Breakdown of הוא שואל אם יש עוד זמן, והיא עונה: כן.
Questions & Answers about הוא שואל אם יש עוד זמן, והיא עונה: כן.
A common pronunciation guide is:
hu sho'el im yesh od zman, ve-hi onah: ken.
A few notes:
- הוא = hu
- שואל = sho'el
- אם = im
- יש = yesh
- עוד = od
- זמן = zman
- והיא = ve-hi
- עונה = onah
- כן = ken
In careful speech, שואל has a little break between the vowels: sho-el.
Here, אם means if / whether.
It introduces an indirect yes-no question, not a condition. So in this sentence, אם יש עוד זמן means something like whether there is still time or if there is still time.
This is very common in Hebrew:
- אני לא יודע אם... = I don't know if / whether...
- הוא שואל אם... = He asks if / whether...
So אם here is not the same as the if in a sentence like If it rains, we'll stay home. It is introducing the content of the question.
יש is the standard Hebrew way to say there is / there are or exists.
So יש עוד זמן is literally something like:
- there is still time
- there is more time
Hebrew does not use a separate word like English there in this kind of sentence. יש by itself does the job.
Very common examples:
- יש מים = There is water / There are waters
- יש בעיה = There is a problem
- יש זמן = There is time
עוד often means more, another, or still, depending on context.
In יש עוד זמן, it gives the sense of:
- more time
- still time
- time left
So it is not just a simple one-word match with English. Its exact feel depends on the phrase.
Compare:
- עוד ספר = another book
- עוד פעם = again / one more time
- עוד זמן = more time / still time left
In this sentence, English would often naturally say still time or more time.
Because the sentence is talking about time in a general, indefinite sense, not the specific time.
- יש עוד זמן = there is still time / more time left
- יש עוד הזמן would sound wrong in standard Hebrew
If you wanted to talk about a specific known time, the wording would usually be different.
So this is similar to English, where we often say Is there still time? and not Is there still the time?
In many cases, Hebrew can leave out subject pronouns, but in the present tense they are often included because the verb form does not always clearly show the person by itself.
For example:
- שואל = asking / asks in a masculine singular form
- עונה = answering / answers in a feminine singular form
These forms show gender and number, but not as clearly the full subject the way English does. So הוא and היא help make the sentence explicit and natural:
- הוא שואל = he asks / is asking
- היא עונה = she answers / is answering
You may sometimes hear Hebrew without the pronoun if the subject is already obvious from context, but including it here is very normal.
The ו is the Hebrew word for and, and it is usually attached directly to the next word.
So:
- והיא = and she
This is extremely common in Hebrew. The conjunction is usually written as a prefix:
- וילד = and a boy
- ואישה = and a woman
- והוא = and he
So you should get used to seeing ו stuck onto the beginning of words.
Both שואל and עונה are present-tense forms.
- שואל = asks / is asking
- עונה = answers / is answering
Hebrew present tense can cover both:
- a simple present idea: he asks
- a progressive idea: he is asking
Which one fits depends on context.
In a sentence like this, the present tense can sound like:
- a description of what is happening now
- a storytelling style, like narrative present
- a general scene description
So Hebrew does not need a separate form like English is asking here.
Because the subject is היא (she).
In Hebrew present tense, verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:
- הוא שואל = masculine singular
- היא שואלת = feminine singular
- הוא עונה = masculine singular
- היא עונה = feminine singular
Notice something important here:
- שואל changes to שואלת in the feminine
- but עונה is already the feminine singular form here
So היא עונה is correct because the subject is feminine singular.
The colon introduces the direct reply: yes.
So והיא עונה: כן. means that what follows is the actual answer she gives.
This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:
- She answers: yes.
In everyday writing, you might also see other punctuation styles, but the colon is perfectly natural when introducing a spoken response.
Yes, כן is the standard Hebrew word for yes.
It is used very often as a direct answer:
- כן = yes
It can also appear in other structures, but as a basic reply, this is the normal word to learn first.
A useful contrast:
- כן = yes
- לא = no
The word order here is very natural and standard:
- הוא שואל ... והיא עונה ...
That is basically subject + verb in both parts.
Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this sentence uses a straightforward pattern that learners should get comfortable with first.
For example, this order sounds neutral and clear:
- הוא שואל אם יש עוד זמן
- והיא עונה: כן
Other orders can exist for style, emphasis, or literary effect, but this version is a good standard model.
Because this is not written as a direct question. It is an embedded question inside a larger statement.
The whole first part is:
- He asks whether there is still time
That is a statement about what he asks, not the question written directly on its own.
Compare the difference:
- הוא שואל אם יש עוד זמן. = He asks if there is still time.
- יש עוד זמן? = Is there still time?
Only the second one is a direct question, so it takes a question mark.
Usually, if you want to show her actual reply, כן is the natural thing to use.
- והיא עונה: כן. = And she answers: yes.
If you removed כן, then והיא עונה would just mean and she answers / is answering, without telling us what she says.
So כן is important here because it gives the content of her response.