ש־

That and Relative Clauses

Level 3

ש can introduce what someone says or thinks, or a clause that describes a noun. It attaches to the first word of that clause.

How It Works

A Content Clause

Use ש after a suitable expression such as אני חושב or היא אומרת: היא אומרת שהיא עייפה. The embedded clause keeps its own subject and agreement. The two subjects need not be the same person.

A Clause Describing a Noun

הילדה שגרה כאן is the girl who lives here. השם שקראתי is the name that I read. Hebrew ש does not change to a separate who merely because the described noun is a person.

Relationships Inside the Clause

A preposition often remains with a personal form: הבית שאני גר בו, the house that I live in; האישה שאני מדבר איתה, the woman I am talking with. Direct-object relatives commonly omit the corresponding object pronoun, as in הספר שקניתי. Do not impose one omission rule on subject, direct-object and prepositional relatives alike.

Examples (4)

  1. אני יודע שדנה בבית.

    I know that Dana is at home.

    ש introduces the content of the knowing.

  2. היא אומרת שהיא עייפה.

    She says that she is tired.

    The embedded clause has its own subject.

  3. הספר שקניתי קצר.

    The book I bought is short.

    The relative clause describes הספר.

  4. זה הבית שאני גר בו.

    This is the house I live in.

    בו preserves the in relationship inside the relative clause.

Common Mistakes

  • Discarding the preposition required by the ordinary live-in relative.

    זה הבית שאני גר.
    זה הבית שאני גר בו.

    בו expresses in it inside the clause describing the house.

How It Connects

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

ש־Level 3That and Relative Clauses

Learn This First

Attach a clause to a noun or proposition while preserving its participant roles.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

And 4 more in the full list.