יש לי כאב ראש, ולכן אני רוצה לנוח בבית.

I

Breakdown of יש לי כאב ראש, ולכן אני רוצה לנוח בבית.

• יש: there is
• לרצות: to want
• לי: to me

Questions & Answers about יש לי כאב ראש, ולכן אני רוצה לנוח בבית.

Why does יש לי mean I have? It looks more like there is to me.

That is exactly how Hebrew often expresses possession.

• יש = there is / there are
• לי = to me (the preposition ל־
  • י)

So יש לי כאב ראש literally means There is to me a headache, but in natural English we say I have a headache.

This pattern is very common in Hebrew:

• יש לי ספר = I have a book
• יש לך זמן? = Do you have time?
• אין לי כסף = I don't have money

So when you want to say I have..., Hebrew often uses יש + ל־ rather than a verb meaning to have.

What exactly does לי mean, and how is it built?