Free grammar · Unit 20 of 20

«That» after I think, I say, I know: שֶׁ

After verbs of thinking and saying, Hebrew joins the second sentence with שֶׁ, a single letter glued to the first word after it: אֲנִי חוֹשֵׁב שֶׁהוּא בַּבַּיִת, «I think that he is at home». English often drops the «that»; Hebrew never does. אֲנִי חוֹשֵׁב הוּא בַּבַּיִת is wrong.

The verbs that take it are the everyday ones: חוֹשֵׁב «think», אוֹמֵר «say», יוֹדֵעַ «know», מְקַוֶּה «hope», בָּטוּחַ «sure», מֵבִין «understand». And one rule that surprises: after אָמַר in the past, the second sentence keeps the tense of the words that were said. הִיא אָמְרָה שֶׁהִיא עֲיֵפָה, «she said that she was tired», is present in Hebrew, because what she said was «I am tired».

The page has the explanation, a table of שֶׁ sentences and the first two exercises: «I think that she is right» and «he said that he is coming tomorrow». The other three, including building a sentence and typing the word with its שֶׁ, open with a free account.