יש לי חמש דקות לפני הפגישה.

Hebrew usually expresses possession with the pattern יש ל־... = there is / there are to ...

So:

• יש לי = literally there is to me
• natural English translation: I have

In this sentence:

• יש לי חמש דקות = I have five minutes

This is one of the most basic and common Hebrew structures, so it is worth memorizing as a chunk:

• יש לי = I have
• יש לך = you have
• יש לו = he has
• יש לה = she has

לי means to me.

It is made of:

• ל־ = to
• י = a suffix meaning me

So:

• לי = to me
• לך = to you
• לו = to him
• לה = to her

In יש לי, the idea is literally there is to me, which Hebrew uses for I have.

Because דקות is a feminine noun, and numbers 3–10 must agree with the noun’s gender in a way that often feels backwards to English speakers.

For numbers 3–10:

• with feminine nouns, use forms like שלוש, ארבע, חמש
• with masculine nouns, use forms like שלושה, ארבעה, חמישה

Since דקה (minute) is feminine, we say:

• חמש דקות = five minutes

Compare:

• חמש דקות = five minutes
• חמישה ימים = five days

This is a very common point of confusion for learners.

The singular noun is דקה = minute, and it is feminine.

A strong clue is the ending ־ה, which often marks feminine nouns in Hebrew. Its plural is:

• דקה
• דקות

Because the noun is feminine, the number used with it is the feminine form:

• חמש דקות

In Hebrew, as in English, the noun after numbers greater than one is normally plural.

So:

• דקה אחת = one minute
• שתי דקות = two minutes
• חמש דקות = five minutes

That is why דקות appears in the plural here.

לפני means before.

In this sentence:

• לפני הפגישה = before the meeting

So the full sentence means:

• יש לי חמש דקות לפני הפגישה = I have five minutes before the meeting

A useful thing to remember is that לפני is a preposition, so it comes before the noun phrase:

• לפני השיעור = before the lesson
• לפני הארוחה = before the meal
• לפני הפגישה = before the meeting

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

So:

• פגישה = a meeting / meeting
• הפגישה = the meeting

In this sentence, הפגישה means a specific meeting that both speaker and listener know about:

• לפני הפגישה = before the meeting

The given order is very natural:

• יש לי חמש דקות לפני הפגישה.

But Hebrew word order can be somewhat flexible depending on emphasis.

For example, you might also hear:

• לפני הפגישה יש לי חמש דקות.
  = Before the meeting, I have five minutes.

This version emphasizes the time frame first.

Still, for a learner, the original order is the safest and most natural everyday pattern.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

yesh li khamesh dakot lifnei hapgishá

Notes:

• יש sounds like yesh
• חמש begins with ח, a throaty sound not found in standard English; many learners approximate it as kh
• דקות is da-KOT
• לפני is lif-NEI
• הפגישה is hap-gi-SHA

The main stress is usually near the end of הפגישה: pgishá.

Not naturally in this form. Because of לי (to me), the sentence means that I have five minutes available before the meeting.

So:

• יש לי חמש דקות לפני הפגישה = I have five minutes before the meeting

If you removed לי, the meaning would change a lot, and the sentence would no longer express possession by me.

You keep יש and change the attached ל־ form:

• יש לי חמש דקות לפני הפגישה. = I have five minutes before the meeting.
• יש לך חמש דקות לפני הפגישה. = You have five minutes before the meeting.
• יש לו חמש דקות לפני הפגישה. = He has five minutes before the meeting.
• יש לה חמש דקות לפני הפגישה. = She has five minutes before the meeting.
• יש לנו חמש דקות לפני הפגישה. = We have five minutes before the meeting.

This is a very useful pattern to practice.