Questions & Answers about זאת לא בדיחה; היא באמת שונאת לקום מוקדם ביום שישי.
Why does the sentence start with זאת? Why not זה?
זאת means this and is the feminine form. Here it matches בדיחה (joke), which is a feminine noun.
So:
- זאת לא בדיחה = This is not a joke
- Literally: This-feminine not joke-feminine
In everyday Hebrew, you may also hear זו לא בדיחה, which means the same thing.
זה לא בדיחה is also heard in casual speech, but זאת/זו is the more grammatically matching form here.
Why is there no word for is in זאת לא בדיחה?
In present-tense Hebrew, sentences like X is Y usually do not use a verb meaning is.
So Hebrew says:
- זאת לא בדיחה
- literally: This not a joke
but in natural English we translate it as:
- This is not a joke
This is very common in Hebrew. Compare:
- היא מורה = She is a teacher
- היום קר = Today is cold
In past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be, but not usually in the present.
How does לא work in this sentence?