הרישיון שלי בארנק, אבל הכרטיס שלי בתיק.

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• הרישיון שלי בארנק = My license is in the wallet
• הכרטיס שלי בתיק = My card is in the bag

This is called a nominal sentence. Hebrew often just puts the subject and the description/location next to each other.

But in the past or future, Hebrew does use a form of to be:

• הרישיון שלי היה בארנק = My license was in the wallet
• הרישיון שלי יהיה בארנק = My license will be in the wallet

שלי means mine or my.

Hebrew commonly expresses possession with this pattern:

• noun + של + pronoun

So:

• הרישיון שלי = literally the license of me
• הכרטיס שלי = literally the card of me

In natural English, that becomes my license and my card.

This is one of the most common ways to show possession in modern Hebrew.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• רישיון = a license / license
• הרישיון = the license
• כרטיס = a card / card
• הכרטיס = the card

When Hebrew uses the noun + שלי pattern, the noun is usually definite:

• הרישיון שלי = literally the license of mine
• הכרטיס שלי = literally the card of mine

So even though English says my license, Hebrew often uses something closer to the license שלי.

Both words begin with the preposition ב־, which means in.

What happens next depends on whether the noun is definite and what letter it starts with.

1. בארנק

This comes from:

• ב + הארנק = in the wallet

Because ארנק starts with א, the spelling shows the vowel more clearly, so you get בארנק.

2. בתיק

This can come from:

• ב + תיק = in a bag
• or ב + התיק = in the bag

In normal unpointed Hebrew spelling, both can appear as בתיק. The difference is not always visible in writing.

So even though בתיק looks simpler, it may still mean in the bag.

Usually, you know from context.

In this sentence, most learners would understand בתיק as in the bag, because:

• the sentence is talking about specific items
• בארנק is already clearly definite
• the speaker probably means a particular bag

Hebrew often leaves this kind of thing for context to clarify, especially in everyday unpointed writing.

If needed, a larger context would make it obvious.

אבל means but.

It introduces a contrast:

• The license is in the wallet, but the card is in the bag

If you used ו instead, it would simply mean and:

• הרישיון שלי בארנק, והכרטיס שלי בתיק = My license is in the wallet, and my card is in the bag

That version is possible, but אבל highlights that the two items are in different places.

Yes. This is a very normal word order in Hebrew.

The structure is:

• subject
  • location
• הרישיון שלי
  • בארנק
• הכרטיס שלי
  • בתיק

So Hebrew is saying:

• My license — in the wallet
• but my card — in the bag

That is the standard, neutral way to say it.

Hebrew can move things around for emphasis, for example:

• בארנק הרישיון שלי

but that sounds more marked or emphatic. The original sentence is the most natural neutral version.

Yes, but it means something different.

Compare:

• הכרטיס שלי בתיק = My card is in the bag
• הכרטיס בתיק שלי = The card is in my bag

The position of שלי matters a lot.

In the original:

• שלי describes הכרטיס
• So it is my card

In the new version:

• שלי describes התיק
• So it is my bag

This is a very important thing to notice in Hebrew.

All the main nouns here are masculine singular:

• רישיון = masculine
• כרטיס = masculine
• ארנק = masculine
• תיק = masculine

You do not really see that from שלי, because שלי does not change for masculine vs. feminine.

But the gender would matter in other kinds of sentences, especially with adjectives or demonstratives:

• הכרטיס הזה = this card
• התיק הגדול = the big bag

רישיון is a general word meaning license, permit, or authorization, depending on context.

So it can refer to things like:

• a driver’s license
• a license/permit in a broader sense
• official authorization

In everyday speech, context usually tells you which kind is meant. If the meaning shown to the learner is driver’s license, that is a perfectly natural interpretation.