האח שם, אבל האחות לא שם.

The brother is there, but the sister is not there.

Breakdown of האח שם, אבל האחות לא שם.

• שם: there
• אבל: but
• לא: not
• אח: brother
• אחות: sister

Questions & Answers about האח שם, אבל האחות לא שם.

How do I pronounce this sentence?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ha-ach sham, aval ha-achot lo sham

A slightly more careful transliteration is:

ha’ach sham, aval ha’achot lo sham

Notes:

• ח sounds like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach, not like English ch in chair.
• שם here is pronounced sham.
• אבל is pronounced avAL.
• אחות is pronounced aCHOT, with stress on the last syllable.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• האח שם literally looks like the brother there
• but it means the brother is there

And:

• האחות לא שם literally looks like the sister not there
• but it means the sister is not there

This is very normal Hebrew grammar.

Why do אח and אחות begin with ה here?

The letter ה at the beginning is the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• אח = brother
• האח = the brother
• אחות = sister
• האחות = the sister

Unlike English, Hebrew attaches the directly to the noun as a prefix.

Are אח and אחות just masculine and feminine versions of the same word?

They are related words meaning brother and sister, but you should learn them as separate vocabulary items:

• אח = brother
• אחות = sister

Even though they are historically related, you cannot always assume that Hebrew makes family words feminine in a simple, predictable way. So for a learner, it is best to memorize both forms.

Why is לא used before שם?

לא means not. It negates the whole statement that follows.

So:

• האחות שם = the sister is there
• האחות לא שם = the sister is not there

In this kind of sentence, Hebrew commonly puts לא before the predicate, here שם.

Does שם mean there or name?

It can mean either one, depending on context.

In this sentence, שם means there.

Without vowel marks, both words are written the same:

• שָם = there = sham
• שֵם = name = shem

Native speakers know which meaning is intended from context. Here, because the sentence is about where someone is, שם clearly means there.

What does אבל do in the sentence?

אבל means but.

It connects the two parts:

• האח שם = the brother is there
• אבל = but
• האחות לא שם = the sister is not there

So it works very much like English but.

Can I leave off the ה and say אח שם, אבל אחות לא שם?

You can, but it changes the meaning.

With ה:

• האח = the brother
• האחות = the sister

Without ה:

• אח = a brother or just brother, depending on context
• אחות = a sister or just sister

So the original sentence is specifically about the brother and the sister, not just any brother or sister.

Is the word order fixed?

The order here is very standard:

• subject + predicate
• האח שם
• האחות לא שם

Hebrew can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but this sentence is a basic, natural pattern for beginners to follow.

Could I replace the nouns with pronouns?

Yes.

You could say:

• הוא שם = he is there
• היא לא שם = she is not there

But in your sentence, the speaker uses the nouns האח and האחות to make it clear exactly who is being talked about.

Why is שם repeated? Could Hebrew just say it once?

In a normal sentence like this, repeating שם is the natural way to say it.

So Hebrew says:

• האח שם, אבל האחות לא שם

This matches English fairly closely:

• The brother is there, but the sister is not there

Leaving out the second שם would sound incomplete in standard Hebrew.