Questions & Answers about הבנק הזה לא רחוק; אפשר להגיע בעשר דקות.
Why is הזה after הבנק? I expected something like זה הבנק.
In Hebrew, when this modifies a noun, it usually comes after the noun:
- הבנק הזה = this bank
- הספר הזה = this book
By contrast, זה הבנק usually means this is the bank.
So:
- הבנק הזה = a noun phrase, this bank
- זה הבנק = a full sentence, this is the bank
Also notice that the noun is definite, so it normally takes ה־: הבנק הזה, not usually בנק הזה.
Why is there no word for is in הבנק הזה לא רחוק?
Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense.
So Hebrew says literally:
- הבנק הזה לא רחוק = this bank not far
But in natural English, we translate it as This bank is not far.
In other tenses, Hebrew does use forms of to be:
- הבנק הזה לא היה רחוק = This bank was not far
- הבנק הזה לא יהיה רחוק = This bank will not be far
Why is the adjective in this form?