יש מספריים קטנים בקלמר הכחול, אבל המחק לא שם.

יש is the standard Hebrew way to express existence: there is / there are.

So יש מספריים קטנים בקלמר הכחול means there are small scissors in the blue pencil case.

A useful point: יש itself does not change for singular or plural.

• יש מחק = there is an eraser
• יש מספריים = there are scissors

Hebrew usually treats מספריים as a plural-only noun, much like English scissors. Even when you mean one tool, the word is still מספריים.

If you want to emphasize one pair, you can say זוג מספריים, but in everyday Hebrew מספריים by itself is very common.

The adjective has to agree with the noun. Here מספריים takes plural agreement, and in this sentence it is treated as masculine plural, so the adjective is קטנים.

Compare:

• קטן = masculine singular
• קטנה = feminine singular
• קטנים = masculine plural
• קטנות = feminine plural

Because the preposition ב (in) combines with the definite article ה (the).

So:

• הקלמר = the pencil case
• ב + הקלמר becomes בקלמר = in the pencil case

In normal unpointed Hebrew, that merged form is written בקלמר.

In Hebrew, when a noun is definite, its adjective is also definite.

So:

• קלמר כחול = a blue pencil case
• הקלמר הכחול = the blue pencil case
• בקלמר הכחול = in the blue pencil case

Even though the ה on הקלמר is absorbed into ב, the adjective still keeps its own ה.

Because קלמר is a masculine singular noun, so the adjective must also be masculine singular.

• כחול = masculine singular
• כחולה = feminine singular

That is why Hebrew says קלמר כחול and הקלמר הכחול.

In present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted.

So המחק לא שם literally looks like the eraser not there, but it naturally means the eraser is not there.

This is very normal in Hebrew:

• הוא בבית = he is at home
• הספר על השולחן = the book is on the table

Because this clause is describing the location/state of a specific thing: the eraser is not there.

לא is the normal everyday negation in a sentence like המחק לא שם.

By contrast, אין is often used for non-existence or absence, especially in sentences like:

• אין מחק בקלמר = there is no eraser in the pencil case

So compare:

• המחק לא שם = the eraser isn’t there
• אין מחק בקלמר = there is no eraser in the pencil case

Yes, here שם means there.

The word שם can mean either there or name, and context tells you which one is intended.

In this sentence, it clearly means there:

• המחק לא שם = the eraser isn’t there

המחק means the eraser, so it refers to a specific eraser already understood from the context.

If you said מחק, that would mean an eraser. Here the sentence is talking about a particular eraser, so the definite form המחק is natural.

Because את is only used before a definite direct object.

Here המחק is not a direct object. It is the subject of the clause המחק לא שם. So את would be wrong here.

Compare:

• אני רואה את המחק = I see the eraser
• המחק לא שם = the eraser isn’t there

The given word order is natural and standard, but Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible.

For example, you could also say:

• בקלמר הכחול יש מספריים קטנים, אבל המחק לא שם.

That version puts more emphasis on the location first: In the blue pencil case, there are small scissors...

So the original sentence is not the only possible order, just a very normal one.