Hebrew grammar
Hebrew grammar explained in plain words. The present tense does not change for person: “I say” and “he says” are the same word. What is harder: the present tense changes for gender — “he says” and “she says” are two different words here — and pairs of things take a special dual form.
Notes
- 📐Shalom: hello, goodbye and peace in oneShalom is the busiest word of the language: literally "peace", "wholeness". It greets at any hour, and it says goodbye.…
- 📐Bevakasha: three courtesies in one wordBevakasha does the work of three English words. In a request it is please: kafe, bevakasha — coffee, please. When…
- 📐No linking verb in the present"I am Dana" is simply ani Dana: the present tense needs no linking verb at all. "He is tall" — hu gavoa; "it is…
- 📐The dual number: for pairsBesides singular and plural there is a form for two — for things that exist in pairs: hands, eyes, legs, ears, glasses.…
- 📐The question: intonation and question wordsWord order does not change in a question: "you understand" and "you understand?" are the same sentence — intonation…
- 📐The present: gender and number change, not personThe present has four forms — by gender and number, like an adjective: he speaks, she speaks, they (men) speak, they…
- 📐Numbers change by genderNumbers from one to ten come in pairs of forms, for masculine and feminine things. "One coffee" is kafe echad, "one…
- 📐What you already knowPart of the sound system comes free: sh, z and the ts of cats all exist in English. You only attach them to new shapes.…
- 📐The three letters of the rootAlmost every word here grows from three consonants — the root. The consonants k-t-v carry the idea of writing: katav…
- 📐Negation: lo and einThe ordinary not is lo, and it stands right before the verb: ani lo mevin — I don't understand. No double negatives, no…
- 📐More expensive and cheaper: yoter, mi- and hachiAn adjective does not change for comparison. The word yoter (יותר), more, simply stands before it: yoter yakar — more…
- 📐A room and rooms: the pluralThe masculine takes the ending -im: cheder — a room, chadarim — rooms. The feminine — -ot: mita — a bed, mitot — beds.…
- 📐To me: the preposition le- with suffixesLittle tails attach to the preposition le-, to, and make to me, to her, to us: li, la, lanu. Koev li — it hurts me…
- 📐The past: endings by personThe past works the way an English learner expects from other languages: an ending attaches to the root and names who…
- 📐A request: the future instead of a commandA short command form exists, but in live speech Israelis use the future: tavo — come, techake — wait, tasbir — explain.…
- 📐The future: a prefix at the front, not an endingThe past builds the person with an ending: katavti — I wrote, katavta — you wrote. The future does the opposite. It…
- 📐The adjective agrees: gender and numberThe adjective lives by the rules of its noun: masculine as in the dictionary, feminine adds -a, plural takes -im or…
- 📐The article ha- is placed twiceThe article ha- attaches to the noun, and again to an adjective that follows it. Hameil hachadash is literally…
- 📐The little she-: what follows feelings and thoughtsThe "that" which stands after glad, hope, afraid is not a word but a prefix she- on the next one. Ani sameach she-bata…
- 📐Need to, may, must not: tzarich, efshar, asurThree words cover most needs in the kitchen and on the road, and mixing them costs you. The first is tzarich — need to…
- 📐Zeh, zot, ele: this, this (f), theseThere are three main demonstratives: zeh — this (m), zot — this (f) and ele — these. On their own they stand apart: zeh…
- 📐Without a subject: kar li, tov li, efshar, asurMany everyday phrases get by without anyone acting. A short word does the work, with a "to whom" pronoun beside it. Kar…
- 📐Meod, yoter, midai, hachi: very, more, too, mostThe degree of a quality is measured here with a short ruler, and every part of it has already been near you. Meod…
- 📐Ki, im, kshe-, aval: because, if, when, butFour words sew short phrases into connected speech. Ki answers why: ani ba ki ani rotze — I am coming because I want…
- 📐Sheli, shelcha, shelo: "my" through shelThere are no possessive endings here: my, your, his are made by one word — shel — plus a pronoun. Habait sheli — my…
- 📐Rotze lilmod: the infinitive through le-To say "to do something", put le- before the root: lilmod — to learn, laavod — to work, lishtot — to drink. This is the…
- 📐Harbe, meat, maspik: the noun stays singularAfter words of quantity the noun stands in the singular: harbe kesef — a lot of money, meat zman — little time, maspik…
- 📐Im hayiti: if onlyAn unreal condition is assembled from two parts: im — if, and haya — was in the right person, after which the ordinary…
- 📐Oved, mocher, kone: the participle names the doerThe present-tense form also works as a noun: oved (עובד) — works and a worker, mocher (מוכר) — sells and a seller, kone…
- 📐Liskor and lehaskir: one root, two directionsFrom one root two verbs are made: one for doing the action yourself, the other for passing it on to someone else.…
- 📐Hazmana, tashlum, bitul: the noun of actionA verb gives a noun, much like "booking" from "to book". Take the root and put another vowel pattern on it: lehazmin…
- 📐Amar she-: other people's words in the newsRetelling is built with amar she- (אמר ש-) — said that: hu amar she-hu ayef — he said that he is tired. The little she…
- 📐Mevukash, mudpas, meushar: when the paper was processed for youIn the language of offices the doer does not matter: hatofes mudpas — the form is printed, habakasha meusheret — the…
- 📐Biglal, ki, lachen: cause and effectCause is sorted by size here. Biglal takes a noun after it: biglalhapekak — because of the traffic jam. For a whole…
- 📐The verb first: how a phrase is builtThe usual order is the English one: who, then the action, then what. But a past-tense verb carries the person inside…
- 📐Character in one word: kamtzan, savlani, nadivMuch of what you say about a person's character is built from three root consonants and a short pattern. The pattern…
- 📐Feelings live in the hitpaelFeelings like being ashamed, being proud or getting upset mostly live in one verb pattern: hitpael. You spot it by mit…
- 📐The hifil in the kitchen: to make it happen, not to do itCooking is full of the hifil, the pattern that makes something happen. Its infinitive starts with leha-, and the…
- 📐Smichut: two words, one notionFor a compound name, two nouns go side by side and stick together. Mapat shulchan is a tablecloth, literally "cloth of…
- 📐One root — a whole workshopThe three consonants of a root drive a whole family of words. Take the root b.r.g, screwing. From it grow burg (בורג)…
- 📐Yored geshem: how the weather is spoken about"It is raining" is two words here: yored geshem — literally "the rain descends". There is no weather subject: the rain…
- 📐Li, lecha, la: the preposition captures the personA preposition is not separated from its pronoun: li — to me, lecha — to you, la — to her. There is no separate "to me"…
- 📐Yodea, yachol, hitzlachti: how to say "I can"Three words divide the English "can". Yodea — I know how, a skill: ani yodea letaken mechonit — I know how to fix a…
- 📐Lifnei, miaz, meaz: the past along the line of timeLifnei — back, before: lifnei shana — a year ago, lifnei chodesh — a month ago. After lifnei the noun stands without…
- 📐Adif shelo, letzaari: how to soften a refusalA bare lo sounds like a shot. Soften a refusal with an opening phrase: letzaari — unfortunately, ani choshesh shelo — I…
- 📐A profession from a thing: -ai, me- and short old wordsThe most generous way to name a trade is the ending -ai: take a thing and turn it into a person. Mechonit — a car…
- 📐Smichut: two words hold on to one notionThe English "workplace" here stands in the reverse order: makom avoda — literally "the place of work". The first word…
- 📐The plural: -im, -ot and those outside the rulesThe masculine takes -im: toshav — toshavim, ezrach — ezrachim. The feminine — -ot: miflaga — miflagot, mishpacha…
- 📐One family of words: k-t-v and ts-y-rThe three letters of the root — the shoresh — are the skeleton of the meaning. Changing the vowels between them and…
- 📐Lesachek, lehitamen, lehishtatef: what you are busy with, and with which prepositionTo play a game is lesachek, and there is no English "in" after it: lesachek kaduregel, lesachek tennis. Playing an…
- 📐Shlosha metarim, shalosh shanim: the noun after the numberThe English number grabs the word along; here they first ask: what are you, masculine or feminine? And it is not the…
- 📐Lehidabek be-, lehimana mi-: the verb pulls its own prepositionIn English "to catch a virus" and "to avoid smoking" need no preposition. Here each such verb has its own: lehidabek…
- 📐Le-chag, be-chag, lifnei hachag: the occasion and the time through prepositionsTime and occasion are laid out by prepositions here, and you choose by role, not by translation. Le- — for, toward: a…
- 📐Lidvarei, omrim she-, medubar al: other people's words without a nameEnglish hides the source behind "they say"; here there are three different doors for it, each with its own degree of…
- 📐Haya tzarich, haya kdai: advice in hindsightAdvice about the past is built from two parts: the familiar word of judgment plus haya — was. Haya tzarich — one should…
- 📐Shavur, patuach, sagur: the state of a thing is a participleA form of the verb describes the state of a thing. Shavur — broken, patuach — open, sagur — closed, daluk — switched…
- 📐Shaataim, matayim, einayim: the dual lives hereFor pairs there is a special form: eyes, hands, legs — einayim, yadayim, raglaim. The same ending counts two of some…
- 📐Kan, lekan, mikan: a place has three questionsThe three questions of place hold apart the way English here, hither and hence do.
- 📐Chetzi, shlish, pi: a share, a multiple and a differenceA share is a "part": chetzi — a half, shlish — a third, reveva — a quarter, chamushit — a fifth. After the share comes…
- 📐Lavash, hilbish, hitlabesh: the root and the patternsA verb has three root consonants: sh-b-r (break), k-t-v (write), l-b-sh (dress). The root is the meaning, and the…
- 📐Memaynim, memuyan, ovdim: two ways to hide the doerWhen it does not matter who acts, the doer is hidden — as English does with "people say" or "it is being checked".…
- 📐Savlanut, yetzivut, gvut: from a quality — a nounThe names of qualities and states are almost all made from words you already know. One breakdown — and you build them…
- 📐Kshe-, lifnei she-, acharei she-, ad she-: time as a clauseConjunctions of time help tie two events into one sentence, and each has its own job.
- 📐Ha-, be-, le-, shel: little words stickThere are no little words here that stand on their own. The article, the prepositions and the conjunction glue to the…
- 📐Shaal eifo, bikesh she-, amru she-: other people's speechOther people's words are put into a frame, and there are several frames. The tense does not shift by a single step…
What works differently from what you know
Hebrew numerals take gender the other way round: with a masculine noun, “three” sounds in the feminine form — shlosha — and with a feminine noun, shalosh. And after the numbers eleven through nineteen the noun stands in the singular: “fifteen books” is literally “fifteen book”.
Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch, English ed. A. E. Cowley, 2nd ed., 1910, §97
What is hard about Hebrew and what comes for free
Hard: the present tense changes for gender — “he says” and “she says” are two different words here — and pairs of things take a special dual form.
Easy: the present tense does not change for person: “I say” and “he says” are the same word.
This is not a verdict on the language but a hint on where to spend effort. The hard parts are best taken a little at a time and often; the easy parts — left alone while they work by themselves.
Frequently asked
Is the grammar of Hebrew complicated?
The present tense changes for gender — “he says” and “she says” are two different words here — and pairs of things take a special dual form is the main difficulty. In return, the present tense does not change for person: “I say” and “he says” are the same word.
Should grammar be learned separately?
Not as a separate course. A rule learned before you need it is forgotten before you meet it. It is more useful to work it out at the moment you stumble over it.