Hebrew letters, including soffits, in alphabetical order

Hebrew is the official language of Israel and is spoken fluently by most of the country's population, including many Israeli Arabs and Druze. Modern Hebrew was revived in late XIX V. and quite different from the language Old Testament. Together with Arabic and Amharic, Hebrew is part of the Semitic group. Knowledge of Arabic will help in learning Hebrew, but Arabs and Jews are prevented from understanding each other by significant differences in the pronunciation of sounds and different writing systems.

In Hebrew there is a significant difference between the official and spoken languages, manifested even in the most simple sentences. Many textbooks and manuals set out the academic standard of the language, but the words from this phrasebook are simpler, more street-read.

Alphabet

Hebrew uses its own alphabet, which, apart from it, is used only in other Jewish languages. There are 22 letters in total (or 23, if divided shin/syn), read from right to left and top to bottom. There are no capital letters. The pages in Hebrew books must be turned reverse side. Each letter has its own name. In the list, the letters are shown in dictionary order.

א (aleph) is not read ב (bet) like Russians B or INג (gimel) like Russian Gד (dalet) like Russian Dה (hey) like English h, at the end of the word ו (vav) is not read like Russian IN, ABOUT or Uז (zain) like Russian Zח (het) like Russian Xט (tet) like Russian Tי (yud) like Russians Y, AND or Eכ (kaf) like Russians TO or Xל (lamed) like Russian LHמ (meme) like Russian Mנ (nun) like Russian Nס (samekh) like Russian WITHע (ain) is not read פ (pei) like Russians P or Fצ (tsadi) like Russian Cק (kuf) like Russian TOר (resh) as in “burr” Rש (shin/sin) like Russians Sh or WITHת (tav) like Russian T

Soffits

The letters kaf, mem, nun, pei, tzadi also have terminal variants - the so-called spotlights. They are used if the given letter is the last in the word. The soffits look like this:

כ = ך ,מ = ם ,נ = ן ,פ = ף ,צ = ץ

The use of spotlights is mandatory. There is only one case when a regular letter is written at the end instead of a soffit - when the letter פ at the end of a borrowed word is read as P(in Hebrew words this is impossible).

Reading rules

Hebrew phonetics almost coincides with Russian, with the exception of “burr” R and the letters ה, but reading Hebrew words is a big problem.

The first difficulty arises from the fact that the letters א and ע are not readable. The appearance of one of these letters at the beginning of a word means that the word begins with a vowel (which is unknown), and in the middle of a word these letters usually signal that there is a combination of two vowels. Arabic connoisseurs should note that the Hebrew aleph is not identical to the Arabic alif, but to the Arabic letter “hamza”.

The second difficulty is consonant letters with two reading options. There are four of them - ב, כ, פ and ש. The first three letters have two reading options - hard ( B, K, P) and soft ( V, X, F). The hard version is always used at the beginning of the word, and the soft version at the end. In the middle, both options can be used. Israelis themselves sometimes confuse these two options and will have no problem understanding you if you confuse them. With the letter ש the situation is different, since they are actually two different letters - shin and sin, which are written the same in modern Hebrew. Formally, the letter "shin" is written with a dot in the upper right corner, and "sin" - in the upper left, but usually the dots are not placed, and the letters merge. There are no rules to help determine what is in front of us - Sh or WITH- does not exist, the words just need to be remembered, and here the Israelis forgive confusion much less often.

The third difficulty is letters that are read the same but written differently. Sound IN correspond to the letters ב and ו, the sound TO- letters כ and ק, sound X- letters כ and ח, sound T- letters ט and ת, sound WITH- letters ס and ש. If you are not going to write in Hebrew, then this difficulty is not so scary.

The fourth difficulty is vowels, which in most cases are not written at all. Regarding vowels, there are the following rules. Vowel U always written with the letter ו. Vowel ABOUT in most cases it is also written with the letter ו. Vowel AND usually not written when it is in the first syllable, in other cases it is written after the letter י. Vowel E usually not written, in rare cases it is indicated by the letter י. Vowel A usually not written unless a word ends with it.

The letter ה at the end of a word is unreadable, but indicates that the word ends with a vowel. In 99% of cases it is the vowel A or E, with A being much more common. If there is a letter ע or ח at the end of a word, then the last vowel in the word will necessarily be A, in the case of a final ח, the word ends with -Oh.

In some cases, vowels can be written using so-called vowels - dots and dashes that appear above or below the previous consonant. The vocalization system is very complex and is not usually used, so we do not describe it here. The Israelis themselves understand which vowel should be pronounced based on the context and general sense of the language, but a foreigner will not be able to read the Hebrew text correctly without knowing the language itself, but will understand the approximate reading, on the basis of which he will be able to “guess” the word if it is for him met before.

In addition, the letters י,ו and ה can also represent consonants. The following rules apply here. The letter י at the beginning of a word is always read as Y, in other positions it can mean Y or AND. If there is a sound in the middle of a word Y, then this is usually indicated by the combination יי. The letter ו at the beginning of a word is always read as IN, in other positions - usually like ABOUT or U. If in the middle of a word ו means IN, then this is indicated by the combination וו. The letter ה is very difficult. At the end of the word, as already indicated, it is read as a vowel. In all other positions, theoretically, the letter should be read as English h, but in practice it is often read as a barely noticeable aspiration or not read at all, similar to the letters א and ע.

In borrowed words, sounds missing in Hebrew are marked with an apostrophe: "צ is H, "ג is J, "ז is AND.

Hebrew punctuation follows European punctuation, with the exception of the apostrophe, which is slanted to distinguish it from the letter י. The double apostrophe sign means that we have an abbreviation; it is always placed before the last letter of the abbreviation. Abbreviations are read like ordinary words, all vowels are A. For example, צה""ל is IDF, israeli army. This sign is also used when writing numbers in Hebrew numerals.

Grammatical categories

There are no cases in Hebrew, nouns are not declined.

Rhoda

Every noun in Hebrew has a masculine or feminine gender. There are no words of the general kind, as in Russian, in Hebrew, that is, it is impossible, for example, to say “writer” about a woman - only “writer”. Usually words female end with -A(ה-) or on -T(ת-). Words with other endings are usually masculine. All names of cities and countries, regardless of the ending, are feminine.

Numbers

The plural is formed by adding suffixes: -THEM(ים-) for masculine words, -FROM(ות-) for feminine words. There are many exceptions when words in the plural either take endings of a “foreign” gender or change their basis. For example the word gadol(big) in the plural sounds gdolim.

Deposits

Hebrew has a very complex system of pledges, or so-called binyans. Each verbal root has seven voices, conveying different shades of meaning. As a rule, you just need to remember the verb along with the voice in which it is found.

Tenses and conjugations

There are three tenses - past, present and future. In the present tense, verbs change according to gender and number, but are not conjugated according to person. In the past and future, verbs change according to persons and numbers, and in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular - also according to gender. Verb conjugations are very complex, since the table is different for each of the seven binyans.

Articles

Hebrew has a definite article ha(ה). It is always written together with the word it stands in front of. The article does not change according to gender and number.

Pairing

When two nouns are combined with each other, the first of them is put in the so-called conjugated form or smichut. Singular feminine words ending in -A(ה-) change the ending to -AT(ת-). Plural masculine words ending in -THEM(ים-) change the ending to -HEY(י-). In other forms the words usually do not change, but there are exceptions. The second word of Smichut does not change. The article in smikhut always comes before the second word. The gender and number of the Smichut is determined by the gender and number of its first word.

Construction of a sentence

The word order in a Hebrew sentence is partially free. It is usually close to Russian, but there is one important difference: adjectives always come after nouns. For example, Kelev Gadol- “big dog.” IN interrogative sentences The word order is the same as in narrative ones, the question is conveyed by intonation.

Polite and basic words

Hello! שלום - shalom Good morningבוקר טוב - boker tov Good eveningערב טוב - erev tov How are you? מה נשמע - ma nishma How are you?מה שלומך - ma shlomkha (to a woman - ma shlomekh) Everything is fine הכל בסדר - ha-kol beseder Goodbye להתראות - le-hitraot, sometimes also

shalom

My name is… קוראים לי - korym li Yes כן - ken No לא - lo Okay בסדר - conversationder Thank you תודה - toda Thank you very much תודה רבה - toda raba Please בבקשה - bevakasha Sorry סלי חה - slikha May I? … אפשר - efshar

I אני - ani You אתה - ata (appeal to a man); את - at (appeal to a woman) He הוא - hu She היא - h and We אנחנו - anahnu you אתם - atem; if there are only women in the group, then אתן - aten They הם - hem; if there are only women in the group, then הן - hen

Possessive pronouns

Formed by conjugating a preposition shel. They are always placed after the noun they refer to, with an article placed before the noun: “my passport” = הדרכון שלי (ha-darkon sheli). They do not change by gender and number.

My שלי - go Your שלך - read Shelha, if the item belongs to a man, shelah- if the woman was His (“his”) שלו - shelo Her (“her”) שלה - shela Our שלנו - shelanu Vash שלכם - shelachem Their (“their”) שלהם - shelahem

Other pronouns

Index fingers

Here פה - according to There שם - sham This זה - ze, zh.r. - זאת - zot

Interrogatives and relatives

Interrogative and relative pronouns sound the same, as in Russian.

What מה - ma Who מי - mi Where איפה - éfo Where לאן - lean Where מאיפה - me-eifo When מתי - matai How much כמה - kama How איך - eyh Why למה - lama

Negative and uncertain

Indefinite pronouns (someone, something, etc.) are formed from relative pronouns and the particle -shehu (-שהו): Misha, waving etc.

Nobody אף אחד - af ehad Nothing כלום - klum, also שום דבר - noise davar Nowhere שום מקום - noise makom Never אף פעם - af paam All כל - kol Everything הכל - ha-kol

Numerals

Hebrew has a very complex number system. All numbers from 1 to 19 change by gender depending on the gender of the noun; ordinal numbers are formed incorrectly and also change by gender. In addition, there are smikhut forms of numerals that are also formed incorrectly.

The Israelis themselves often say numbers incorrectly - they omit the plural of the noun, and always pronounce the numeral in the feminine gender. So, ten shekels according to the rules will be asara scalem, and in conversation - Socialist Revolutionary Shekel. The exception is the unit, which is usually spoken in the masculine gender.

In addition to ordinary numbers, there are special Hebrew numbers that are outwardly indistinguishable from letters. They are used rarely - mainly to indicate months and years on the Hebrew calendar.

0 אפס - ephes 1 אחד - ehad 2 שתיים - shtaim 3 שלוש - shalosh 4 ארבע - arba 5 חמש - hamesh 6 שש - shesh 7 שבע - sheva 8 ונה - shmona 9 תשה - teisha 10 עשר - eser 11 אחת עשרה - ahat- esre 12 שתים עשרה - shteim-esre 13 שלוש עשרה - shlosh-esre 14 ארבע עשרה - arba-esre 15 חמש עשרה - hamesh-esre 16 ששע שרה - shesh-esre 17 שבע עשרה - shva-esre 18 שמנה עשרה - shmona-esre 19 תשה עשרה - tsha-esre 20 עשרים - esrim 21 עשרים ואחד - esrim ve-ehad 30 שלושים - shloshim 40 ארבעים - arbaim 50 חמשים - hamishim 60 ששים - shishim 70 שבעים - shivim 80 שמונים - shmonim 90 תשעים - quiet 100 מאה - mea 200 מתיים - matayim 300 שלוש מאות - shlosh-meot 1000 אלף - eleph Percent אחוז - akhuz Half חצי - hetzi Number מספר - mispar

Basic adjectives and adverbs

All adjectives are given in two forms: masculine and feminine singular. Adverbs usually coincide with masculine adjectives.

Good טוב - tov / טובה - tova Bad לא טוב - lo tov / לא טובה - lo tova New חדש - hadash / חדשה - hadasha Old ישן - yashan / ישנה - eshana (only about things) Hot חם - boor / חמה - boor Cold קר - kar / קרה - kara Big גדול - gadol / גדולה - gdola Small קטן - katan / קטנה - ktana Complex, heavy קשה - porridge / קשה - porridge Light קל - kahl / - kala Much הרבה - harbe Little קצת - ktsat Very מאוד - method More יותר - Yoter Less פחות - plowing Usually בדרך כלל - be-derech klal Rarely, sometimes לפעמים - liphaim Fast מהר - maher Slow לאט - leat

Comparatives are formed by placing words in front of the adjective Yoter or plowing.

Verbs

Verbs "to be" and "to have"

The infinitive of the Hebrew verb “to be” is להיות (lihyot). This verb does not have a present tense, so sentences like “I am a tourist” (אני תייר, ani tayar) are pronounced without a verb, as in Russian. In the past tense most useful forms these are.

I was הייתי - haiti He was הייה - hai She was הייתה - haita They were הייו - hai

There is no verb “to have” in Hebrew. Instead, two particles are used: positive יש (esh) and negative אין (ein). These particles are placed at the beginning of a sentence, do not change according to gender, person or number, and are usually used with a preposition le and its forms.

I don't have time אין לי זמן - ein li zman

Basic verbs

All verbs are given in two forms: masculine and feminine singular present tense. In the present tense, verbs do not change persons, so “I am going” and “he is going” will be the same in Hebrew.

To do עושה - ose / עושה - wasp To want רוצה - rotse / רוצה - rotsa To be able יכול - yachol / יכולה - echola To be due צריך - kings / צריכה - tsrikha To love אוהב - ohev / אוהבת - ohevet Go הולך - holekh / הולכת - holekhet Go ??? כלת - oheleth Sleep ישן - yashan / ישנה - eshanah Speak מדבר - medaber / מדברת - medaberet Understand מבין - mevin / מבינה - mevina Work עובד - oved / עובדת - oved See רואה - rohe / רואה - roa See מסתקל - mistakel / מסתקל - mitakelet Hear שמע - shomeʁa / שמעת - shomaʁat Know יודע - yodeʁa / יודעת - yodʁat Read קורא - kore / קוראת - koret Search מחפש - mehapes / מחפשת - mechapéset Find מוצא - motse / מוצאת - motset

Function words

Prepositions

There are not many prepositions in Hebrew, but they are all conjugated by persons. This means that if a preposition is used with a personal pronoun, it takes on a different form. For example, ל + אתה will be לך (lecha, yours). Preposition conjugations shel identical possessive pronouns. Another popular excuse le conjugates similarly, but without the initial she. Single letter prepositions be, le, mi written together with the next word. If the word following such a preposition is used with an article, then the article is not written, and the prepositions are read with A at the end: “ba”, “la”.

The genitive preposition של is shel. Also, the construction “smichut” is often used to convey the genitive case.

The dative preposition ל - le. It also indicates direction and answers the questions “where”, “to whom”, “with whom”.

The preposition of the instrumental case ב - be. It also denotes location and answers the questions “where”, “in what”, “how”. she Accusative preposition את - et. Sometimes it goes down. From, from מ - mi. Sometimes it's read "meh". With, together with עם - them Without בלי - bli During במשך - bemeʹsheh Because of בגלל - biglal

Unions

Unions

And

ve

, like prepositions, are written together with the following word, but are not conjugated and do not affect the article.

And ו - ve Or או - about But אבל - aval What ש - she Because כי - ki If...then אם עז - im...azשפה - safa (f.) Word מילה - mila (f.) Hebrew עברית - Hebrew (f.) Russian רוסית - Rusit (f.) English אנגלית - English (f.) Dictionary מילון - milon (m.) water תרגום - targum (m.) I speak Hebrew a little bit

Time

Time זמן - zman (m.) Time פעם - paam (f.), pl. h. - peamim Year שנה - shana (f.), pl. h. - shanim Month חודש - hódesh (m.), pl. h. - hodashim Week שבוע - shavua (m.), pl. h. - Shavuot Day יום - yom (m.), pl. hours - yamim Night לילה - layla (m.) Morning בוקר - boqer (m.) Midday צהריים - tsohoraim (m., plural) Evening ערב - erev (m.) Hour שעה - shaa (f.) Minute דקה - daka (f.) Moment רגע - rega (m.) Now עכשיו - akhshav Previously לפני - lifney Later אחרי - acharei Yesterday אתמול - etmol Today היום - ha-yom Tomorrow מחר - ma har Last year בשנה שעברה - be- shana she-avra Next year בשנה הבאה - be-shana ha-baa What time is it?

מה השעה - ma ha-shaa

Months

Jewish lunar months are used for religious purposes only; Jews generally use standard months. All month names are masculine.

January ינואר - January February פברואר - February March מרץ - Merz April אפריל - April May מאי - May June יוני - June July יולי - July August או גוסט - August September ספטמבר - September October אוקטובר - October November נובמבר - November December דצמבר - December

Days of the week Hebrew often uses abbreviations for the days of the week; they are indicated in parentheses. All of them, except Saturday, are formed from the word eat

(day) and ordinal numbers from 1 to 6, are masculine.

Sunday ים ראשון - yom-rishon (א׳) Monday ים שני - yom-sheni (ב׳) Tuesday ים שלישי - yom-shlishi (ג׳) Wednesday ים רביעי - yom-revii (ד׳) Thursday ים חמישי - yom- hamishi (ה׳) Friday ים ששי - yom-shishi (ו׳) Saturday שבת - Shabbat (f.) (ש׳)

Money Money כסף - kesef (m.) Shekel שקל - shekel (m., plural shallim), also ש׳׳ח - shah Cash מזומן - mezuman (m.) Bank בנק - bank (m.) Bank card

כרטיס אשראי - kartis-ashray (m.) ATM כספומט - kaspomat (m.) I have no money אין לי כסף - ein li kesef How much does it cost?

To the left - tar To the right - tsómet (f.) City center מרכז העיר - merkaz ha-ir ( m.) Map מפה - mapa (f.) Street רחוב - rekhov (m.) Avenue שדרות - sderot (f.) Road דרך - derekh (m.) Highway, highway כביש - kvish (m.) North צפון - tsafon ( m.) South דרום - free (m.) West מערב - maarav (m.) East מזרח - mizrach (m.) Far רחוק - rahok Close קרוב - karov

Transport

Trilingual road sign

Driver נהג - nahag (m.) Car מכונית - mekhonite (f.) Bus אוטובוס - otobus (m.) Taxi מונית - monit (f.) Minibus מונית שירות - monit-sherut (f.) Train רכבת - rakevet (f. ) Airplane מטוס - matos (m.) Bicycle אופניים - ofanaim (m., plural) On foot ברגל - ba-regel Hitchhiking טרמפ - trem (m.) Bus station תחנה מרכזית - tahana-merkazit (f.) Bus stop תחנת אוטובוס - tahanat-otobus Railway station תחנת רכבת - tahanat-rakevet (f.) Airport נמל תעופה - nemal-teufa (m.) Ticket כרטיס - kartis (m.) Ticket office ה - kupa (f.) Stop here תעצור פה - taatsor po

Cities and countries

All names of cities and countries in Hebrew, like the words “city” and “country” themselves, are feminine. Only those names of cities and countries are given whose reading differs in Russian and Hebrew.

City עיר - ir Jerusalem ירושלים - Yerushalayim Haifa חיפה - Heifa Nazareth נצרת - Nazareth Bethlehem בית לחם - Beit Lechem Dead Sea ים המלח - yam Ha-melah Golan Heights רמת הגולן - Ramat Ha-Golan Country מדינה - Medina Israel מדינת ישראל - Medinat -Israel, also ארץ ישראל - Eretz Yisrael Israeli ישראלי - Israelite Jew יהודי - Yehudi Palestine פלסטין - Falastin West Bank יהודה ושו מרון - ehuda ve-shomron Gaza עזה - aza Egypt מצריים - Mizraim Syria סורייה - suriya Lebanon לבנון - Levanon Jordan ירדן - Yarden Arab ערבי - Aravi Russia רוסייה - Russia Russian רוסי - Rus' USSR ברית המועצות - Brit Ha-Moatzot

Overnight

Hotel בית מלון - Beit Malon (m.) Hostel אכסנייה - Akhsaniya (f.) Room חדר - cheder (m.)

Food

Restaurant מסorn - Misada (f.) Kosher כשר - cashier meat בשר - bassar (m.) Milk חלו - halav (m.) Parve פרווה - Parve (m.) Beef (m.) Bakar (m.) Chicken אוף - of (m. .) Fish דג - dag (m.) Falafel פלאפל - falafel (m.) Shawarma שווארמה - shavarma (f.) Cheese גבינה - gvina (f.) Bryndza בולגרית - bulgarit (f.) ytso ביצה - beytsa (female) Bread לחם - lechem (m.) Potatoes תפוח אדמה - tapuah-adama (m.) Rice אורז - cut (m.) Noodles נודלס - noodles (m.) Glass קוס - kos (m.) Water מים - ma ́im (m. , pl.) Coffee קפה - cafe (m.) Tea תה - those (m.) Juice מיץ - mits (m.) Wine יין - yaʹin (m.) Beer בירה - bira (f.) Salt מלח - melakh (m.) Fruits פירות - perot (m., plural) Vegetables ירקות - erakot (m., plural) Mushrooms פטריות - pitriyot (f., plural)

Purchases

Supermarket סופרמרקט - supermarket (m.), sometimes - super Shopping center קניון - canyon (m.) Shop חנות - khanut (f.) Bazaar שוק - shuk (m.)

Signs

Open פתוח - patuʁah Closed סגור - sagur Entrance כניסה - knisa Exit יציאה - eziah Toilet שירותים - sherutim Male גברים - gvarim Female נשים - ours puppy אסור - asur No smoking אסור לעשן - asur leashen

Security and problems

Help עזרה - ezra (f.) Police משטרה - mishtara (f.) Crime פשע - pesha (m.) Criminal פושע - poshea (m.), also גנב - ganav (m.) Terrorist טרוריסט - terrorist (m.) .) Accident תאונה - teuna (f.) Theft גניבה - rot (m.) Corpse גופה - gufa (f.) Passport דרכון - darkon (m.) Visa ויזה - visa (f.) Embassy שגרירות - shagrirut (f.) ) Doctor רופא - Rofe (m.) Hospital בית חולים - Beit Cholim (m.) Ambulanceמגן דוד אדום - magen david adom (m.) Sick חולה - hole (f. - hola) Fire אש - esh (m.) Can I call from you?

אפשר להתקשר ממך - efshar lehitkasher mimcha (to a woman - mimech)

Local realities

Orthodox Jew דתי - dati, also מהדרין - mehadrin (m.) Synagogue בית כנסת - Beit Knesset (m.) Holiday חג - chag (m.) Congratulations on the holiday חג שמח - hag Sameh Repatriation ע לייה - aliyah (female) Repatriate עולה - ole (plural - olim) Jewish settlement in the West Bank התישבות - hityashvut (f.) There are only two kinds of nouns in Hebrew - male and female

. There is no neuter gender in Hebrew. The gender of nouns in Russian and Hebrew very often does not coincide, which creates certain difficulties. For example the word year In russian language male, and in Hebrew - female The gender of nouns in Russian and Hebrew very often does not coincide, which creates certain difficulties. For example the word , word Street female.

Each noun can be replaced either by the pronoun he - הוּא, if it is masculine, or by the pronoun she - הִיא, if it is feminine. There are also nouns that, for a number of historical reasons, are classified as both masculine and feminine. For example, סַכִּין is a knife. So, figuratively speaking, we can say big knife and big

knife .

The masculine gender is called זָכָר in Hebrew and is designated in dictionaries ("ז); the feminine gender is called נְקֵבָה and is designated in dictionaries ("נ). Nouns always combine with adjectives and verbs sort of and number. This is what often allows aurally

הַבָּנוֹת רוֹקדוֹת מאוֹד יָפֶה correctly determine the gender of a noun.

- The girls dance very beautifully. The gender of a noun can also be judged (with a high degree of probability) by noun endings

. In the masculine gender there are no specific endings, but in the feminine gender the endings "ה" or "ת" appear. The difficulty is that many masculine nouns have the last letter of the root "ת". For example:
צֶ ווֶת בַּיִת - house
- team
שֵירוּת - service, maintenance
צוֹ מֶת מָווֶת - death

- crossroads

On the other hand, there is no guarantee that a word without an ending is always masculine. Many feminine words also have no ending. For example, עִיר - city is a feminine noun, אֶבֶן - stone - also feminine.
Remembering עִיר גדוֹלָה - big city. (We see that the adjective here .)
zh.r רֵחוֹב גָדוֹל - big street. (And here is the adjective),
m.r.

you will forever remember that עִיר is a feminine city, and רֵחוֹב is a masculine street. Titles countries and cities
always feminine. יְרוּשָׁלַיִם יָפָה מְאוֹד
Jerusalem is very beautiful - Titles rivers, seas and names newspapers
- male. הַיַּרְדֵּן נִשׁפָּך לַכִּנֶּרֶת
The Jordan flows into the Kinneret. - As a rule, the names paired body organs
- female.

עֵינָיִים - eyes, רַגלָיִים - legs, יָדָיִים - hands.

In some cases, feminine nouns are formed from corresponding masculine nouns. In this case, the following patterns are revealed: In our today's lesson we will go through a very important topic

- gender and number of Hebrew words. If you learn and remember this lesson well, you will be able to avoid many grammatical mistakes in the future.

• First, let's look at some features:
• There are only two genders in Hebrew - masculine and feminine; the neuter gender simply does not exist.
• The difficulty of the language lies in the fact that many words are masculine in Russian and have a feminine gender in Hebrew and vice versa. And since in the Hebrew language a lot depends on the type of word used, many make grammatical errors.

Gender in Hebrew

As a rule, the gender of a noun is clearly determined by its form, namely, what the ending of the word is.

If a word ends in a stressed “a” or has one of the endings based on the letter ת, it is feminine.

These are the endings:

In all other cases, this word belongs to the masculine gender.

What are all these other cases? This is the ending on any consonant except ת, and also sometimes on ת, if it is part of the root, which, however, is quite rare. And among vowels it can be “e” (“i” - for adjectives) and very rarely “u” or “o”.

So, according to the above rule, the words: אָרוֹן (“aron” - closet), חֶדֶר (“kheder” - room), כִּסֵּא (“kise” - chair), גַּן (“gan” - garden), אַרְיֶה (“ariye” - lion), מוֹרֶה (“more” - teacher), שֻׁלְחָן (“shulhan” - table) - masculine.

Adjectives ending in “and”: בֵּיתִ י (“beyti” - home), שֻׁלְחָנִ י (“shulkhani” - dining room), עִירוֹנִי (“ironi” - urban) - also masculine.

And the words: מִשְׁפָּחָ ה (“mishpacha” - family), מְדִינָ ה (“medina” - state), יָפָ ה (“yafa” - beautiful), מִרְפֶּסֶ ת (“mirpeset” - balcony), מְחַבֶּרֶ ת (“makhberet” - notebook), סַבְלָנ וּת (“savlyanut” - patience), שֻׁלְחָנִ ית (“shulkhanit” - dining room) - feminine.

Feminine exceptions

However, there are a number of exceptions to this rule. There are not too many of them, and yet it is worth paying attention to them so as not to make annoying mistakes when speaking. Let's list the nouns (almost all of them are quite common), which, judging by their form, should belong to the masculine gender, because end in a consonant or “e”, however, they are feminine, which is revealed when they are agreed with adjectives. Below they are given in singular form and plural:

Unit h. in Hebrew	Pronunciation singular	Mn. h. in Hebrew	Pronunciation plural h.	Translation
פַּעַם	Pam	פְּעָמִים	Paamim	Once
גָּדֵר	Gader	גְּדְרוֹת	Gderot	Fence
דֶּרֶךְ	Darech	דְּרָכִים	Drahim	Road
צְפַרְדֵּעַ	Tzfardea	צְפַרְדֵּעִים	Tzfardeim	Frog
צִפּוֹר	Tzipor	צִפּוֹרִים	Tziporim	Birdie
נֹפֶשׁ	Nefesh	נַפְשׁוֹת	Nefeshot	Soul
אֵשׁ	Ash	אִשִּׁים	Ishim	Fire
בְּאֵר	Bare	בְּאֲרוֹת	Barot	Well
כִּכָּר	Kikar	כִּכָּרוֹת	Kikarot	Square
דְּיוֹ	Dio	דְּיוֹאוֹת	Diaot	Ink
עֶצֶם	Etsem	עֲצָמוֹת	Atzamot	Bone
שֶׁמֶשׁ	Shemesh	שְׁמָשוֹׁת	Shmashot	Sun
קַרְקַע	Karka	קַרְקָעוֹת	Karkaot	Soil/soil
אֶצְבַּע	Etsba	אֶצְבָּעוֹת	Etzbaot	Finger
כַּף	Kaf	כָּפוֹת	Hood	Palm/spoon
אֶרֶץ	Eretz	אַרְצוֹת	Artsot	A country
אֶבֶן	Even	אֳבָנִים	Avanim	Stone
חֶרֶב	Harev	חַרְבּוֹת	Harbot	Sword
רוּחַ	Ruach	רוּחוֹת	Ruhot	Wind/spirit
עִיר	Ir	עִירִים	Irim	City
לָשׁוֹן	Lashon	לְשׁוֹנוֹת	Lashonath	Language
כּוֹס	Kos	כּוֹסוֹת	Kosot	Glass/glass
עֵז	Eze	עִזִּים	Izim	Goat
בֶּטֶן	Beten	בְּטָנִים	Betanim	Stomach
דֹּפֶן	Dofeng	דְּפָנוֹת	Dfanot	Side/wall
שָׂדֶה	Sade	שָׂדוֹת	Sadot	Field
חָצֵר	Hazor	חֲצְרוֹת	Hatzrot	Yard
סַכִּין	Sakin	סַכִּינִים	Sakinim	Knife
תְּהוֹם	Teom	תְּהוֹמוֹת	Teomot	Abyss/chasm
עֵת	This	עִתִּים	Itim	Period/time

An exercise in remembering exceptions

All of the above words are exceptions of the feminine gender. What is the best way to remember the given series of words? To do this, you need to do an exercise to agree with adjectives, since adjectives always agree with the true gender of the word, regardless of its form. For example, in the phrase “beautiful country,” despite the fact that the word אֶרֶץ is masculine, we will say אֶרֶץ יָפָה “erets yafa,” and not אֶרֶץ יָפֶה “erets yafe.” From this combination the gender of the word אֶרֶץ is immediately obvious to the ear.

Do the following exercise. Take a written series of words and select for each of them 3-4 adjectives that are most characteristic of it, and just begging to be paired with it (who has enough imagination and, of course, vocabulary). When you go through the entire series several times, you will develop a fairly strong associative connection.

Let's give 2-3 options as an example:

אֶרֶץ (“erets” - country); אֶרֶץ יָפָה (“Eretz Yafa” - beautiful country); אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה (“erets tova” — good country); אֶרֶץ רְחָבָה (“Eretz Rehava” - wide country); אַרְצוֹת יָפוֹת, טוֹבוֹת, רְחָבוֹת “Artzot Yafot, Tovot, Rehavot.”

אֶבֶן (“even” - stone); אֶבֶן כְּבֵדָה (“even kveda” - heavy stone); אֶבֶן יִקָרָה (“even yakara” - precious/expensive stone); אֶבֶן יָפָה (“even yafa” - beautiful stone); אֲבָנִם יִקָרוֹת, כְּבֵדוֹת, יָפוֹת “avanim yakarot, quedot, yafot.”

לָשׁוֹן (“lashon” - tongue in the mouth and tongue as a means of communication); לָשׁוֹן אֲרֻכָּה (“lashon aroka” - long tongue); לָשׁוֹן חַדָּה (“lashon hada” - sharp tongue);

By the way, since the word לָשׁוֹן is feminine, like the word שָׂפָה (“safa” - language as a means of communication), the names of all spoken languages ​​are given in the feminine gender. We say עִבְרִית ("Hebrew" - literally "Jewish"), and not עִבְרִי ("Ivri" - "Jewish"). הַלָשׁוֹן הָאַנְגְּלִת (“halashon haanglit” - English language), הַלָשׁוֹן הָצַרְפָתִית (“halashon hatzarfatit” - French) etc. This can also serve as a help for remembering the gender of the word לָשׁוֹן.

Features of some words

1. The word לַיְלָה (“layla” - night). It ends with the vowel "a", and therefore may give the impression that it is a feminine word. However, as we have already said, the Hebrew rule states:

In the feminine gender, the ending “a” is only stressed

Compare: מְדִינָה (“medina” - state) and לַיְלָה (“layla” - night). The word לַיְלָה has an unstressed ending. In addition, this word was originally masculine, but for historical reasons it became feminine.

2. The word פָּנִים (“panim” - face). It is used in the feminine gender and does not have a singular form. This word is always used in the plural to denote one person or many, similar to the Russian word for “scissors.” פָּנִים יָפוֹת (“panim yafot” - beautiful face/beautiful faces, depending on the context). פָּנִים חֲדָשוֹׁת (“panim hadashot” - new face/newcomer/newcomers), פָּנִים נֶחְמָדוֹת (“panim nekhmadot” - pretty face/faces), etc.

Sometimes male and sometimes female

A number of words are sometimes used in the masculine, sometimes in the feminine, which is associated with the history of the development of Hebrew. For example: דֶּרֶךְ (“derekh” - road), לָשׁוֹן (“lashon” - language) and others can be masculine. In modern Hebrew, as a rule, the gender of these words is defined as feminine. But the word סַכִּין (“sakin” - knife) is currently used, as a rule, in the masculine gender: סַכִּין גָּדוֹל (“sakin gadol” - large knife). The same applies to the word שָׂדֶה (“sadeʁ” - field), so these two words do not need to be practiced with feminine adjectives.

Number in Hebrew

Dual

Now let's talk about numbers. In Hebrew, oddly enough, there are not two numbers, but three, i.e. In addition to the singular and plural, which are also characteristic of the Russian language, there is also a dual number in the middle between them, which denotes paired objects. In Hebrew it is called that way - מִסְפָּר זוּגִי (“mispar zugi” - paired number). Initially, it was used mainly to designate paired objects - paired in nature, where there are not just two objects, but some specific unit. It was most widely used to designate paired body parts.

We are speaking: יָד — יָדַיִם ("yad - yadaim" - "hand - hands"). Initially, יָדַיִם meant “two hands,” but later the word יָדַיִם also began to mean any number of hands, this also applies to other paired concepts:

עַיִן — עַיִנִים (“ain - einaim” - “eye - eyes”)

אֹזֶן — אָזְנַ יִם ("ozen - we know" - "ear - ears")

בֶּרֶךְ — בִּרְכַּיִם (“bereh - birkaim” - “knee - knees”)

שֵׁן — שִׁנַּיִם (“shen – shinaim” – “tooth – teeth”)

Here you may be puzzled - why are the teeth, of which there are not two, but thirty-two, indicated by a dual number? The fact is that each tooth has its own pair. This is not difficult to detect - the teeth on the right and left sides of the jaw are symmetrical, so they also come in dual numbers. קֶרֶן (“keren” - horn on the head of an animal) - קַרְנַ יִם (“karnaim” - two horns or more); כָּתֵף (“katef” - shoulder) - כְּתֵפַ יִם (“ktefaim” - shoulders); כָּנָף (“kanaf” - wing) - כְּנָפִ ים (“knafaim” - wings) and whole line less commonly used names of organs and body parts. The word צִפֳּרֶן (“ziporen” - nail) is also adjacent here - צִפֳּרֵנַיִם (“tzipornaim” - nails), as well as the word נָעַל (“naal” - shoe/shoe) - נַעֲלַ יִם (“naalaim” - shoes/boots).

But not all paired parts of the body in Hebrew are designated using a dual number. So for example, we say: גַּבָּה (“gaba” - eyebrow) - גָּב וֹת (“gabot” - eyebrows). However, most of them have the ending “aim”

All these words ending in “aim” are feminine. They were not listed at the beginning of the general list of exceptions because they form a fairly compact group and are best remembered by their meaning, namely as a designation of a paired body part (as well as the adjacent נַעֲלַיִם). They can also be practiced according to the principle of selecting adjectives (נָעַל יָפָה), or you can simply remember them once and for all:

Paired body part is feminine

Double items

In addition to paired parts of the body, there are objects that are double in nature, for example מִשְׁקָפַיִם (“mishkafaim” - glasses) or מִסְפָּרַיִם (“misparaʁim” - scissors, מִסְפָּר - a separate cutter, “scissors”). מִכְנָסַיִם (“mikhnasaim” - trousers). The word מִכְנָס “mikhnas” is used as “trouser leg”, for example, in combination גַּרְבֵּי מִכְנָס (“garbey mikhnas” - tights), i.e. literally “trouser stockings.” All these designations of paired concepts (as opposed to paired body parts) are masculine, in full accordance with their singular form: גַּרְבַּיִם אֲרֻכִּים (“garbaim aruhim” - long stockings), מִכְנָסַיִם טוֹבִים (“mikhnasaim tovim” - good trousers).

In addition, the dual number with the ending “aʹim” is also used to designate two periods of time. For example, we say יוֹמַ יִם (“yomaim” - two days), שְׁנָתַ יִם (“shnataim” - two years), חֳדָשִׁ ים (“hodshaim” - two months), שְׁעָתַ יִם (“shaataim” - two hours), but שְׁתֵּי דַּקוֹת (“shtey dakot” - two minutes), שְׁתֵּי שְׁנִיּוֹת (“shtey shnyot” - two seconds).

Plural

The plural ending for masculine nouns is ים (“by him”), and for feminine nouns וֹת (“from”).

For example, we say עֵט (“this” - pen/pen) - עֵטִ ים (“this” - feathers/pens); חַיָל (“khayal” - soldier) - חַיָלִ ים (“khayalim” - soldiers); מִשְׁפָּחָה (“mishpacha” - family) - מִשְׁפָּחוֹת (“mishpahot” - families); מְדִינָה (“medina” - state) - מְדִינ וֹת (“medinot” - states). This is the rule, but there are numerous exceptions to it. First, these are masculine words that take the endings וֹת instead of ים. It is difficult to indicate here the general principle of how to determine by the form of a word whether it will take the ending וֹת, despite the masculine gender.

Exceptions

It can be said that many words with the ending “an”/”on”, especially words that came into Hebrew from the language of the Tanakh, have the ending וֹת. These are famous שֻׁלְחָן — שֻׁלְחָנוֹת (“shulkhan - shulkhanot” - “table - tables”), אָרוֹן — אֲרוֹנוֹת (“aron - aronot” - “cabinet - cabinets”), חָלוֹן — חֲלוֹנוֹת (“halon - halonot” - “window - windows”). Compare: מִלּוֹן — מִלּוֹנִים (“milon - milonim” - “dictionary - dictionaries”), שָׁעוֹן — שְׁעוֹנִים (“shaon - shaonim” - “one and many hours”) are words of later origin.

This also includes a number of words of one syllable with the vowel “o”. For example: עוֹף — עוֹפוֹת (“of - ofot” - “hen - hens” - masculine), pay attention to the use of the adjective with this exception: עוֹפ וֹת גְּדוֹלִים (“ofot gdolim” - big chickens) - the adjective took the masculine ending “im”.

Among the above exceptions to the gender rule, there were many with the ending “from”, but there it could be explained at least by the feminine gender of the word itself. And in this case we have masculine words that take the ending “from”. They show discrepancies in agreement with plural adjectives. Here you have to rely on your memory, or you can practice such words in the form of combinations with adjectives, i.e. use the same technique that was indicated above to practice words with irregular gender, for example שֻׁלְחָנ וֹת גְּדוֹלִים , רַבִּים , יָפִים , טוֹבִים (“shulkhanot gdolim, rabim, yafim, tovim” - tables are large, numerous, beautiful, good), etc. This makes it possible to quickly assimilate inconsistency in gender.

A much less common group of exceptions are feminine words ending in “a”, which, however, have the ending “im” in their plurals. These are words like: מִלָּה — מִלִּים (“mila - milim” - “word - words”), שָׁנָה — שָׁנִים (“shana - shanim” - “year - years”), etc. Here it is possible to work out the same plan, as indicated above: שָׁנָה אֲרֻכָּה (“shana arukha” - long year) - שָׁנִ ים אֲרֻכּוֹת ("shanim aruhot" - long years) etc.

Words used only in the plural

There are several words in Hebrew that are used only in the plural. Such as: חַיִים (“chaim” - life), חַיִים טוֹבִים (“chaim tovim” - a good life); מַיִם (“mayim” - water), מַיִם רַבִּים (“mayim rabim” - many waters). Here you can translate “water” and “waters”, depending on the context. By analogy with the word מַיִם, the word “liquid” in Hebrew is used in the plural: מַיִם נוֹזְלִים (“mayim nozlim” - “flowing waters”). The word פָּנִים (“panim” - face) was discussed above.

They count in Hebrew like this: “One, two, many.” Accordingly, nouns in Hebrew can be singular, dual or plural.

The plural of nouns in Hebrew is in most cases formed by adding the masculine and feminine stressed endings - ים and וֹת - to the singular forms, respectively. For example, the names of the Jewish holidays Purim (פּוּרִים) and Sukkot (סוּכּוֹת) are plural forms of the words “pur” (פּוּר - “lot”, m.r.) and “sukA” (סוּכָּה - “hut”, w. R.).

If a masculine singular noun ends in ה and at the same time has ֶ (“segOl”) as the final vowel, then when the plural is formed, ה disappears: מוֹרֶה (“teacher”) => מוֹרִים (“teachers”).

When forming plurals, the vowels in the stems of words may change, so you should always have a dictionary nearby to check.

The dual number, which is absent in the Russian language, is used to designate paired objects and paired organs of the body, for units of time and measures associated with the number “2”, for example:
גַרבַּיִים ("socks")
מִכנָסַיִים ("trousers")
פַּעֲמַיִים ("twice")
מָאתַיִים ("two hundred")
אַלְפַּיִים ("two thousand")
שְעָתַיִים ("two hours")
יוֹמַיִים ("two days")
שְׁבוּעַיִים ("two weeks")
חוֹדשַיִים ("two months")
שנָתַיִים ("two years")

The dual form has the ending יִים, preceded by the vowel ַ (“patAkh”).

Adjectives, pronouns and verbs agree with nouns in the dual according to plural rules.

Many nouns that have a dual number are feminine, although in the singular they do not have the characteristic feminine endings (ה or ת).

Most nouns have either only a plural form or only a dual form.

If a feminine singular word ends in ה, then in the dual form it changes to ת.

Nouns and their corresponding parts of speech in Hebrew can be masculine or feminine when used in both the singular and plural.

The masculine gender is called in Hebrew מִין זָכָר and is designated in dictionaries as "ז", the feminine gender is called מִין נְקֵבָה and is designated in dictionaries as "נ". The neuter gender (as, for example, in the Russian language) has never existed in Hebrew, is not present and is not expected. The same nouns often have different genders in Russian and Hebrew!

In most cases, a noun can be classified as feminine if the last syllable ends:
- with the letter ת, for example: מְכוֹנִית (“car”).
- to an unpronounceable ה with a preceding vowel ָ (“KamAts-GadOl”), for example: אַמבַטיָה (“bathroom”);

The feminine gender obviously includes names of living female creatures, names of cities and countries, names of paired body parts, names of letters of the alphabet. By the way, the name of the capital of Israel - ירושלים ("YerushalAyim" - Jerusalem) is formally a dual number (this fact has many historical explanations), but is interpreted, like the names of all cities, as a singular feminine number.

In most cases, a noun can be classified as masculine if the last syllable ends:
- to an unpronounceable ה with a preceding stressed vowel ֶ (“segOl”), for example: שָׂדֶה (“field”);
- to וּ or וֹ, for example: תוֹהוּ (“vanity”) or מוֹטוֹ (“slogan”).

Newspaper names are obviously masculine (even if these names are composed of feminine words).

In Hebrew there are nouns that can be classified as either masculine or feminine, for example: סַכִּין (“knife”), i.e. it is acceptable to say both סַכִּין גָדוֹל (“big knife”) and סַכִּין גדוֹלָה (“big knife”).

Exceptions lie in wait at every step and the gender of a noun can only be reliably determined using a dictionary, but it is best to memorize a noun in pairs with a singular adjective, since the endings of adjectives are constant, clearly distinguishable by gender and always correspond to the gender of nouns. For example, the expression !לַילָה טוֹב (“good night!”) with its second word indicates that the word לַילָה (“night”) is masculine, although it ends in ה, i.e. is one of the exceptions.

If the plural is used when referring to a group of people, objects, concepts or phenomena, among which there are representatives of both genders (mixed group), then the masculine form is used.

To form a feminine noun in the singular, in most cases it is enough to change the vowel of the last letter in the masculine singular noun to ָ (“KamAtz-GadOl”) and add an unreadable ה to the end of the word, for example: תַלמִיד (“student”) => תַלמִידָה ("pupil").

If a masculine singular noun ends in ה and at the same time has ֶ (“segOl”) as the final vowel, then to form a feminine noun it is enough to change the vowel: מוֹרֶה (“teacher”) => מוֹרָה (“teacher”).

The stress in feminine nouns always falls on the last syllable.

When forming the feminine gender and plural, as a rule, a new syllable is added to the word. Hebrew in such cases always tries to compensate for the increase in the number of syllables by shortening one of the syllables present in the word. Usually the first one found in the word "kamatsev" is shortened, which changes to "shva", for example: גָדוֹל ("big") => גְדוֹלָה ("large").