הבדיחה שלו הייתה מצחיקה, וגם אני צחקתי.

I

Breakdown of הבדיחה שלו הייתה מצחיקה, וגם אני צחקתי.

• ו: and
• להיות: to be
• שלו: his

Questions & Answers about הבדיחה שלו הייתה מצחיקה, וגם אני צחקתי.

What does הבדיחה mean grammatically, and what is the ה־ at the beginning?

ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• בדיחה = a joke
• הבדיחה = the joke

In this sentence, הבדיחה שלו literally means the joke of his, which is how Hebrew commonly expresses his joke.

Why is his joke expressed as הבדיחה שלו instead of a single word?

Modern Hebrew usually expresses possession with:

noun + possessive word

So:

• הבדיחה שלו = his joke
• literally: the joke his / the joke of his

This is very common in everyday Hebrew.

A useful thing to notice: שלו refers to the owner, not to the noun being possessed. So:

• שלו = his
• שלה = her

Even though בדיחה is a feminine noun, you still use שלו if the owner is male.

Why is the verb הייתה and not היה?