על השולחן יש כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.

Hebrew often puts the location first when it wants to set the scene:

על השולחן יש כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.
= On the table, there is a glass of water and a plate with bread.

This is very natural in Hebrew. It highlights where the things are.

You could also say:

יש על השולחן כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.

That is also grammatical and natural. The difference is mostly about focus:

• על השולחן יש... = emphasizes the location first
• יש על השולחן... = starts with there is/there are

יש means there is or there are.

In this sentence:

על השולחן יש כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.
= There is / there are on the table a glass of water and a plate with bread.

A useful point: יש does not change for singular and plural.

• יש כוס = there is a glass
• יש כוסות = there are glasses

So even though English distinguishes is and are, Hebrew uses יש for both.

השולחן means the table because it has the prefix ה־, which is the Hebrew definite article the.

• שולחן = table
• השולחן = the table

The other nouns are indefinite here:

• כוס = a glass
• צלחת = a plate
• לחם = bread

Hebrew usually does not have a separate word for a/an. So:

• כוס can mean a glass
• צלחת can mean a plate

The sentence is talking about the table, but just a glass of water and a plate with bread.

Because Hebrew normally has no indefinite article.

In English:

• a glass
• a plate

In Hebrew:

• כוס
• צלחת

Whether it means a, an, or just the noun in a general sense depends on the context.

Hebrew does have a definite article, ה־, for the:

• כוס = a glass
• הכוס = the glass

כוס מים literally looks like glass water, but it means a glass of water.

This is a very common Hebrew pattern called the construct state (in Hebrew grammar, סמיכות).

In this pattern:

• the first noun is linked to the second noun
• English often translates it with of

So:

• כוס מים = a glass of water
• בקבוק יין = a bottle of wine
• צלחת אורז = a plate of rice

Hebrew often expresses of by putting two nouns together, without a separate word.

Because עם means with, and here it describes a plate with bread on it / accompanying it.

• צלחת עם לחם = a plate with bread

If you said צלחת לחם, that would sound more like a fixed noun-noun relationship, such as a bread plate or a plate associated with bread, not necessarily a plate that currently has bread on it.

So עם is used because the meaning is more like:

• a plate that has bread on it
• a plate served with bread

Usually ו־ means and.

In many cases it is pronounced ve-, but before certain consonants and in some common patterns it can sound more like u-.

So וכוס or וצלחת may be heard as:

• ve-tsalakhat
• sometimes closer to u-tsalakhat in careful pronunciation rules, depending on the following sound and speaking style

For a learner, the safest practical idea is:

• ו = and
• its pronunciation can vary a bit
• listen to native speech and imitate what you hear

In everyday learning, the most important thing is recognizing that ו connects the two nouns:

• כוס מים וצלחת = a glass of water and a plate

Because יש works for both singular and plural.

Hebrew does not change יש the way English changes there is to there are.

So both of these are correct:

• יש כוס על השולחן. = There is a glass on the table.
• יש שתי כוסות על השולחן. = There are two glasses on the table.

That is why יש is still used even though the sentence mentions a glass and a plate.

The nouns are:

• שולחן — usually masculine
• כוס — usually feminine
• צלחת — feminine
• מים — grammatically plural in form, though it means water
• לחם — masculine

In this specific sentence, gender does not visibly affect much, because there are no adjectives or numbers agreeing with these nouns.

But gender matters in many other situations, for example with adjectives:

• כוס גדולה = a big glass
• שולחן גדול = a big table

So yes, gender matters in Hebrew, even if this sentence does not show much agreement.

מים is one of those Hebrew words that is normally used in a plural-looking form, even though in English it is translated as the uncountable noun water.

So learners often notice:

• it ends like a plural word
• but it usually just means water, not waters

This is normal Hebrew usage. You should mostly learn מים as the standard word for water without worrying too much about matching it to English grammar.

Yes. That is also correct.

Compare:

• על השולחן יש כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.
• יש על השולחן כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.

Both mean the same thing. The difference is mainly in information flow and emphasis.

• Starting with על השולחן puts the location first.
• Starting with יש is a more straightforward there is/there are structure.

Both are natural.

Because Hebrew often uses יש by itself to express existence or presence in a place.

English might say:

• There is a glass of water on the table.
• A glass of water is on the table.

Hebrew commonly uses:

• יש
  • noun phrase + location or
• location + יש
  • noun phrase

So the idea of being present is already covered by יש. A separate verb like is sitting is not necessary.

You would replace יש with אין:

על השולחן אין כוס מים וצלחת עם לחם.

Usually, depending on meaning, Hebrew speakers might phrase the negative more naturally in context, but the key point is:

• יש = there is / there are
• אין = there is not / there are not

For example:

• יש לחם. = There is bread.
• אין לחם. = There is no bread.

Yes. A helpful way to read the sentence is in chunks:

• על השולחן = on the table
• יש = there is/there are
• כוס מים = a glass of water
• וצלחת עם לחם = and a plate with bread

So the structure is roughly:

[location] + [there is/are] + [thing(s)]

That is a very common Hebrew pattern, and it is worth getting used to because you will see it often.