Questions & Answers about הבית גדול, אבל החדר קטן.
Why does הבית mean the house and החדר mean the room?
Because the prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to English the.
- בית = house
- הבית = the house
- חדר = room
- החדר = the room
So in this sentence, both nouns are definite: the house and the room.
Why do the adjectives come after the nouns in this sentence?
In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.
So:
- הבית גדול = the house [is] big
- החדר קטן = the room [is] small
This is different from English, where adjectives usually come before the noun: the big house, the small room.
In this sentence, the structure is not big house but rather the house is big.
Where is the word is? Why isn’t there a Hebrew word for it here?