# A special use of 'have' in Hebrew?



## Eddie

Good evening, all.

I know the following two sentences are correctly written:

יש לו מורה טוב
יש להם מורה טוב

But this is the first time I've seen this...

דאני בעל מורה טוב
הסטודנטים בעלי מורה טוב

Does בעל mean 'to have'?

Thanks for any clarification you can give me.

Ed


----------



## BezierCurve

Hi,

בעל in this context means "the owner of", so it's not a verb (like "have"). So, literally, it would mean that he's an "owner of a good teacher" = he has a good teacher. 


However, the pronunciation of the word בעל can determine its meaning. If you put the stress on the first syllable, then it means "husband".


----------



## Tamar

[QUOTEדאני בעל מורה טוב
הסטודנטים בעלי מורה טוב][/quote]
I think these sentences are a little wierd... BezierCurve is right it does mean that X owns Y.
However, the pronounciation of that meaning and the meaning "husband" is the same - the stress is on the first syllable.
If you put the stress on the second syllable you will get a verb that means "had sex with" (singular, masculin. Btw, the verb is used for a man having sex with a woman, but not for a woman having sex with a man. That applies to the first sentnce. In the second one the stress is on the last syllable).


----------



## BezierCurve

> However, the pronounciation of that meaning and the meaning "husband" is the same


 
Thanks a lot Tamar. What I posted before is what one of my books says (in the vocabulary appendix - Colloquial Hebrew). I never realised this could be wrong. Must be a typo then. And a big I'M SORRY to Eddie.


----------



## Eddie

Thanks to you both, BezierCurve and Tamar. I'm familiar with the different shades of meaning of בעל and thought it a weird translation myself. You both have at least confirmed that for me.

If I'm not mistaken, the usual way to render the last two sentences is:

לסטודנטים בעלי מורה טוב
לדאני מורה טוב
​


----------



## cfu507

Hi, You can say:
לסטודנטים בעלי מורה טוב
לסטודנטים יש מורה טוב
הסטודנטים בעלי מורה טוב - but I don't like it


----------



## Eddie

Thanks so much for your corrections and suggestions, cfu507. I forgot to remove the offending word in the plural sentence.


----------



## just a normal guy

המילה "בעל" בד"כ מציינת שייכות של משהו מופשט (תכונות לדוגמא) או דברים דוממים

הוא בעל אישיות נהדרת - he has a great personality

היא בעלת הבית - she's the owner of the house

למרות שהדוגמא השניה לא מבטאת בדויק את אותה משמעות כמו במשפט הראשון, היא עדין מציינת קשר מסויים של שייכות.


----------



## Eddie

Sorry for the tardy response, Just A Normal Guy. I didn't realize anyone else would respond. Thank you.


----------

