There is · there is not יֵשׁ · אַיִן yesh · ’ayin
Hebrew does not say “there is / there is not” with a verb but with two words — יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) and אֵין (’en, “there is not”). They are not verbs, so they carry no person letters and no time, yet with “to …” after them they even say “have.” This page shows their forms and uses in sentences actually used in Genesis.
יֵשׁ “existence” · אַיִן “non-existence” — neither is a verb
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What יֵשׁ and אֵין are
יֵשׁ (yesh) says “there is,” אֵין (’en) “there is not.” English uses the verb “be”; these two Hebrew words are not verbs. So a clause with one of them as predicate is a verbless clause (pattern 4).
The Old Testament has יֵשׁ 138 times and אַיִן / אֵין 790 times (counted by OSHB lemma): “there is not” is more than five times as frequent. In Genesis 1–2, אַיִן occurs once (2:5) and יֵשׁ not at all.
Grammars call יֵשׁ the particle of existence and אֵין the particle of non-existence (or negative of existence).
2Where the names come from — “existence” and “non-existence”
The two words are originally close to nouns. יֵשׁ is used in places to mean “what exists, substance” — לְהַנְחִיל אֹהֲבַי יֵשׁ (Prov 8:21, “to cause those who love me to inherit substance”). אַיִן means “nothing, non-existence.”
So יֵשׁ חֲמִשִּׁים (18:24) is literally “the existence of fifty,” and אֵין־יוֹסֵף (37:29) “the non-existence of Joseph” — that is, “there are fifty,” “Joseph was not there.” This is also why אֵין is a short form bound to the following noun (the construct; see the table of forms).
The names are simply the words themselves: יֵשׁ (yesh) and אַיִן (’ayin) / אֵין (’en).
3At a glance — the forms of the two words
- יֵשׁ · יֶשׁ־Alone, יֵשׁ (tsere, e). Joined to the next word by a maqqef (־) it loses its stress and is written יֶשׁ־ (segol, e) — יֶשׁ־לִי (33:9).
- אַיִן (alone, after)Standing alone after a noun it has the full form אַיִן — וְאָדָם אַיִן (2:5).
- אֵין (before)With words following it has the short (construct) form אֵין — אֵין לָהּ וָלָד (11:30).
- With suffixes“Who is / is not” is attached at the end — אֵינֶנּוּ (“he is not,” 5:24) · יֶשְׁךָ (“you are,” “if you …,” 24:42).
- QuestionsWith הֲ in front: “is there …?” — הֲיֵשׁ לָכֶם אָח (43:7).
4Table of forms — forms actually used in Genesis
All forms are from Genesis (OSHB). A suffix adds “who” at the end (orange).
| Form | Reading | Meaning | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| יֵשׁ | yesh | there is | 28:16 · 18:24 |
| יֶשׁ־ | yesh- | there is (before a maqqef) | 42:1 · 33:9 |
| יֶשְׁךָ | yeshkha | you are (if you …) | 24:42 · 43:4 |
| יֶשְׁכֶם | yeshkhem | you (pl) are (if you …) | 24:49 |
| הֲיֵשׁ | hayesh | is there …? | 24:23 · 43:7 · 44:19 |
| אַיִן | ’ayin | there is not (alone, after a noun) | 2:5 · 30:1 |
| אֵין | ’en | there is not (words follow) | 11:30 · 37:24 · 47:13 |
| אֵינֶנּוּ | ’enennu | he is not | 5:24 · 37:30 · 42:13 |
| אֵינֶנָּה | ’enennah | she / it is not | 7:8 |
| אֵינְךָ | ’enkha | you are not (…ing) | 20:7 · 43:5 |
In אֵינֶנּוּ the נּוּ has an extra נ before the suffix, doubled (אֵין + ֶנּוּ).
5יֵשׁ “there is” — real examples from the Bible
After יֵשׁ (blue) comes “what” (the subject), then “where.”
’akhen yesh YHWH bammaqom hazzeh — surely YHWH is in this place
אָכֵן (surely) + יֵשׁ (there is) + the subject יְהוָה + the place בַּמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה (in this place). With no verb the time is not in the letters, but Jacob speaks on waking, so it is present. It stands against the following וְאָנֹכִי לֹא יָדָעְתִּי (“and I did not know”).
YLVAnd Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, "Surely YHWH is in this place, and I did not know it."
ki yesh-shever bemitsrayim — that there was grain in Egypt
כִּי (that) + יֶשׁ־ (segol before the maqqef) + the subject שֶׁבֶר (grain) + the place בְּמִצְרָיִם. It is the content clause of וַיַּרְא יַעֲקֹב (“Jacob saw”) — the same structure as Genesis 1’s “saw … that it was good” (כִּי טוֹב), with a יֵשׁ clause in place of a bare verbless clause.
YLVAnd Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
’ulay yesh ḥamishshim tsaddiqim betokh ha‘ir — perhaps there are fifty righteous within the city
אוּלַי (perhaps) + יֵשׁ + the subject “fifty righteous” + the place “within the city.” יֵשׁ has no time of its own; with “perhaps” it speaks of what may be.
YLVPerhaps there are fifty righteous within the city; will you indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are within it?
6“There is to …” = “have” — real examples from the Bible
Hebrew has no verb “have, possess.” It says יֵשׁ / אֵין + לְ (“to”) + what is had.
yesh-li rav — I have abundance
יֶשׁ־ (there is) + לִי (לְ + the suffix “me” = to me) + רָב (much). Literally “to me there is much” = “I have much.”
YLVAnd Esau said, "I have abundance, my brother; let what is yours be yours."
yesh-lanu ’av zaqen — we have an old father
יֶשׁ־ + לָנוּ (to us) + the subject אָב זָקֵן (an old father — the adjective follows and describes the noun). “To us there is an old father” = “we have an old father.”
YLVAnd we said to my lord, 'We have an old father, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.'
hayesh lakhem ’aḥ — have you a brother?
The question הֲ (blue) + יֵשׁ + לָכֶם (to you) + אָח (brother). One הֲ before a “there is” clause makes “is there …?” The preceding הַעוֹד אֲבִיכֶם חַי (“is your father still alive?”) is the same kind of הֲ question.
YLVAnd they said, "The man (ish) asked earnestly concerning us and concerning our kindred, saying, 'Is your father still alive (chai)? Have you a brother?' And we told him according to the mouth of these words. Could we at all know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"
’en lah valad — she had no child
אֵין (there is not) + לָהּ (to her — the dot in the final ה is a mappiq, the suffix “her”) + וָלָד (child). “To her there was no child” = “she had no child,” explaining the preceding עֲקָרָה (“barren”).
YLVAnd Sarai was barren; she had no child.
7אֵין · אַיִן “there is not” — real examples from the Bible
ve’adam ’ayin — and there was no man
The subject אָדָם comes first and אַיִן stands alone after it — hence the full form אַיִן. In the verb slot stands “there is not” instead of a verb, so the clause is verbless (pattern 23 on the Genesis 2 page). The following לַעֲבֹד אֶת־הָאֲדָמָה (“to work the ground”) tells what man was lacking.
YLVAnd every shrub of the field was not yet in the earth, and every herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for YHWH God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man (adam) to work (avad) the ground (adamah).
vehabbor req ’en bo mayim — and the pit was empty; there was no water in it
Two verbless clauses: “the pit — empty” (adjective predicate) and “אֵין — in it — water.” בּוֹ (“in it”) comes before the subject מָיִם (water). With words following, the short form אֵין.
YLVand they took him and cast him into the pit; and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
vehinneh ’en-yosef babbor — and behold, Joseph was not in the pit
וְהִנֵּה (“and behold” — showing what Reuben saw through his eyes) + אֵין־ (joined by a maqqef) + the subject יוֹסֵף + the place בַּבּוֹר. A single אֵין says that the one who should be there is not.
YLVAnd Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
’en-navon veḥakham kamokha — there is none discerning and wise like you
אֵין־ + the subject “(one) discerning and wise” + כָּמוֹךָ (like you). “There is none like …” is a common Hebrew way of saying “you are the most ….”
YLVAnd Pharaoh said to Joseph, "After God has made known to you all this, there is none discerning and wise like you.
8Forms with suffixes — “he is not,” “if you …” (real examples from the Bible)
The ending (orange) says who is or is not there; that person is the subject.
ve’enennu — and he was not
וְ (and) + אֵין (there is not) + the suffix ֶנּוּ (he). One word is the sentence “and he was not.” The following כִּי־לָקַח אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים (“for God took him”) gives the reason. The text does not say “he died” (וַיָּמֹת) but “he was not.”
YLVAnd Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
hayyeled ’enennu — the child is not
The subject הַיֶּלֶד (the child) is set first, and the suffix of אֵינֶנּוּ (“he is not”) takes it up again. The same form as 5:24, but here Reuben speaks of the present: “is not.”
YLVAnd he returned to his brothers and said, "The child is not, and I — where shall I go?"
’im-yeshkha-na’ matsliaḥ darki — if you are now prospering my way
אִם (if) + יֵשׁ + the suffix ךָ (you) + נָּא (now, please) + the Hiphil participle מַצְלִיחַ (“prospering”). “If you are …ing”: יֵשׁ + suffix + participle makes a condition about what is going on now.
YLVAnd I came this day to the spring, and said, 'YHWH, God of my master Abraham, if you are now prospering my way on which I am going —
ve’im-’enkha meshiv — but if you do not restore her
וְאִם (but if) + אֵין + the suffix ךָ (you) + the Hiphil participle מֵשִׁיב (“restoring”). The mirror of 24:42, with אֵין in place of יֵשׁ: “if you are not restoring.”
YLVAnd now, restore the man's (ish) wife (ishah); for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live; but if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that are yours."
9A participle is negated with אֵין, not לֹא
Perfect and imperfect verbs are negated with לֹא (see the negation page), but a clause with a participle as predicate is usually negated with אֵין, because a participle clause is verbless.
אֵין שַׂר בֵּית־הַסֹּהַר רֹאֶה אֶת־כָּל־מְאוּמָה (39:23, “the keeper of the prison did not look to anything”) — אֵין + the subject “the keeper” + the Qal participle רֹאֶה (“seeing, looking to”). Literally “there was no keeper looking,” that is, “the keeper did not look.”
The suffixed forms work the same way — אֵינְךָ מֵשִׁיב (20:7, “if you do not restore”). The positive “if you are …ing” is יֶשְׁךָ … מַצְלִיחַ (24:42).
10Context sets the time
יֵשׁ and אֵין are not verbs and do not state a time. The same אֵין is “there was no” in 2:5 וְאָדָם אַיִן (a past scene of the creation account) and “there is none” in 41:39 אֵין־נָבוֹן (Pharaoh speaking in the present).
When time must be stated, Hebrew uses הָיָה (“be, become”), and the clause becomes verbal — וַיְהִי־אוֹר (1:3, “there was light”) is not יֵשׁ but the wayyiqtol of הָיָה, reporting an event: light came to be.
11Easy to confuse
אֵין (“there is not”) and אֵי (“where?”) share their first two letters. In אֵי הֶבֶל אָחִיךָ (4:9, “where is Abel your brother?”) אֵי is the question word “where,” with no final ן (see the page on interrogatives).
אֵין and לֹא — לֹא negates verbs (events) and single words; אֵין denies existence and negates participles. “There was no man” is וְאָדָם אַיִן (2:5), “he had not caused it to rain” is לֹא הִמְטִיר (same verse) — both in one verse.
אֵין … כִּי אִם means “nothing but, none other than.” אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם־בֵּית אֱלֹהִים (28:17, “this is none other than the house of God”): אֵין denies, and כִּי אִם (“but only”) sets up the one thing left.
יֵשׁ and הָיָה — both may be translated “there is,” but יֵשׁ states a state that already exists, while הָיָה is a verb that also says “come to be, happen.”