המפתחות אצלך, או שהם אצל השכנה?

Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually not expressed in the present tense.

So:

• המפתחות אצלך literally looks like the keys with-you
• but it means the keys are with you

This is completely normal Hebrew. The same thing happens in many simple present-tense sentences:

• הוא בבית = He is at home
• אני עייף = I am tired

Hebrew usually only uses forms of to be in the past and future, not in ordinary present-tense sentences like this one.

אצל is a very common Hebrew preposition used with people. It often means:

• with
• at someone’s place
• in someone’s possession

In this sentence, אצלך means something like with you / in your possession, and אצל השכנה means with the neighbor / at the neighbor’s place.

A useful nuance:

• עם usually means with in the sense of together with
• אצל often means in the care/possession/location of a person

So for keys, אצל is very natural.

Because Hebrew often attaches pronoun endings directly to prepositions.

So:

• אצלי = with me
• אצלך = with you
• אצלו = with him
• אצלה = with her
• אצלנו = with us

So אצלך is not two separate words; it is אצל + ך.

This is very common in Hebrew and happens with many other prepositions too.

It can be either one in writing.

Unpointed Hebrew spelling often does not show the difference between masculine and feminine you in forms like this. So אצלך can mean:

• with you addressed to a man
• with you addressed to a woman

The pronunciation is different:

• to a man: etzlekha
• to a woman: etzlech

But in normal everyday spelling, both are written אצלך.

Here ש־ is linking the second clause after או.

So:

• או = or
• או ש... = or that... / or else...

That means:

• או שהם אצל השכנה = or that they are at the neighbor’s

In natural English, we usually would not translate the ש־ directly. We just say:

• The keys are with you, or are they with the neighbor?

So the ש־ is functioning as a clause linker.

הם is the pronoun they.

In this sentence, it helps introduce the second clause clearly:

• או שהם אצל השכנה

That is very natural Hebrew.

Could it be shorter? Yes, in casual speech you might also hear something like:

• המפתחות אצלך, או אצל השכנה?

That sounds more elliptical, like The keys are with you, or with the neighbor?

So הם is not there because Hebrew needs a present-tense are. It is there because the second clause is being stated more fully: or they are with the neighbor.

This is a very common learner question.

Even though מפתחות ends in ־ות, the noun מפתח is actually masculine.

• singular: מפתח = key (masculine)
• plural: מפתחות = keys

So the agreement stays masculine:

• הם = they for masculine plural

not

• הן = they for feminine plural

Hebrew has some nouns whose plural ending looks unusual for their gender. מפתח / מפתחות is one of them.

So the important rule is:

Go by the noun’s grammatical gender, not just by the plural ending.

Because ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• מפתחות = keys
• המפתחות = the keys

and:

• שכנה = a female neighbor / neighbor
• השכנה = the female neighbor

In this sentence, both nouns are definite:

• המפתחות = the keys
• השכנה = the neighbor

Also note that שכנה is specifically female neighbor. If it were a male neighbor, it would be השכן.

That is normal in Hebrew. Yes/no questions often use the same word order as statements.

Hebrew usually shows the question by:

• intonation in speech
• a question mark in writing
• sometimes context

So this sentence is understood as a question because of the final ? and how it would be said aloud.

Hebrew does not usually need a special word order like English Are the keys... ?

Instead, it can simply say the equivalent of:

• The keys with you, or they with the neighbor?

and let intonation and context do the rest.

A rough pronunciation is:

ha-maftekhot etzlekha, o she-hem etzel ha-shkhena?

If speaking to a woman, אצלך would be pronounced more like:

etzlech

So the sentence would be approximately:

• to a man: ha-maftekhot etzlekha, o she-hem etzel ha-shkhena?
• to a woman: ha-maftekhot etzlech, o she-hem etzel ha-shkhena?

The exact accent can vary a bit by speaker, but this will get you very close.