Questions & Answers about השירות במסעדה הזאת טוב.
Why is there no word for is in this sentence?
Because in Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.
So:
השירות במסעדה הזאת טוב
literally follows the pattern the service in this restaurant good
but it means The service in this restaurant is good.
In past or future, Hebrew does use forms of to be:
- השירות היה טוב = The service was good
- השירות יהיה טוב = The service will be good
Why is it טוב and not טובה?
Because טוב agrees with השירות, which is the subject, and השירות is masculine singular.
- השירות = the service → masculine singular
- טוב = good → masculine singular form
A common beginner mistake is to match טוב/טובה with the nearest noun, which here is מסעדה. But מסעדה is inside the phrase במסעדה הזאת (in this restaurant), so it does not control the adjective.
Compare:
- השירות טוב = The service is good
- המסעדה טובה = The restaurant is good
Why is השירות masculine? It doesn’t look obviously masculine to me.