Hebrew word of the day · Core vocabulary
אֵיפֹהeifo
where
From the Israeli Hebrew Institute: native Israeli teachers, spoken Hebrew, and Dochi, the app that gives you one spoken task every weekday. How we teach
In a sentence
אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁירוּתִים?
eifo hasherutim?
Where's the restroom?
The mistake English speakers make
Asking where the restroom is? Drop the word you think you need.
✗The one everyone says
אֵיפֹה יֵשׁ הַשֵּׁירוּתִים? (eifo yesh hasherutim?) An Israeli hears: are there restrooms at all in this place?
✓What Israelis say
אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁירוּתִים? (eifo hasherutim?, where's the restroom?) That's the whole sentence. No verb needed.
Why
yesh asks if something exists somewhere. The restroom exists, you only want the direction.
Say it tonight
New neighbourhood, you want coffee: אֵיפֹה יֵשׁ כָּאן קָפֶה טוֹב? (eifo yesh kan kafe tov?, where's a good coffee here?)
The rule in one line
Direction: eifo plus the thing. Existence: eifo yesh plus the thing. Same word, two different questions.
Today's Hebrew challenge
Hebrew challenge #55
בָּא לִי קָפֶה
ba li kafe
What does it mean?
- ACoffee came to me
- BBring me a coffee, now
- CI feel like a coffee
Answer in the comments on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. The answer opens the next challenge's post, and appears here tomorrow.
Published 4 November 2026 by the Israeli Hebrew Institute. Every word, sentence and vowel point on this page was checked by a native Israeli teacher.