העולם גדול.

It is usually pronounced ha-olam gadol.

A rough breakdown:

• העולם = ha-olam
• גדול = gadol

Stress:

• ha-o-LAM
• ga-DOL

In modern Hebrew, the letter ע in העולם is often not strongly pronounced by many speakers, so the word sounds close to ha-olam.

The ה is the Hebrew definite article, equivalent to English the.

So:

• עולם = world
• העולם = the world

Unlike English, Hebrew usually attaches the directly to the beginning of the word instead of writing it as a separate word.

In Hebrew, the present tense usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are.

So:

• העולם גדול literally looks like the world big
• but it means the world is big

This is completely normal Hebrew grammar.

In other tenses, Hebrew does use other forms:

• העולם היה גדול = the world was big
• העולם יהיה גדול = the world will be big

In Hebrew, adjectives normally come after the noun.

So:

• עולם גדול = a big world
• literally: world big

In העולם גדול, the adjective still comes after the noun, but here the whole sentence means:

• The world is big

So Hebrew keeps the adjective after the noun both in:

• noun phrases: a big world
• simple present-tense sentences: the world is big

Because עולם is a masculine singular noun, and Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number

So:

• masculine singular: גדול
• feminine singular: גדולה

Since עולם is masculine singular, the correct form is גדול.

This is a very common question.

In העולם גדול, גדול is a predicate adjective: it is part of the statement the world is big. Predicate adjectives do not take ה here.

Compare:

• העולם גדול = The world is big
• העולם הגדול = the big world

In העולם הגדול, הגדול is an adjective directly describing the noun inside a noun phrase, so it matches the noun in definiteness.

So the difference is:

• העולם גדול = sentence
• העולם הגדול = noun phrase

They look similar, but they mean different things.

• העולם גדול = The world is big
• העולם הגדול = the big world

Why?

• In העולם גדול, גדול is the predicate: it tells you something about the world.
• In העולם הגדול, הגדול is just an adjective attached to העולם.

A useful shortcut:

• if the second word has ה too, it is often part of a noun phrase
• if it does not, it may be the predicate in a sentence like this

העולם גדול is the normal, neutral way to say it.

Hebrew can sometimes change word order for emphasis or in poetic/literary style, but for a learner, the standard pattern is:

• subject + adjective
• העולם גדול

So this is the form you should learn and use first.

The dictionary forms are:

• עולם = world
• גדול = big, large

In the sentence:

• העולם is just עולם with ה added
• גדול is already in its basic masculine singular form

So if you look them up in a dictionary, you would usually search for:

• עולם
• גדול