יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב.

Hebrew does not usually use a normal verb meaning to have in the present tense. Instead, it often uses:

• יש = there is / there are
• לנו = to us

So יש לנו literally means there is to us, but in natural English that becomes we have.

So:

• יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב
  literally: There are to us several guests tonight
  natural English: We have a few guests tonight

יש is an existential word. It means there is or there are.

It does not change for singular or plural:

• יש אורח = There is a guest
• יש אורחים = There are guests

In your sentence, יש introduces the existence of something: the guests.

לנו means to us or for us.

It is built from the preposition ל־ (to/for) plus the pronoun ending ־נו (us/our in this kind of form).

So:

• ל = to / for
• לנו = to us / for us

In יש לנו, this gives the idea we have.

Compare:

• יש לי = I have
• יש לך = you have
• יש לו = he has
• יש לה = she has
• יש לנו = we have

Yes, כמה can mean how many, but it can also mean several, a few, or some, depending on context.

So:

• כמה אורחים? = How many guests?
• יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב = We have a few / several guests tonight

In a statement like this one, כמה usually means a few or several, not a question.

No, כמה itself does not change here. It can be used with both masculine and feminine nouns.

For example:

• כמה אורחים = a few guests (masculine plural)
• כמה אורחות = a few female guests (feminine plural)
• כמה ילדות = a few girls
• כמה ספרים = a few books

So כמה is very convenient because it stays the same.

אורחים is the masculine plural form of אורח (guest).

Forms:

• אורח = male guest / guest
• אורחת = female guest
• אורחים = male guests / mixed-gender guests / guests in a general sense
• אורחות = female guests

Hebrew often uses the masculine plural for mixed groups or when gender is not specified.

The singular is אורח.

Here is the full pattern:

• אורח = one male guest
• אורחת = one female guest
• אורחים = more than one male guest, or a mixed group
• אורחות = more than one female guest

So if you wanted to say We have one guest tonight, you could say:

• יש לנו אורח הערב
  or, for a female guest:
• יש לנו אורחת הערב

This is a very common learner question.

• הערב means this evening / tonight
• בערב means in the evening

So in your sentence:

• יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב = We have a few guests tonight

If you said בערב, it would sound more like in the evening, which is more general.

Compare:

• הערב אני בבית = Tonight I’m at home
• אני עובד בערב = I work in the evening

The prefix ה־ is the definite article, like the in English.

So:

• ערב = evening
• הערב = the evening

But in many expressions of time, ה plus the time word can sound more natural in English as tonight, this evening, today, etc., rather than literally the evening.

So here הערב is best understood as tonight / this evening.

Yes. The letter ח in אורחים is important because it has a throat sound that English does not really have.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• אורחים ≈ or-KHEEM

The kh sound is like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch.

Also:

• the stress is usually at the end: or-khím

If you cannot make the Hebrew ח perfectly yet, that is normal for English speakers.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Yesh lánu káma orkhím ha-érev.

Approximate English-style help:

• יש = yesh
• לנו = la-NOO
• כמה = KA-ma
• אורחים = or-KHEEM
• הערב = ha-E-rev

A more natural flow: Yesh lánu káma orkhím ha-érev.

Hebrew word order is fairly flexible, especially with time expressions like הערב.

Your sentence:

• יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב

A very natural alternative is:

• הערב יש לנו כמה אורחים

Both are correct. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב = neutral statement
• הערב יש לנו כמה אורחים = puts more focus on tonight

In present-tense Hebrew, you often do not use a separate word for am / is / are the way English does.

Also, this sentence uses יש as an existential structure, not a normal verb to be.

So instead of something like we are having, Hebrew simply says:

• יש לנו... = we have...

This is a very normal Hebrew pattern.

To negate יש, Hebrew usually uses אין.

So:

• יש לנו כמה אורחים הערב = We have a few guests tonight
• אין לנו אורחים הערב = We don’t have guests tonight

Notice that in a negative sentence, כמה may be dropped if the meaning is simply no guests.

אין is the normal opposite of יש in this kind of sentence.

Not exactly. כמה here is vague. It means something like:

• a few
• several
• some

It does not specify the number.

If you want an exact number, Hebrew would use the numeral:

• יש לנו שלושה אורחים הערב = We have three guests tonight

So כמה gives an approximate, non-specific quantity.

It is completely normal and natural in everyday Hebrew. It works well in both spoken and written Hebrew.

It sounds like an ordinary conversational sentence, not especially formal and not slangy.

A native speaker could easily say this in daily life:

• when talking about dinner plans
• before a family visit
• while preparing for company

Yes, sometimes some works, but a few or several is often more precise in this sentence.

So these are all possible translations:

• We have a few guests tonight
• We have several guests tonight
• We have some guests tonight

Usually a few or several captures כמה a bit better here, because it suggests a small or moderate number of countable people.