# "This is that"



## אדם

שלום לכולכם,

איך אתם אומרים "this is that"?

תודה על הכול!

-
אדם
​


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## yoyo53

אדם
Please explain the context where it is to be used.
It could be:
זהו זה or just plain זהו


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## cfu507

Literally: זה זה זה, but what do you mean?


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## אדם

Well. I really don't know. I was just curious. I can't really think of a context. =/


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## cfu507

Does it mean something in English?


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## אדם

uhm.
well
"this is that"
It doesn't really mean anything in particular. I was just curious.


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## cfu507

What is this sign: =/
You wrote it in your previous post.


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## Nunty

I was also trying to make sense of the question. Do you want to know about what Hebrew does when English distinguishes between "this" and "that"? One way of doing that would be הזה and ההוא. For example:

She wants this book and not that one.
היא רוצה את הספר הזה ולא את ההוא.


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## אדם

Nun-Translator said:


> I was also trying to make sense of the question. Do you want to know about what Hebrew does when English distinguishes between "this" and "that"? One way of doing that would be הזה and ההוא. For example:
> 
> She wants this book and not that one.
> היא רוצה את הספר הזה ולא את ההוא.



Yes! I have really been curious about that. I didn't know that there was a way to distinguish between the two though.



cfu507 said:


> What is this sign: =/
> You wrote it in your previous post.


It's a smiley face.


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## אדם

What if you want to say "applesauce is good" or something of that sort?


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## cfu507

אדם said:


> What if you want to say "applesauce is good" or something of that sort?


 
I'd say: מחית תפוחים זה טוב.
is=זה in your context.


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## Nunty

I agree with cfu, of course, but would just add that this is informal and spoken, not written, usage.


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## Flaminius

Hello *Nun-Translator*,

Perhaps it is more indicative of how I picked my Hebrew but I am surprised to find that מחית תפוחים זה טוב is informal and spoken.  What would be the appropriate written form?


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## Nunty

In speech and if I were writing to a friend I use זה like "is" in English. In more formal writing I would probably recast the sentence.


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## cfu507

Nun-Translator said:


> In speech and if I were writing to a friend I use זה like "is" in English. In more formal writing I would probably recast the sentence.


 
Me too.
I would say מחית תפוחים זה בריא  , something better would be  אכילת מחית תפוחים טובה לבריאות, or something else maybe...
However, Adam's suggestion is accepted too.


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## בעל-חלומות

To me, מחית תפוחים זה טוב sounds a bit weird. I think I would use אני אוהב מחית תפוחים or מחית תפוחים טעימה לי.

Actually, I think I would say רסק תפוחים instead of מחית תפוחים, unless there's a difference between the two that I'm not aware of, but that's not the point.


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## אדם

So in some situations you can use זה as is? What situations does this apply to?


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## cfu507

My answer refers to situation in which after the word "is" there is an adjective or an adjective clause:
When the word "is" comes after the words _he, she, it, a name of a person, an animal or a place, this, there_, then the word "is" is omitted; otherwise it can be replaced by זה in Hebrew.
After a name of a person we mostly say הוא/היא, if necessary.
Maybe I forgot something.


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## Tamar

The word 'is' is of course a verb, anything that perceeds that is the subject. So the verb 'to be' actually links the subject to the adj. In Hebrew in order to do that we use אוגד [oged]. As cfu said, it could be זה (in spoken language). 
And I would like to add: you can also use הוא/היא according to the subject's gender, not just when using people's names.


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## אדם

So can I say: הכדור זה לבן
or is this more appropriate: הכדור אוגד לבן
?


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## Tamar

I'm sorry Adam, I wasn't clear... *אוגד is a* *term in Hebrew linguistics*. הוא, היא are words that sometimes get the function of אוגד. 

The ball is white. הכדור לבן or הכדור הוא לבן. I've just realized something I didn't notice before (!). To me the first sentence talks of a specific ball. The second seems to me as a "general truth", like "the ball is round" 
הכדור הוא עגול. 
מחית תפוחים זה בריא, מחית תפוחים היא טעימה, to me these two sentences state a general truth, and maybe that's why we can use היא or זה (?) 
(I think I've just complicated everything , even for myself).
Does that make sens?


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## אדם

I think maybe because in the first one your saying הכדור לבן - the white ball. Where in the second one your saying הכדור הוא לבן - the ball is white. 

It seems to me like in the first example your talking about a ball and decided to say its color, whereas in the second your specifically saying "the ball is white".

i.e. For sentence one:
Adam: I'm looking for my white ball.
Yoni: Oh, it's over there.

For the second one:
Adam: I'm looking for my ball.
Yoni: What color is it?
Adam: It is white.
Yoni: Oh, it's over there.

Does that make sense? -- Of course, I could be wrong about that. So correct me if I am.


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## Nunty

אדם said:


> I think maybe because in the first one your saying הכדור לבן - the white ball. Where in the second one your saying הכדור הוא לבן - the ball is white.


In Hebrew there is no "is/am/are"; that is, there is no present tense conjugation of the verb "to be".
הכדור לבן is "the ball is white".
הכדור הוא לבן is also "the ball is white".
הכדור הלבן is "the white ball". (Note that the definite article is required for the adjective, too.)
כדור לבן is "a white ball". (There is  no indefinite article in Hebrew.)



אדם said:


> It seems to me like in the first example your talking about a ball and decided to say its color, whereas in the second your specifically saying "the ball is white".
> 
> i.e. For sentence one:
> Adam: I'm looking for my white ball.
> Yoni: Oh, it's over there.



אדם: אני מחפש את הכדור הלבן שלי.
יוני: הנה, הוא שם.​ 


אדם said:


> For the second one:
> Adam: I'm looking for my ball.
> Yoni: What color is it?
> Adam: It is white.
> Yoni: Oh, it's over there.



אדם: אני מחפש את הכדור שלי.
יוני: באיזה צבע?
אדם: הוא לבן.
יוני: הנה, הוא שם.​ 


אדם said:


> Does that make sense? -- Of course, I could be wrong about that. So correct me if I am.


What is difficult is that what seems like an obvious, basic, necessary structure in one language (English) may not exist or may be quite different in the other (Hebrew). Don't worry. Keep it up and you'll soon get the hang of it!


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## אדם

Thanks a lot! That helps me very much. I had heard somewhere the use of the in connecting words (i.e. the ball the white - הכדור הלבן) but not heard of it anywhere. Would this apply to situations like "football"? (Possibly the foot the ball)? Unless theres a different word for it.


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## Nunty

אדם said:


> Thanks a lot! That helps me very much. I had heard somewhere the use of the in connecting words (i.e. the ball the white - הכדור הלבן) but not heard of it anywhere. Would this apply to situations like "football"? (Possibly the foot the ball)? Unless theres a different word for it.


No, that's not quite it.

"The" does not connect words. It's just that if you want to use the definite article (which is "the") with a noun, you have to use it with the adjective, too. 

a big house = בית גדול
the big house = *ה*בית *ה*גדול
The house is big = הבית גדול
This house is big = *ה*בית *ה*זה גדול
this big house = *ה*בית *ה*גדול *ה*זה

Is that any clearer?


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## cfu507

Hi Adam,
When you write הכדור הלבן it means that you want to talk about the white ball and to emphzise that you want to talk about this specific ball (among others around or existing somewhere). For example: *הכדור הלבן מונח בפינה*. 
If you said הכדור הלבן without other words it would be an answer for someone's question (e.g., which ball are you looking for); otherwise, your sentence is unfinished.
If you wanted to describe the color of a specific ball, you would say: *הכדור שמונח בפינה לבן*. I used only one ה הידיעה.

Again the difference between thetwo sentences in bold:
הכדור הלבן מונח בפינה - איזה כדור מונח בפינה? הכדור הלבן
which ball is in the corner? the white ball

הכדור שמונח בפינה לבן - איזה כדור הוא לבן? הכדור שמונח בפינה
which ball is white? the ball in the corner

Hope it helps


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