How to Ask a Question in Hebrew (5 Patterns You'll Use Daily)

A tourist I met in Jaffa last summer wanted to ask a shopkeeper where the bathroom was, but she got stuck because she didn't know how to start a question in Hebrew. In English she'd start with "where", but she wasn't sure if Hebrew needed a helper word first. It doesn't. Hebrew questions are simpler than English ones, and five patterns cover almost everything you'll ever need.

1. Turn a statement into a question with tone

The easiest Hebrew question is just a regular sentence said with a rising tone at the end. No word order changes. No auxiliary verb. Just speak the statement and lift your voice.

• ata ro'eh oti (you see me), said flatly, is a statement.
• ata ro'eh oti? (do you see me?), said with a rising tone, is a question.

English needs "do" to turn a statement into a question. Hebrew just needs your voice to go up at the end. This alone gets you through half of daily conversation.

2. Start with a question word

The question words I covered in the pronoun cheat sheet all work the same way: put them at the front of the sentence.

• Eifo habayit? (אֵיפֹה הַבַּיִת?), where is the house?
• Ma zeh? (מָה זֶה?), what is this?
• Mi ata? (מִי אַתָּה?), who are you?
• Matai ha-autobus? (מָתַי הָאוֹטוֹבּוּס?), when is the bus?
• Lama lo? (לָמָּה לֹא?), why not?

Notice how short these questions are. Hebrew drops the "is" or "are" (because, as I explained in my present-tense post, there's no helper verb). "Where is the house?" is literally "where the house?" in Hebrew. Shorter and faster.

3. Ask "how much" with kama

The word kama (כַּמָּה) covers both "how much" and "how many". You'll use it constantly when shopping, ordering food, or asking about time.

• Kama ze oleh? (כַּמָּה זֶה עוֹלֶה?), how much does it cost?
• Kama sha'ot? (כַּמָּה שָׁעוֹת?), how many hours?
• Kama yeladim? (כַּמָּה יְלָדִים?), how many children?

One word. No gender issues. Drop it in front of what you want to count.

4. Ask "which" with eizeh / eizo

The word for "which" in Hebrew comes in two flavors, masculine and feminine, matching the noun you're asking about. Eizeh (אֵיזֶה) for masculine nouns, eizo (אֵיזוֹ) for feminine.

• Eizeh sefer ata rotseh? (אֵיזֶה סֵפֶר אַתָּה רוֹצֶה?), which book do you want?
• Eizo mita? (אֵיזוֹ מִטָּה?), which bed?

In casual speech, a lot of Israelis just use eizeh for everything and don't worry about the feminine form. You'll be understood either way.

5. Ask "is there" with yesh and ein

Hebrew has two special words for "there is" and "there is not": yesh (יֵשׁ) and ein (אֵין). Put them at the front of a sentence to ask if something exists or is available.

• Yesh kafe? (יֵשׁ קָפֶה?), is there coffee?
• Yesh lecha eser shekel? (יֵשׁ לְךָ עֶשֶׂר שֶׁקֶל?), do you have ten shekel?
• Ein be'ayot? (אֵין בְּעָיוֹת?), no problems?

One of the most common questions you'll hear in a Tel Aviv shop is yesh mivtza?, "is there a deal?" or "do you have a sale going on?" Walk into any shuk and you'll hear it within five minutes.

The question you'll ask a hundred times

The single most useful question for any beginner in Israel is eifo ha-sherutim? (אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים?), where is the bathroom? Memorize this one before anything else. It has saved more foreign friends of mine than any other phrase.

For more useful questions and daily conversation starters, our phrases section has audio examples of all of these in real Israeli speech. You can also browse our topics pages for the vocabulary you'll want to plug into each question pattern.

Five patterns, enough question words to fill a sticky note, and a willingness to let your voice rise at the end. That's the whole Hebrew question toolkit.