למכונאי יש יכולת לתקן את המנוע.

That is normal in Hebrew when you want to say that someone has something.

Hebrew often expresses possession with this pattern:

ל־ + person + יש + thing
literally: to X there is Y
natural English: X has Y

So:

למכונאי יש יכולת
literally: to the mechanic / to a mechanic there is ability
natural English: the mechanic / a mechanic has the ability

This is one of the most important Hebrew sentence patterns to learn, because Hebrew does not usually use a separate everyday verb meaning to have in the same way English does.

In unpointed Hebrew, it can be either one.

That is because למכונאי can represent:

• לְמכונאי = to a mechanic
• לַמכונאי = to the mechanic

When Hebrew is written without vowel marks, both look the same: למכונאי.

So the meaning depends on:

• context
• pronunciation
• any translation already given

If the intended meaning is the mechanic, the pronunciation is approximately la-mekhona'i.
If the intended meaning is a mechanic, it is approximately le-mekhona'i.

יש means something like there is / there exists.

In possession sentences, it combines with ל־:

• לי יש = I have
• לך יש = you have
• למכונאי יש = the mechanic has / a mechanic has

So in this sentence, יש is the word that makes the possession structure work.

You can think of:

למכונאי יש יכולת
as literally meaning
there is ability to the mechanic

Even though that sounds strange in English, it is completely normal Hebrew.

יכולת is a noun. It means ability, capability, or capacity.

So the sentence is not using the adjective/verb-like idea can directly. Instead, it is saying that the mechanic has ability.

A useful comparison:

• למכונאי יש יכולת לתקן את המנוע = The mechanic has the ability to repair the engine
• המכונאי יכול לתקן את המנוע = The mechanic can repair the engine

Both are natural, but they are built differently.

Also, יכולת is a feminine singular noun.

Because לתקן is the infinitive, meaning to repair / to fix.

In Hebrew, infinitives usually begin with ל־, so:

• לתקן = to repair
• לכתוב = to write
• ללמוד = to study
• לאכול = to eat

Here, יכולת לתקן means ability to repair.

So the structure is:

• יכולת = ability
• לתקן = to repair

Together: ability to repair

את marks a definite direct object.

Hebrew uses את before a direct object when that object is definite, for example when it has ה־ (the), or is a name, or is otherwise specific.

Here:

• המנוע = the engine
• because it is definite, Hebrew adds את

So:

• לתקן מנוע = to repair an engine
• לתקן את המנוע = to repair the engine

Important: את usually does not get translated into English. It is a grammatical marker, not a separate meaning word like with.

Because המנוע is the direct object of לתקן.

The mechanic has an ability, and that ability is to repair the engine. Inside that infinitive phrase:

• לתקן = to repair
• המנוע = the thing being repaired

So המנוע is the direct object of repair, and therefore it gets את.

But יכולת is not a direct object here. It is the thing that יש says exists for the mechanic. In other words, it is the possessed noun in the structure למכונאי יש יכולת.

Yes, absolutely.

That sentence means:

המכונאי יכול לתקן את המנוע
The mechanic can repair the engine

It is very close in meaning to:

למכונאי יש יכולת לתקן את המנוע
The mechanic has the ability to repair the engine

The difference is mostly one of style and emphasis:

• יכול focuses more directly on can / is able to
• יש יכולת sounds a little more like has the ability / possesses the capability

In many contexts, either one would work.

By itself, יש יכולת usually suggests ability/capability, not necessarily immediate action at this exact moment.

So it sounds more like:

• the mechanic is capable of repairing the engine
• the mechanic has the necessary skill or ability

If you wanted to emphasize immediate possibility, Hebrew might more naturally use יכול in context:

המכונאי יכול לתקן את המנוע עכשיו
The mechanic can repair the engine now

So יש יכולת often feels a bit more like a statement about competence than a statement about the current situation.

The sentence is:

למכונאי יש יכולת לתקן את המנוע

A helpful breakdown is:

• למכונאי = to the mechanic / to a mechanic
• יש = there is / has
• יכולת = ability
• לתקן את המנוע = to repair the engine

So the structure is:

possessor + יש + possessed thing + infinitive phrase

This is very normal Hebrew word order for possession.

In more literal English order, it would be something like:

To the mechanic there is ability to repair the engine

But in natural English, we say:

The mechanic has the ability to repair the engine

The word מכונאי is pronounced approximately mekhona'i, with the stress at the end.

So:

• לְמכונאי = le-mekhona'I = to a mechanic
• לַמכונאי = la-mekhona'I = to the mechanic

The final syllable is stressed.

The apostrophe-like break in mekhona'i helps show that the ending is separate: -na'i.

Hebrew has no indefinite article equivalent to English a/an.

So:

• מכונאי can mean a mechanic
• המכונאי means the mechanic

With prepositions, the definite article often merges into the preposition. That is why:

• למכונאי can be ambiguous in unpointed writing:
  • לְמכונאי = to a mechanic
  • לַמכונאי = to the mechanic

This is very common in Hebrew, and learners get used to figuring it out from context.