Questions & Answers about המפתח שלי לא בתיק, ואולי הוא באוטו.
Why is there no word for is in המפתח שלי לא בתיק and הוא באוטו?
In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense.
So instead of saying a literal equivalent of The key שלי is not in the bag, Hebrew says:
- המפתח שלי לא בתיק
literally: my key not in-the-bag
And:
- הוא באוטו
literally: it/he in-the-car
This is completely normal Hebrew. In past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be when needed, but in the present tense it is often omitted.
Why is it המפתח שלי and not just מפתח שלי?
המפתח שלי means my key in the sense of a specific, definite key.
- המפתח שלי = my key / the key that is mine
- מפתח שלי = a key of mine / one of my keys
So the ה־ on מפתח adds definiteness. In this sentence, that makes sense because the speaker is probably talking about one particular key they are looking for.
How does שלי work? Is it just the word for my?