אם אין לך זמן היום, ניפגש ביום אחר.

אם means if. It introduces the condition:

• אם אין לך זמן היום = if you don’t have time today

Hebrew often puts the if-clause first, just like English, but it can also come later:

• ניפגש ביום אחר אם אין לך זמן היום = We’ll meet another day if you don’t have time today

So אם is simply the word that sets up the condition.

In Hebrew, possession in the present tense is usually expressed with יש and אין, not with a separate verb meaning to have.

The basic pattern is:

• יש לי = I have
• יש לך = you have
• אין לי = I don’t have
• אין לך = you don’t have

So:

• אין לך זמן literally means something like there is no time for you / available to you
• Natural English translation: you don’t have time

This is a very common Hebrew structure.

Because אין and לא do different jobs.

• לא usually negates verbs:

  • לא הלכתי = I did not go
  • לא אפגש = I will not meet

• אין is used for non-existence or absence, and also in the possession pattern with יש:

  • יש זמן = there is time
  • אין זמן = there is no time
  • יש לך זמן = you have time
  • אין לך זמן = you don’t have time

So in this sentence, אין is the correct negative word.

לך literally means to you or for you, but in this structure it helps express possession.

So:

• יש לך זמן = literally there is time to/for you
• natural meaning: you have time

A useful way to remember it is:

• Hebrew often says there is X to someone
• English often says someone has X

So אין לך זמן is literally built like there is no time for you, but it really means you don’t have time.

In unpointed writing, לך can be either masculine or feminine singular.

It can mean:

• lecha = to you, masculine
• lach = to you, feminine

So this sentence can address either:

• a man
• a woman

You only know the pronunciation from context, vowels, or speech. The written form is the same.

Because the sentence means time in a general sense, not the specific time.

• אין לך זמן היום = you don’t have time today

Here זמן is indefinite and general, like English time in I don’t have time.

If you used הזמן, it would sound more like the time, which is more specific and usually would not fit this sentence in the same natural way.

Because היום often works as an adverb meaning today.

So:

• היום = today

That is why:

• אין לך זמן היום = you don’t have time today

Hebrew often uses time words directly this way:

• היום = today
• מחר = tomorrow
• אתמול = yesterday

You do not need ב־ here.

Because the sentence describes:

1. a present condition
2. a future result

So:

• אם אין לך זמן היום = if you don’t have time today

  • this is your current situation today

• ניפגש ביום אחר = we’ll meet on another day

  • this is what will happen afterward

This is very natural in Hebrew. The condition can describe a present state, while the result is in the future.

ניפגש means we will meet.

It is the 1st person plural future form of להיפגש = to meet / to meet each other.

So:

• אני would not use ניפגש
• אנחנו ניפגש = we will meet

In this sentence, the subject we is understood and does not need to be stated separately.

This is an important distinction.

• להיפגש = to meet, to meet each other
• לפגוש = to meet someone

So:

• ניפגש = we will meet
• נפגוש = we will meet someone / something

In English, meet can work both ways:

• We’ll meet tomorrow
• We’ll meet him tomorrow

But Hebrew often separates these ideas into two different verb forms.

So here, because the meaning is we will meet each other on another day, ניפגש is the natural choice.

The prefix ב־ here means on or in, depending on context.

So:

• ביום אחר = on another day

After a verb like ניפגש, Hebrew normally uses this kind of time phrase with ב־:

• ניפגש ביום שני = we’ll meet on Monday
• ניפגש ביום אחר = we’ll meet on another day

Without ב־, יום אחר is just the noun phrase another day, not the full adverbial phrase on another day.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• יום אחר = another day

not:

• אחר יום

Also, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

• יום is masculine singular
• so the adjective is אחר

If the noun were feminine, you would use אחרת:

• פעם אחרת = another time

So ביום אחר is correct because יום is masculine singular.

Because Hebrew often leaves then unstated. The conditional meaning is already clear from אם.

So:

• אם אין לך זמן היום, ניפגש ביום אחר

is completely natural and complete.

You can sometimes hear אז in speech:

• אם אין לך זמן היום, אז ניפגש ביום אחר

but it is often unnecessary. In many cases, Hebrew sounds smoother without it. The comma already helps separate the condition from the result.