Word
אם יש מקום פנוי, אני רוצה לשבת בפינה ליד החלון.
Meaning
If there is a free place, I want to sit in the corner by the window.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about אם יש מקום פנוי, אני רוצה לשבת בפינה ליד החלון.
Why does the sentence begin with אם?
אם means if.
In this sentence, אם יש מקום פנוי means if there is a free place/seat. It introduces a condition before the main statement.
A very common pattern in Hebrew is:
- אם + clause, ...
- If + clause, ...
So here:
- אם יש מקום פנוי = If there is an available seat/place
- אני רוצה לשבת... = I want to sit...
What does יש mean here, and why isn’t there a verb like is?
יש means there is / there are.
Hebrew often uses יש to express existence, where English uses there is or there are:
- יש מקום = There is a place
- יש זמן = There is time
- יש בעיה = There is a problem
So אם יש מקום פנוי literally means if there is an available place.
This is normal Hebrew structure. You do not need a separate word for is in the present tense here.
Why does מקום mean seat here if it usually means place?