אין לי מה / אין לי עם מי

Having Nothing or Nobody for an Action

Level 5

אין לי מה לומר means I have nothing to say. אין לי עם מי לדבר means I have nobody to speak with.

How It Works

A Missing Option

אין לי מה לומר says that I have nothing to say. אין לנו איפה לשבת says that we have nowhere to sit. The word after the ל-form names what is unavailable; the infinitive names the action.

A Person and Their Role

אין לי עם מי לדבר names a missing person to speak with. Keep עם because the relationship is לדבר עם, to speak with. אין לי למי לכתוב names a missing person to write to.

Who Has No Option?

לי concerns me, while לנו concerns us. These are statements about an available thing, place, or person. The question words appear inside the statement; they do not turn it into a direct question.

Examples (4)

  1. אין לי מה לומר.

    I have nothing to say.

    מה לומר names unavailable content.

  2. אין לי עם מי לדבר.

    I have nobody to speak with.

    עם מי preserves the companion relationship.

  3. אין לנו איפה לשבת.

    We have nowhere to sit.

    The phrase names a missing location.

  4. אין לי למי לכתוב.

    I have nobody to write to.

    למי names the missing recipient.

Common Mistakes

  • Removing the with relationship from the missing conversation partner.

    אין לי מי לדבר.
    אין לי עם מי לדבר.

    The intended talk-with partner requires עם מי.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

אין לי מה / אין לי עם מיLevel 5Having Nothing or Nobody for an Action

Learn This First

Combine absence with a question word and an infinitive activity or participant relation.