Questions & Answers about המספר שלו במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון.
In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is often omitted.
So:
המספר שלו במחשב שלי
literally looks like: his number in/on my computer
but it means:
His number is on/in my computer.
This is very normal in Hebrew. If you wanted past or future, you would usually need a verb, for example:
- המספר שלו היה במחשב שלי = His number was on my computer.
- המספר שלו יהיה במחשב שלי = His number will be on my computer.
Because המספר שלו means his number, referring to a specific number.
In Hebrew, when a noun is followed by a של possession phrase and the meaning is definite, the noun is usually definite too:
- המספר שלו = his number
- הבית שלי = my house
- החבר שלה = her friend
By contrast, מספר by itself means a number or number in a general sense.
So המספר שלו is the normal way to say his number in everyday Hebrew.
They are possessive forms built from של:
- שלי = mine / my
- שלו = his
- שלה = hers / her
- שלנו = our
- שלהם / שלהן = their
In this sentence:
- המספר שלו = his number
- המחשב שלי = my computer
A useful pattern is:
noun + של + pronoun
So Hebrew often says something like:
- הספר שלי = my book
- האוטו שלו = his car
In Hebrew, these possessive words usually come right after the noun they describe.
So:
- המספר שלו = his number
- מחשב שלי = my computer
Because שלו comes immediately after המספר, it modifies number, not computer.
And because שלי comes immediately after מחשב, it modifies computer.
The Hebrew preposition ב־ is broad. Depending on context, it can mean:
- in
- on
- at
With devices like computers and phones, English may say on or in, but Hebrew often just uses ב־.
So:
- במחשב שלי can mean on my computer or in my computer
- בטלפון can mean on the phone or in the phone
The exact English translation depends on what sounds natural in English, not on a different Hebrew preposition.
Because when ב־ combines with ה־, they merge in writing.
So:
- ב + המחשב becomes במחשב
- ב + הטלפון becomes בטלפון
In fully pointed Hebrew, this is clearer, but in normal unpointed writing the result just looks like במחשב or בטלפון.
So במחשב שלי can represent במחשב שלי as written, but grammatically it is understood as in/on my computer, with the definite meaning already clear from שלי.
Because Hebrew often omits repeated words when the meaning is obvious.
So:
המספר שלו במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון.
is a shortened way of saying something like:
המספר שלו במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון שלי.
or
המספר שלו במחשב שלי, ולא בטלפון.
In English, we do this too:
- It’s on my computer, not on my phone.
The second half is just a contrast, so the repeated material is left out.
The comma shows a pause and a contrast:
... במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון.
= ... on my computer, not on the phone.
It helps separate the main statement from the correction/contrast.
You could also write:
- המספר שלו במחשב שלי ולא בטלפון.
That is also fine. The comma just makes the contrast a little more noticeable in writing.
Yes. מספרו also means his number.
So you could say:
- מספרו במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון.
But מספרו sounds more formal, literary, or less conversational.
In everyday Modern Hebrew, המספר שלו is usually more natural.
This is a common pattern:
- שמו = his name
- ביתו = his house
- מספרו = his number
These suffix forms exist, but spoken Hebrew often prefers שלו phrases.
Here it means the phone device, not the phone number.
That is because the sentence already mentions המספר = the number, and then contrasts where that number is stored:
- במחשב שלי = on my computer
- לא בטלפון = not on the phone
So טלפון here means the actual phone.
Yes, it is understandable and natural enough, especially in spoken-style Hebrew.
It has an everyday, slightly elliptical feel, because Hebrew often leaves out words that are easy to understand from context.
Some fuller alternatives would be:
- המספר שלו במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון שלי.
- יש לי את המספר שלו במחשב, לא בטלפון.
- המספר שלו נמצא במחשב שלי, לא בטלפון.
But the original sentence is perfectly normal for casual speech.