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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: יש שלושה אנשים בתור. - There are three people in line.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Lesson 21
/יש שלושה אנשים בתור.

יש שלושה אנשים בתור.

Word

יש שלושה אנשים בתור.

Meaning

There are three people in line.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Hebrew

Lesson

Breakdown of יש שלושה אנשים בתור.

Questions & Answers about יש שלושה אנשים בתור.

What does יש mean here, and why does it cover there are?

יש is the standard Hebrew word for there is / there are in an existential sentence.

So:

יש אדם בתור = There is a person in line
יש שלושה אנשים בתור = There are three people in line

Hebrew does not change יש for singular vs. plural. It stays the same.

Many learners expect a verb that changes like English is / are, but Hebrew uses יש for both.

Why is the sentence ordered יש שלושה אנשים בתור?

This is a very common Hebrew pattern for saying that something exists somewhere:

יש + number/thing + location

So here:

יש = there is/are
שלושה אנשים = three people
בתור = in line

Hebrew is somewhat flexible with word order, but this is the most natural neutral way to say it. It presents the existence first, then says what exists, then where.

Why is it שלושה and not שלוש?

Because אנשים is a grammatically masculine plural noun, and with numbers 3–10, Hebrew uses different forms depending on the noun’s gender.

With a masculine noun:

שלושה אנשים = three people / three men

With a feminine noun:

שלוש נשים = three women

So even though this can feel backwards to English speakers, שלושה is the correct form with אנשים.

שלושה

three

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Why is the word for people here אנשים?

אנשים is the plural of איש. It is an irregular plural, and in modern Hebrew it very often means people in general, not only men.

So in many everyday sentences:

אנשים = people

If you specifically mean women, you would say נשים. For a mixed or unspecified group, Hebrew normally uses the masculine plural, so אנשים works naturally here.

What exactly does בתור mean in this sentence?

Here בתור means in line or in the queue.

The base noun is תור, which means line / queue / turn, depending on context. In this sentence, because we are talking about people waiting, the meaning is clearly queue/line.

So בתור here = in the line / in line.

How is בתור pronounced here?

In this sentence it is normally pronounced ba-TOR.

That is important because the same spelling בתור can also be pronounced be-TOR, which usually means as or in the role of:

הוא עובד בתור מורה = He works as a teacher

But in your sentence, the meaning is in line, so the pronunciation is ba-TOR.

Why isn’t there a separate written word for the before line?

Because in Hebrew, a preposition like ב (in) can combine with the definite article ה (the).

So:

ב + ה + תור becomes בתור

In unpointed Hebrew writing, that looks exactly like בתור.

That means the spelling does not show the difference clearly, but in pronunciation and meaning, this is understood as ba-tor = in the line / in line.

Is יש a real verb?

In most grammar explanations, יש is treated as an existential particle, not a normal verb like eat or go.

That matters because it does not behave like a regular verb:

it does not change for person
it does not change for number
it is used specifically to say that something exists

So it is best to think of יש as the standard Hebrew way to express there is / there are.

Could you say this sentence without יש?

Usually, for a full natural sentence meaning There are three people in line, you would use יש.

Without it:

שלושה אנשים בתור

this sounds more like a note, label, or fragment, depending on context.

So if you are making a normal statement, יש שלושה אנשים בתור is the best choice.

How would I say the negative version?

You replace יש with אין:

אין שלושה אנשים בתור = There aren’t three people in line

Just like יש, אין does not change for singular or plural in this kind of sentence.

So:

יש = there is / there are
אין = there isn’t / there aren’t

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