In short

To say that something exists or is present, Modern Hebrew uses one little word: יש (yesh), “there is / there are”. To say that something is absent or does not exist, it uses its opposite: אין (ein), “there isn’t / there aren’t”. יש חלב במקרר (yesh chalav ba-mekarer) = “there’s milk in the fridge”; אין קפה (ein kafe) = “there’s no coffee”. That is the whole toolbox for stating existence in the present.

The gift here is that both words are completely frozen. Unlike an adjective or a verb, they never change for gender or number — one כלב (kelev) or a hundred כלבים (klavim), masculine or feminine, near or far, it is always plain יש or plain אין. English has three shapes (“there is / there are / there isn’t”); Hebrew has just these two invariant particles.

The rule

Two frozen particles: יש for existence, אין for its absence. יש (yesh) asserts that something is there; אין (ein) denies it. יש מקום (yesh makom) = “there’s room”; אין מקום (ein makom) = “there’s no room”. They are a matched pair — the positive and the negative of the same idea.

They never inflect — this is the core point. Whatever follows, יש and אין keep their exact shape. There is no masculine/feminine form and no plural. יש כלב (yesh kelev, “there’s a dog”), יש כלבים (yesh klavim, “there are dogs”), יש עוגה (yesh uga, “there’s a cake”) — all begin with the identical יש. Do not try to make it “agree”; there is nothing to agree with.

The existent noun is normally indefinite. You are announcing that some thing exists, so it comes without the article: יש חלב (yesh chalav), “there’s milk” — not יש החלב. Using ה־ (ha-) here would point to a specific, already-known item and clash with the “there is a…” meaning.

Add location with כאן / שם or a ב־ phrase. To say where the thing is, drop in a place word — כאן (kan, “here”), שם (sham, “there”), פה (po, “here”) — or a prepositional phrase with ב־ (be-/ba-, “in/at”). יש ילדים בגן (yesh yeladim ba-gan) = “there are kids in the garden”; שם יש מסעדה (sham yesh mis’ada) = “there’s a restaurant over there”. The order is flexible; יש/אין may open the sentence or follow the location.

Yes/no questions are made by intonation alone. No word order changes and no helper is added — you simply say the statement with a rising question tone and write a ”?”: יש מים? (yesh mayim?, “is there water?”). The natural short answers reuse the particle itself: כן, יש (ken, yesh) “yes, there is”; לא, אין (lo, ein) “no, there isn’t”. The everyday exchange יש בעיה? לא, אין בעיה (yesh be’aya? lo, ein be’aya) — literally “is there a problem? no, no problem” — is a fixed phrase you will hear constantly.

אין denies existence — it is not the general word for “not”. Reserve אין for saying that something is absent. The all-purpose “not” that negates verbs and adjectives is לא (lo), and it belongs to the negation lesson. So “there’s no coffee” is אין קפה (ein kafe), but “I don’t drink coffee” uses לא, not אין.

No subject pronoun, no copula. A יש/אין sentence has no הוא/היא (hu/hi) and no linking word — the particle stands on its own. This is a different construction from the nominal sentence of lesson 5, which juxtaposes a subject and a predicate. Here יש/אין simply posits or denies that something is out there.

Present tense only. יש and אין speak about the here-and-now. “There was” and “there will be” switch to forms of היה (haya) — היה (haya) for the past, יהיה (yihye) for the future — which are handled with the copula later. At A1, keep יש/אין firmly in the present.

Forms & patterns

The two particles — one shape each, forever:

The basic frame — particle + indefinite noun (+ optional location):

One particle for every gender and number — nothing changes:

Yes/no question and its short answers — intonation only:

Examples

Common mistakes

• יֵשִׁים / יש רבים -> יש (yesh) - יש never takes a plural; one word covers “there is” and “there are” alike.
• יש החלב במקרר -> יש חלב במקרר (yesh chalav ba-mekarer) - the existent noun stays indefinite; drop the ה־.
• לא קפה (meant as “there’s no coffee”) -> אין קפה (ein kafe) - to deny existence use אין; לא is the general “not” of the negation lesson.
• אינה קפה / ישה עוגה -> אין קפה / יש עוגה (ein kafe / yesh uga) - יש and אין have no feminine form; they are frozen.
• הוא יש חלב -> יש חלב (yesh chalav) - no subject pronoun and no copula; יש stands entirely on its own.
• היה חלב במקרר (meant as present “there is”) -> יש חלב במקרר (yesh chalav ba-mekarer) - היה is past “there was”; present existence is יש.
• אני אין זמן (meant as “I have no time”) -> אין לי זמן (ein li zman) - bare אין denies plain existence; the “I have / haven’t” sense needs ל־, which is a later lesson.

Tips

• Whenever your English says “there is / there are / there’s no”, reach for exactly one of two words: יש or אין. Nothing else is needed.
• Never bend יש/אין for gender or number: יש כלב, יש כלבים, יש עוגה — all start with the identical יש.
• Keep the existent thing indefinite: say יש חלב, not יש החלב.
• To ask, just lift your voice — יש מים? — and answer short with the particle: כן, יש / לא, אין.
• Learn אין בעיה (ein be’aya, “no problem”) as one ready-made everyday phrase.
• Watch the אין vs. לא split: אין denies that something exists, לא is the general “not”. Mixing them is the classic slip.
• Plural-looking nouns like מים (mayim, “water”) still take plain יש/אין — the particle doesn’t react to the ־ים ending.
• יש/אין are present only. For “there was” / “there will be” you’ll switch to היה / יהיה later — don’t force it now.