Hebrew grammar
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Hebrew grammar is mostly analytical, expressing such forms as dative, ablative, and accusative using prepositional particles rather than grammatical cases. However inflection does play an important role in the formation of the verbs, nouns and the genitive construct, which is called "smikhut". Words in smikhut are often combined with hyphens.
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Background discussion
Hebrew has only the definite article, "ha-". It is a contraction of an earlier form, probably *hal, the assimilation of the /l/ being evident in the emphasis that normally follows the article. In smikhut, only the main noun (that is the noun to which the other nouns connect) can receive the article.
The two main parts of the Hebrew sentence ("mishpat") are the subject ("noseeh") and the predicate ("nassu"). They are adjusted to each other in gender and person. Thus, in a sentence "ani okhel", "I eat"/"I am eating", "ani", "I", is the subject, and "okhel", "eating" (singular masculine present of the root A-Kh-L in Pa`al) is the verb (Hebrew does not have a system of auxiliary verbs). The subject always receives the definite article, unless it is a pronoun or a name.
Other parts of the Hebrew sentence are the direct object ("musa"), and complements to any noun ("levai"). Unlike English, complements follow the noun, rather than precede it, and also like the verb they follow the subject's gender, person and article. Thus, "Ha-chatul ha-qatan akhal et ha-gvinah", "The small cat ate the cheese", the subject is "ha-chatul", "the cat", the complement is "ha-qatan", "the small", the predicate is "akhal", "ate" (3rd person masculine past of the root A-Kh-L in Pa`al), and "ha-gvinah", "the cheese" is the object. Note that both the words for "cat" and for "small" received the definite article.
The Hebrew grammar distinguishes between various kinds of indirect objects, according to what they specify. Thus, there is a division between objects for time ("te'ur zman"), objects for place ("te'ur makom"), objects for reason ("te'ur sibah") and many others. Additionally, Hebrew distinguishes between various kinds of verbless fragments, also according to their use, such as "tmurah" for elaboration, "qri'ah" for exclamation, "pniyah" for approach and "hesger" for disclosing the opinion of a certain party using direct speech (e.g. "le-da'at ha-rofe, ha-i'shun mazik la-briut", "[according to] the opinion of the doctor, smoking is harmful to health").
A sentence may lack a subject. In this case it is called "stami", or "causual". If several parts of the sentence have the same function and are attached to the same word, they are called "kolel", "collective". Two or more sentences who do not share common parts and are separated by comma are called "mishpat mehubar", or "added". In many cases, the second sentence uses a pronoun that stands for the other's subject; they are generally interconnected.
A sentence in which one or more of the parts are replaced by a clause ("psukit") is called a compound sentence, or "mishpat murkav". Compound sentences use the preposition "she-", "that". For example, in the sentence "Yosi omer she-hu okhel", "Yosi says that he is eating", "Yosi omer" ("Yosi says") is the main sentence, followed by a direct subject clause "hu okhel" ("He is eating").
Verbs
The Hebrew word for "verb" is po'al. Most Hebrew verbs have three tenses (past, present, and future), an imperative, and an infinitive. While this may seem quite simple, the conjugation of Hebrew verbs is extremely complex in practice and exceptions are common.
Root and binyan
All Hebrew verbs have a root consisting of three (occasionally four) consonants. The same root can be conjugated according to one of seven conjugations (Hebrew binyanim). The seven binyanim are known as pa’al (or qal), nif’al, pi’el, pu’al, hif’il, huf’al, and hitpa’el.
For example, using the root k-t-v, we might find the forms:
katavti (binyan pa’al, first person singular, past tense: “I wrote”)
nikhtevim (binyan nif’al, masculine plural, present tense: “they are being written”)
hakhtivi (binyan hif’il, feminine singular imperative: “dictate!”)
yitkhatev (binyan hitpa’el, third person masculine singular: “he will correspond”).
Sometimes the same root conjugated in two different binyanim will have a related meaning. For instance, the pu’al is the passive form of the pi’el and the huf’al is the passive form of the hif’il.
There are other more tenuous relationships: the hif’il is sometimes causative and the hitpa’el is sometimes reflexive. These relationships, however, cannot always be relied on.
Present tense
The present tense (hove) is conjugated by number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine), but not by person. As a result it has only four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural. Therefore, the same pronoun may take different forms depending on whether a man or a woman (or a masculine or feminine noun), or a group of men or women, is the subject, for instance:
ani kotev (=”I write,” if a man is speaking) ani kotevet (=”I write,” if a woman is speaking)
anachnu kotvim (=”we write,” a group of men or a mixed group) anachnu kotvot (=”we write,” a group of women)
Personal pronouns are almost always used in the present tense.
Past tense
The past tense (‘avar) is conjugated by person, number, and (in the second person and the third person singular only) gender. Therefore with our example root k-t-v, we have:
katavti (I wrote) katavta (you, masc., wrote) katavt (you, fem., wrote) katav (he wrote) katva (she wrote) katavnu (we wrote) katavtem (you, masc. pl., wrote) katavten (you, fem. pl., wrote) katvu (they wrote)
Personal pronouns are not necessary in the past tense, although colloquially they are sometimes used in the third person.
Future tense
The future tense (‘atid) is conjugated by person, number, and (in the second person and the third person singular only) gender. With our example root k-t-v:
ekhtov (I wrote) tikhtov (you, masc., wrote) tikhtevi (you, fem., wrote) yikhtov (he wrote) tikhtov (she wrote) nikhtov (we wrote) tikhtevu (you, pl., wrote) yikhtevu (they wrote)
The form tikhtovna (you, fem. pl., or they, fem. pl. wrote) appears in biblical Hebrew but is extinct in modern Hebrew.
Like the past tense, personal pronouns are not strictly necessary in the future tense, as the verb forms are sufficient to identify the subject, but colloquially they are frequently used.
Mood and voice
In modern Hebrew, the imperative (tsivui) is the same as the future tense (e.g. tiftach (masc.), tiftechi (fem.), tiftechu (plur.) "open!") The negative imperative requires the prefix ‘al, e.g.: ‘al tiftach “don’t open!”
The first and third person future forms can also be used as an imperative, for instance niftach (“let’s open!”). In the first person singular and the third person, it is usually prefixed by the conjunction she- (that), as in she-yiftach “let him open!” or she-eftach? “should I open?”
There is a classical imperative form that is still used in more formal speech (e.g. ptach!/pitchi!/pitkhu!) as well as in certain common verbs (e.g. bo' "come" or zuz "move.") To make this form more polite, the particle –na’ may be added, as in ptach-na’ “please open.”
There is also a “general imperative” that applies to nobody in particular and is identical to the infinitive, e.g. lehakshiv! “everybody listen!” In the negative this uses lo’ instead of ‘al, e.g.: lo’ lazuz! “no moving!” This form is somewhat less polite.
The pu’al and huf’al binyanim have no imperative form.
Participles
Present participles are identical to present tense forms: nerot bo’arim “burning candles,” ha-yalda hi’ maqsima “the girl is charming.”
Only the pa’al binyan has a true past participle: from k-t-v we have katuv, “written.” This gives Hebrew a limited ability to distinguish between a completed action, e.g.:
ha-sfarim ketuvim (“the books have been written”)
And, using the present tense of nif’al, which is often the passive of pa’al, a continuing action:
ha-sfarim nikhtavim (“the book are being written”).
The passive participle can also be used as an adjective, as in ha-pekuda ha-ketuva, “the written order.”
The present tense of the pu’al and huf’al are used as passive participles for the pi’el and hif’il respectively, e.g. from hif’il leha’ir we get cheder mu’ar “illuminated room.”
Gerunds
To express the concept rendered in English by the gerund (as in “driving is fun,” modern Hebrew uses the infinitive: linhog ze kef (literally, “to drive is fun.”)
In some situations, an English gerund as the object of a preposition will be rendered by a full phrase, e.g. “we’re discussing your leaving early,” anachnu danim be-ze she-ata ‘ozev muqdam (literally: “we’re discussing that you’re leaving early.”)
Nouns
The Hebrew word for "noun" is shem etsem.
Hebrew nouns are inflected by gender, number (and sometimes by possession) but not by case. Nouns are generally correlated to verbs (by shared roots), but their forming is not as systematic, often due to loanwords from foreign languages.
Gender
Hebrew distinguishes between masculine nouns—such as yeled ("boy, child")—and feminine nouns—such as yalda ("girl").
Feminine nouns can generally be identified by the characteristic endings -a, or -t.
Number
Generally, Hebrew distinguishes between singular and plural forms of a noun.
Masculine nouns generally form their plural by adding -im, for example:
machshev (computer) > machshevim
The addition of the extra syllable often causes the vowel in the first syllable to shorten, for instance:
davar (thing) > dvarim
Many common two-syllable masculine nouns, called segolates because most (but not all) of them have the vowel segol (-e-) in both syllables, undergo more drastic characteristic vowel changes in the plural, e.g.:
yeled (boy) > yeladim
boqer (morning) > bqarim
cheder (room) > chadarim
Feminine nouns ending in -a or -at generally drop this ending and add -ot. Vowel changes are rare in this category, for instance:
mita (bed) > mitot
mis‘ada (restaurant) > mis‘adot
tsalachat (plate) > tsalachot
Nouns ending in -et also replace this ending with -ot, but the vowel -e- is likely to change to -a-, e.g.:
machberet (notebook) > machbarot
Nouns ending in -ut replace this ending with -uyot, e.g.:
chanut (store) > chanuyot
Plural exceptions
A large number of masculine nouns take the "feminine" ending -ot in the plural:
maqom (place) > mqomot
chalon (window) > chalonot
A small number of feminine nouns take the "masculine" ending -im:
mila (word) > milim
shana (year) > shanim
Many plurals simply cannot be predicted from the singular at all and must be separately memorized:
‘ir (city) > ‘arim
‘iparon (pencil) > ‘efronot
‘ish (man) > ‘anashim
Dual
Hebrew also has a dual number, expressed in the ending -ayim, but even in ancient times its use was very restricted. In modern times it is used in expressions of time and number. These nouns have plurals as well, which are used for numbers higher than two, for example:
shavu‘a echad (one week)
shavu‘ayim (two weeks) but
shlosha shavu‘ot (three weeks)
me‘a (one hundred)
m‘atayim (two hundred) but
shalosh me‘ot (three hundred).
The dual is also used for some body parts, for instance:
regel (leg) > raglayim
In this case, even if there are more than two, the dual is still used, for instance la-kelev yesh arba‘ raglayim, the dog has four legs.
The dual is also used for certain objects that are "inherently" dual. These words have no singular, for instance mishqafayim ("eyeglasses") and misparayim ("scissors"). As in English "two pairs of pants," the plural of these words uses the word zug ("pair"), e.g. shnai zugot misparayim, "two pairs of scissors."
Possession
Possession is generally indicated by a possessive pronoun—sheli (="my, mine") following a determinated noun, e.g.:
ha-sefer sheli ("my book")
ha-dira shelkha ("your apartment").
In formal style nouns are inflected to show possession; a personal suffix is added to a special form of the noun called the construct. So sefer can be inflected to form sifri ("my book"), sifrekha ("your book, masc."), sifrekh ("your book, fem.") and so forth, while dira ("apartment") gives dirati, diratkha, diratekh, etc.
While the use of these forms is mostly restricted to formal and literary speech, they are in regular use in certain cases.
Many common idiomatic phrases use these forms, for instance ma shlomkha? ("what is your peace," or "how are you?") or le-da‘ati ("in my opinion").
In addition, the inflected possessive is commonly used for terms of kinship, for instance bni ("my son"), bitam ("their daughter"), ‘ishto ("his wife") are preferred to ha-ben sheli, ha-bat shelahem, and ha-‘isha shelo.
Word formation
In the same way that Hebrew verbs are conjugated by applying various prefixes, suffixes and internal vowel combinations, Hebrew nouns can be formed by applying various "meters" (Hebrew mishqalim) to the same roots.
For instance, "action nouns" can be formed from pa'al verbs by applying the mishqal pe'ila:
shaqa' ("sank") > sheqi‘a ("sinking" or "sunset")
katav ("wrote") > ketiva ("writing")
Many other mishqalim are unique to nouns, for instance the pa'alan meter, meaning "someone who does this":
pachad ("be afraid") > pachdan ("coward")
letz ("joke") > letzan ("clown")
or the pa'elet mishqal, meaning "a disease":
‘adom ("red") > ademet ("measles")
kelev ("dog") > kalevet ("rabies")
more amusingly, from nyar ("paper") > nayeret ("red tape").
New nouns are also often formed by the addition of two existing stems. For example, qol (="sound") and noa‘ (="motion") create together qolnoa‘, (="cinema").
Adjectives
The Hebrew adjective (shem toar) comes after the noun and agrees with it in gender and number, i.e.:
sefer qatan (small book)
sfarim qtanim (small books)
buba qtana (small doll)
bubot qtanot (small dolls)
Adjectives ending in "-i" have slightly different forms:
'ish meqomi (a local man)
'isha meqomit (a local woman)
'anashim meqomiyim (local people)
'nashim meqomiyot (local women)
Masculine nouns that take the "feminine" plural ending -ot still take masculine plural adjectives, e.g. mqomot yafim, "beautiful places" (and of course the reverse goes for feminine plural nouns ending in -im, e.g. milim arukot, "long words.")
Note also that many adjectives, like segolate nouns, change their vowel structure in the feminine and plural.
Accord with the definite article
Hebrew adjectives that modify a determinated noun also take the definite article, for instance ha-sefer ha-qatan, "the small book," or ha-bubot ha-qtanot, "the small dolls."
Adjectives derived from verbs
Many adjectives in Hebrew are derived from the present tense of verbs, for example so'er (stormy), menutaq (alienated), or marshim (impressive).
These adjectives are conjugated like the verbs they are derived from, so for instance:
so‘er (pa'al) gives so‘eret, so‘arim, so‘arot
menutak (pu'al) gives menuteqet, menutqim, menutqot
marshim (hif'il) gives marshima, marshimim, marshimot
Adverbs
The Hebrew term for adverb is toar ha-po‘al.
Hebrew forms adverbs in several different ways.
A few common adjectives can use the masculine singular form as an adverb as well, for instance chazaq ("strongly"), yafe ("nicely") or barur ("clearly").
Some adjectives have a unique adverb that must be memorized, for instance maher ("quickly") or le‘at ("slowly"). These forms cannot be used as adjectives (the corresponding adjectives are mahir and ‘iti).
In most cases, though, the adverb will be expressed by some sort of adverbial phrase. Many adjectives prefer the prefix be- plus a noun, for instance be-zehirut ("with care" or "carefully"); be-‘adinut ("with delicacy" or "gently").
Others prefer be-ofen plus the masculine singular adjective, or be-tsura plus the feminine singular, e.g. be-ofen me-afyen ("in a characteristic way" or "characteristically") or be-tsura elegantit ("in an elegant way" or "elegantly").
The use of one of these methods does not necessarily preclude the use of the others: even though le‘at exists, for instance, one may also use be-‘itiut to express "slowly" in a more elegant way.
External links
- Online Hebrew Tutorial (http://foundationstone.com.au/HtmlSupport/FrameSupport/onlineHebrewTutorialFrame.html) (foundationstone)
- Hebrew is easy (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/babel-site/) (babel-site)
- Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar (http://www.adath-shalom.ca/gk_cont.htm)
- Learning Hebrew - Links (http://www.yiwoodmere.org/library/cybrary/hebrew.html), Young Israel