Learn Hardcore Hebrew: יש לי מה להוריד למחשב לפני הפגישה, אבל אין לי זמן לעשות את זה עכשיו. - I have something to download to the computer before the meeting, but I do not have time to do it now.

Word

יש לי מה להוריד למחשב לפני הפגישה, אבל אין לי זמן לעשות את זה עכשיו.

Meaning

I have something to download to the computer before the meeting, but I do not have time to do it now.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Lesson

Breakdown of יש לי מה להוריד למחשב לפני הפגישה, אבל אין לי זמן לעשות את זה עכשיו.

Why does Hebrew use יש לי for I have instead of a verb meaning to have?

Hebrew usually expresses possession with the pattern יש ל־... + possessor.

So יש לי literally means there is to me, but in natural English it means I have.

Examples:

The negative version is usually אין לי = I don’t have, not לא יש לי.

What does יש לי מה להוריד mean, and why is מה used here?

In this sentence, יש לי מה + infinitive means I have something to ...

So:

Here מה does not mean a literal question word what? Instead, in this structure it means something like something / something that can be...

Very common pattern:

This is a very useful Hebrew construction.

Why is להוריד in the infinitive, and what does the ל־ mean?