturally understood as Do you have any water?

Would Hebrew speakers ever add some or an article here?

Usually not in this basic sentence.

• מים by itself is the normal way to say water
• the water would be המים
• some water is often just מים, depending on context

So:

• יש לך מים? = Do you have water? / Do you have any water?
• יש לך את המים? = Do you have the water?
  This sounds more specific, referring to some known water or water that was already mentioned

For a basic request or question, יש לך מים? is the most natural form.

Is this sentence formal or informal?

It is neutral and very common. It is not especially slangy, but it is also not overly formal.

You can use it in everyday conversation:

• with a friend
• with a classmate
• with someone nearby when you need water

If you want to sound more polite, you might add a polite phrase, for example:

• סליחה, יש לך מים? = Excuse me, do you have water?

So the sentence itself is perfectly normal; politeness mainly comes from tone and added words.

How would I answer this question?

A few common answers are:

• כן = Yes
• כן, יש לי מים = Yes, I have water
• לא = No
• לא, אין לי מים = No, I don’t have water

So you can reuse the same possession pattern:

• יש לי = I have
• אין לי = I don’t have

That makes this sentence a good model for many similar Hebrew sentences.