האוניברסיטה גדולה, אבל אני לא עובד בה.

The university is big, but I do not work there.

Breakdown of האוניברסיטה גדולה, אבל אני לא עובד בה.

• אני: I
• גדול: big
• אבל: but
• לא: not
• לעבוד: to work
• אוניברסיטה: university
• בה: in it

Questions & Answers about האוניברסיטה גדולה, אבל אני לא עובד בה.

Why does האוניברסיטה start with ה־?

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the. So אוניברסיטה means university, and האוניברסיטה means the university.

Unlike English, Hebrew usually attaches the directly to the beginning of the word instead of writing it as a separate word.

Why is גדולה feminine?

אוניברסיטה is a feminine noun in Hebrew, so the adjective has to match it in gender. That is why Hebrew uses גדולה and not גדול.

• masculine: גדול = big
• feminine: גדולה = big

This kind of agreement is very common in Hebrew.

Why is there no word for is in האוניברסיטה גדולה?

In the present tense, Hebrew usually leaves out the verb to be. So האוניברסיטה גדולה literally looks like the university big, but it means the university is big.

This is normal Hebrew grammar. In past and future, forms of to be are expressed differently.

Why doesn't גדולה also have ה־ on it?

Because here גדולה is a predicate adjective: the university is big. In that structure, the adjective normally does not take ה־.

Compare:

• האוניברסיטה גדולה = The university is big
• האוניברסיטה הגדולה = The big university

So when the adjective is part of a description directly attached to the noun, it gets ה־. When it is the main statement about the noun, it usually does not.

What does אבל mean?

אבל means but. It connects two contrasting ideas:

• האוניברסיטה גדולה = the university is big
• אבל אני לא עובד בה = but I do not work in it / there

It is a very common conjunction in everyday Hebrew.

Why is it לא עובד?

לא is the standard Hebrew word for not when negating verbs. So:

• אני עובד = I work / I am working
• אני לא עובד = I do not work / I am not working

This is the normal way to negate a present-tense sentence with a verb or participle.

Why is it עובד and not עובדת?

עובד is masculine singular, so it would be used by a male speaker. If the speaker were female, the sentence would be:

האוניברסיטה גדולה, אבל אני לא עובדת בה.

In Hebrew, present-tense verb forms often change according to gender.

What does בה mean exactly?

בה means in it or in her, depending on context. Here it refers back to האוניברסיטה, so the meaning is in it, or more naturally in English, there.

It is made from:

• ב־ = in
• a pronoun suffix meaning her/it

Since אוניברסיטה is feminine, Hebrew uses the feminine form בה.

Why use בה instead of repeating באוניברסיטה?

Hebrew often uses a preposition plus pronoun suffix to avoid repeating the noun. So after mentioning האוניברסיטה, you can say בה = in it.

Both are possible, but בה sounds more natural and less repetitive here:

• אבל אני לא עובד באוניברסיטה = but I do not work at the university
• אבל אני לא עובד בה = but I do not work there / in it

Does בה mean in it or there?

Grammatically, it means in it. But in natural English, when the thing has already been mentioned, we often translate it as there.

So:

• literal: but I don't work in it
• natural: but I don't work there

Both reflect the same Hebrew word in this sentence.

How is the sentence pronounced?

A simple pronunciation guide is:

ha-universita gdola, aval ani lo oved ba

A few helpful notes:

• ה in האוניברסיטה is ha-
• גדולה is roughly gdo-LA
• אבל is a-VAL
• עובד is o-VED
• בה is usually pronounced ba

The main stress is typically near the end of words like אוניברסיטה, גדולה, and עובד.