Log inSign up

איפה הטלפון שלי? הטלפון שלך על השולחן ליד המחשב.

איפה הטלפון שלי? הטלפון שלך על השולחן ליד המחשב.
Where is my phone? Your phone is on the table next to the computer.

Breakdown of איפה הטלפון שלי? הטלפון שלך על השולחן ליד המחשב.

שולחן
table
איפה
where
ליד
next to
על
on
טלפון
phone
שלי
my
שלך
your
מחשב
computer
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Hebrew grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Hebrew now

Questions & Answers about איפה הטלפון שלי? הטלפון שלך על השולחן ליד המחשב.

Why is there no word for is in הטלפון שלך על השולחן?

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in simple sentences like this.

So:

הטלפון שלך על השולחן
literally: your phone on the table
natural English: your phone is on the table

This is very normal in Hebrew. In past and future, Hebrew does use forms of to be.

Why does Hebrew say הטלפון שלי and הטלפון שלך instead of putting my or your before the noun?

A very common way to show possession in Hebrew is:

noun + של + pronoun

So:

  • הטלפון שלי = my phone
  • הטלפון שלך = your phone

Literally, this is something like the phone of me and the phone of you, but in normal Hebrew it simply means my phone and your phone.

This structure is extremely common and useful for beginners.

What is the difference between שלי and שלך?

They are both possessive forms built from של:

  • שלי = mine / my
  • שלך = yours / your

A useful detail: שלך can be pronounced in two ways:

  • shelkha = your when speaking to a man
  • shelakh = your when speaking to a woman

In normal Hebrew spelling without vowel marks, both are written the same: שלך.

Why does the noun still have ה in הטלפון שלי? Why not just טלפון שלי?

The ה is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

In Hebrew, possessed nouns are often definite, so הטלפון שלי is the normal way to say my phone. The same is true for הטלפון שלך.

So even though English says my phone without the, Hebrew often uses:

  • הספר שלי = my book
  • הבית שלי = my house
  • הטלפון שלי = my phone

You may sometimes hear forms without ה in certain contexts, but for a basic sentence like this, הטלפון שלי is the standard choice.

What do איפה, על, and ליד mean?

These are location words:

  • איפה = where
  • על = on
  • ליד = next to / beside / near

So:

  • איפה הטלפון שלי? = Where is my phone?
  • על השולחן = on the table
  • ליד המחשב = next to the computer

Together, על השולחן ליד המחשב means on the table next to the computer.

Why is the answer ordered as הטלפון שלך על השולחן ליד המחשב?

This is a very natural Hebrew sentence pattern:

subject + location

So:

  • הטלפון שלך = the subject, your phone
  • על השולחן ליד המחשב = where it is, on the table next to the computer

Hebrew often uses this straightforward order in present-tense description sentences.

Is איפה the normal word for where?

Yes. איפה is a very common everyday word for where.

You may also see היכן, which also means where, but it is usually a bit more formal or literary. For normal conversation, איפה is extremely common.

So איפה הטלפון שלי? sounds natural and conversational.

How do you pronounce the sentence?

A simple transliteration is:

Eifo ha-telefon sheli? Ha-telefon shelkha al ha-shulkhan leyad ha-makhshev.

If speaking to a woman, שלך would be pronounced shelakh instead of shelkha.

A few pronunciation notes:

  • איפה = EI-fo
  • שולחן = shul-KHAN
  • מחשב = makh-SHEV

The kh sound in שולחן and מחשב is the throaty sound heard in many Hebrew words.

Why does Hebrew use על השולחן ליד המחשב instead of some special word order like English?

Hebrew often stacks location phrases one after another in a simple way.

Here:

  • על השולחן = on the table
  • ליד המחשב = next to the computer

So Hebrew builds the description step by step:

your phone → on the table → next to the computer

This is very natural Hebrew structure, and it matches English fairly closely in this sentence.

Do I need to remember that Hebrew is written from right to left here?

Yes. That is one of the first practical things to get used to.

The sentence is read from right to left:

איפה הטלפון שלי? הטלפון שלך על השולחן ליד המחשב.

Even though the language is written right to left, when you analyze the grammar, you can still think of the sentence in familiar parts such as question word, noun phrase, and location phrase.