Breakdown of כשיש לה כאב בטן, האחות שלה עוזרת לה בבית.
Questions & Answers about כשיש לה כאב בטן, האחות שלה עוזרת לה בבית.
Hebrew usually does not use a normal verb for to have in the present tense.
Instead, it uses this pattern:
- יש = there is / there exists
- ל־
- person = to / for someone
So:
- יש לה כאב בטן literally means there is to her a stomachache
- Natural English: she has a stomachache
This is a very common Hebrew structure:
- יש לי ספר = I have a book
- יש לו זמן = he has time
- יש לה כאב בטן = she has a stomachache
Because it does two different jobs in two different parts of the sentence.
In כשיש לה כאב בטן, לה is part of the יש ל־ possession structure:
- יש לה = she has
In האחות שלה עוזרת לה בבית, לה is the indirect object of עוזרת:
- עוזרת לה = helps her
So even though both are לה, their roles are different:
- first לה = marks who has the stomachache
- second לה = marks who receives the help
כש־ means when.
It is a very common way to introduce a time clause:
- כשיש לה כאב בטן = when she has a stomachache
You can think of כש־ as a short attached form. Hebrew often attaches small function words directly to the next word.
A related, more formal word is כאשר, which also means when.
Because Hebrew often does not need an explicit subject pronoun when the meaning is clear from the structure or context.
In יש לה כאב בטן, the idea of she is already understood from לה = to her.
So Hebrew does not need to say something like היא there.
This is normal and natural Hebrew, not an omission.
כאב בטן is a fixed, common expression meaning stomachache.
Literally, it is something like belly pain or stomach pain.
Hebrew often uses this kind of noun + noun combination for common conditions:
- כאב ראש = headache
- כאב גב = back pain
- כאב בטן = stomachache
You may also hear other ways to describe pain, but כאב בטן is the standard everyday expression.
Because the phrase is indefinite here.
- כאב בטן = a stomachache / stomach pain
- כאב הבטן would sound more like the stomach pain
In this sentence, Hebrew is talking about the condition in a general sense, so the indefinite form is natural.
האחות שלה means her sister.
Hebrew has two common ways to say possession like her sister:
האחות שלה
Literally: the sister of hers
This is very common in modern everyday Hebrew.אחותה
Also means her sister
This is shorter and more compact, and also very common.
Why use האחות שלה here?
Because modern spoken Hebrew often prefers the noun + של + pronoun style, especially when learners first encounter possession.
So:
- האחות שלה = her sister
- אחותה = her sister
Both are correct.
Yes. אחות can mean either:
- sister
- nurse
Hebrew distinguishes them by context, not by different words.
In this sentence, האחות שלה most naturally means her sister, because her nurse would usually need a clearer context.
So learners should remember:
- אח = brother
- אחות = sister / nurse
Because it agrees with the subject, which is האחות שלה.
The verb here is in the present tense, and Hebrew present-tense forms behave a lot like adjectives: they agree with the subject in gender and number.
From the root ע־ז־ר (to help), we get:
- עוזר = helping / helps, masculine singular
- עוזרת = helping / helps, feminine singular
- עוזרים = masculine plural
- עוזרות = feminine plural
Since האחות is feminine singular, the sentence uses עוזרת.
בבית means at home or in the house, depending on context.
It is made from:
- ב־ = in / at
- הבית = the house / the home
When ב־ is added to a word with ה־, they combine:
- ב + הבית → בבית
This kind of combination is very common in Hebrew:
- בבית = in the house / at home
- בשוק = in the market
- בספר = in the book
In this sentence, בבית most naturally means at home.
Hebrew often places a time clause first, followed by the main clause.
So the structure is:
- כשיש לה כאב בטן = time/background clause
- האחות שלה עוזרת לה בבית = main clause
This is very natural and similar to English:
- When she has a stomachache, her sister helps her at home.
Hebrew could sometimes rearrange parts of the sentence, but this order is completely normal and clear.
Yes, it is normal to put a comma after an opening subordinate clause like this.
The comma separates:
- the when clause
- the main clause
So:
- כשיש לה כאב בטן, האחות שלה עוזרת לה בבית.
This matches standard punctuation and makes the sentence easier to read.
Yes.
Both can mean when there is / when she has in this kind of sentence:
- כשיש לה כאב בטן...
- כאשר יש לה כאב בטן...
The difference is mainly style:
- כש־ is shorter and very common in everyday Hebrew
- כאשר is a bit more formal or written
In ordinary speech, כשיש is extremely natural.