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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: זה עסק קטן. - This is a small business.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Handling a breakdown and insurance claim
/זה עסק קטן.

זה עסק קטן.

זה עסק קטן.zeh esek katan

This is a small business.

Breakdown of זה עסק קטן.

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Questions & Answers about זה עסק קטן.

Why is there no separate word for is in this sentence?

Because in present-tense Hebrew, the verb to be is usually left out.

So Hebrew often says the equivalent of:

זה עסק קטן
literally: this / business / small

but it means:

This is a small business

If you want was or will be, then Hebrew usually does use a verb:

זה היה עסק קטן = This was a small business
זה יהיה עסק קטן = This will be a small business

What does זה mean here?

Here זה means something like this or this is.

In this kind of sentence, זה + noun phrase is a very common way to identify something:

זה בית = This is a house
זה רעיון טוב = This is a good idea

So in זה עסק קטן, the זה helps make it a full sentence. Without it, עסק קטן would usually just mean a small business as a phrase, not a complete sentence.

Why is קטן after עסק? In English, small comes before business.

In Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

עסק קטן = business small = small business
בית גדול = house big = big house

This is the normal Hebrew pattern:

noun + adjective

How do I know that קטן is the right form?

Because Hebrew adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number.

עסק is masculine singular, so the adjective must also be masculine singular:

עסק קטן = masculine singular

Compare:

חנות קטנה = small store
because חנות is feminine singular, the adjective becomes קטנה

So קטן matches עסק correctly.

Why is there no word for a in a small business?

Hebrew has no indefinite article. There is no separate word for a or an.

So:

עסק קטן can mean a small business

If you want the, Hebrew does mark that:

העסק הקטן = the small business

Notice that with adjectives, both the noun and the adjective usually get ה־ when the phrase is definite:

העסק הקטן
not just העסק קטן if you mean the small business as a noun phrase

How is this sentence pronounced?

A common pronunciation is:

ze é-sek ka-TAN

More roughly:

זה = ze
עסק = EH-sek
קטן = ka-TAN

A couple of helpful notes:

The stress in עסק is usually on the first syllable: É-sek
The stress in קטן is on the last syllable: ka-TAN
The letter ע in עסק is often very weak or effectively silent in modern Israeli Hebrew

Could this sentence mean This business is small?

Usually, זה עסק קטן is understood as:

This is a small business

If you want to say:

This business is small

Hebrew would more naturally say:

העסק הזה קטן

That sentence literally means:

the business this small

So the word order changes the meaning:

זה עסק קטן = This is a small business
העסק הזה קטן = This business is small

Is זה always masculine?

In standard Hebrew, זה is the masculine singular demonstrative pronoun.

The feminine counterpart is:

זאת or זו

So in very careful standard Hebrew, you may see:

זאת חנות קטנה = This is a small store

However, in everyday spoken Hebrew, זה is often used very broadly, even in places where a learner might expect זאת. So learners will hear זה a lot.

How would I say the small business instead of a small business?

You would say:

העסק הקטן

This is a useful pattern to remember:

עסק קטן = a small business
העסק הקטן = the small business

In Hebrew, when a noun is definite and has an adjective, the adjective usually becomes definite too:

ה + noun
ה + adjective

So both words take ה־.

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