Word
אם הייתה לי גינה גדולה, הייתי שותלת שם עץ ופרחים.
Meaning
If I had a big garden, I would plant a tree and flowers there.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about אם הייתה לי גינה גדולה, הייתי שותלת שם עץ ופרחים.
Why is it הייתה לי instead of using a verb meaning to have?
Hebrew usually does not use a basic verb like English have in sentences like this.
Instead, it uses a possession pattern:
- יש לי גינה = I have a garden
- literally: there is to me a garden
In past or hypothetical settings, יש becomes a form of היה / הייתה:
- הייתה לי גינה = I had a garden / if I had a garden
So לי means to me, and the whole structure expresses possession.
Why is it הייתה and not היה?
Because גינה is a feminine singular noun.
In this possession structure, the verb agrees with the thing possessed, not with the person who has it. Since גינה is feminine singular, Hebrew uses הייתה.
Compare:
- היה לי בית = I had a house
- הייתה לי גינה = I had a garden
In very casual speech, some speakers may say היה לי גינה, but standard Hebrew prefers הייתה לי גינה.
Why do both parts of the sentence look like past tense if the meaning is hypothetical?