כשיש חושך בחדר, הוא מדליק אור קטן ליד המיטה.

When it is dark in the room, he turns on a small light by the bed.

Breakdown of כשיש חושך בחדר, הוא מדליק אור קטן ליד המיטה.

• הוא: he
• קטן: small
• יש: there is
• ב: in

Questions & Answers about כשיש חושך בחדר, הוא מדליק אור קטן ליד המיטה.

What does כשיש mean, and how is it built?

כשיש is made of כש־ + יש.

• כש־ means when
• יש means there is / there are

So כשיש means when there is...

In this sentence, it introduces a situation: when there is darkness in the room...

Why does Hebrew say יש חושך instead of something like it is dark?

Hebrew often expresses this idea with יש + a noun.

• יש חושך = literally there is darkness
• Natural English would usually say it is dark

So the Hebrew structure is a little different from English, even though the meaning is the same.

A very common alternative in Hebrew would be:

• כשהחדר חשוך = when the room is dark

Both are natural, but כשיש חושך focuses on the presence of darkness.

What part of speech is חושך here?