אם אין לך אמון בה, אל תספר לה את הסוד.

If you don’t trust her, don’t tell her the secret.

Breakdown of אם אין לך אמון בה, אל תספר לה את הסוד.

• אין: there is no
• לך: to you
• את: direct object marker
• אם: if

Questions & Answers about אם אין לך אמון בה, אל תספר לה את הסוד.

Why does the sentence start with אם אין לך and not something with לא?

Because אין is the normal Hebrew way to say there is no / there isn’t / you do not have in this kind of possession structure.

Hebrew often expresses to have as there is to someone:

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

So:

• אם אין לך אמון בה literally means if there is no trust to you in her
• natural English: if you don’t trust her

Using לא here would not be the normal phrasing.

What exactly does אין לך אמון בה mean grammatically?

Literally, it breaks down like this:

• אין = there is not / there isn’t
• לך = to you
• אמון = trust
• בה = in her

So the literal structure is:

There is not to you trust in her

This is just how Hebrew commonly expresses possession and emotional stance. In natural English, we translate it as:

You don’t have trust in her
or more naturally, you don’t trust her.

Why is it אמון בה and not just אמון אותה?