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Hebrew Grammar is mostly Analytical , expressing such forms as Dative , Ablative , and Accusative using Preposition al particles rather than Morphological Cases . However, inflection does play an important role in the formation of the verbs, some prepositions, and the Genitive construct of nouns. WORD ORDER Word order of sentences is somewhat arbitrary, as sentences and clauses can be Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) or Verb-Subject-Object (VSO) . In order to keep the object separate from the subject, definite direct objects are marked with the special preposition את ''et'', which has no analog in English. For example, the first sentence of the Hebrew Bible is VSO: ...ברא אלוהים את השמים... ''...bara elohim et ha-shamayim...'' (...created God את the heavens...) Adjectives In Hebrew, adjectives follow nouns, unlike in English, where they precede them. Thus, in the sentence החתול הקטן אכל את הגבינה ''Ha-khatul ha-katan akhal et ha-g'vina'' (The small cat ate the cheese): VERBS The Hebrew word for verb is פועל ''po'al'', and as in English, verbs in Hebrew can express both action and status. Hebrew verbs stem from a root (שֹרֶש ''shoresh''), consisting of 3 or 4 consonants, which is modified to bring the verb into different uses. Hebrew verbs can have one of 7 combinations of 4 Voices (active, passive, causative, and reflexive) and three tenses (past, present, and future). Additionally, a verb can be conjugated into an imperative tense and into an infinitive. Classification of roots A root is classified according to the letters that appear in it. Roots that contain certain letters are conjugated differently. Roots that contain a ו ''vav'' as the 2nd letters are called hollow roots. The ו ''vav'' rarely appears in any conjugation and it is usually not written as part of the root. These are often treated as 2-letter roots. Examples of hollow roots: שר ''shar'' (sang), גר ''gar'' (lived), דן ''dan'' (discussed), דג ''dag'' (fished). Roots that contain at least one of the weak letters, י ''yod'', נ ''nun'', ח ''khet'', ע ''ayin'', א ''alef'', and ה ''hei'', are called weak roots. Each weak letter/position pairing results in a slightly different conjugation pattern. The largest group of these are those that end with ה ''hei''. Examples of weak roots: שתה ''shata'' (drank), עלה ''ala'' (went up), ירד ''yarad'' (went down), נפל ''nafal'' (fell). Roots that do no fit into the other 2 categories are called strong or complete roots. Voice: the ''binyan'' Verb roots can be conjugated according to one of seven forms, בניינים ''binyanim'' (constructions), which generally indicate the Voice of the verb. Most roots are only conjugated in two to five of the seven binyanim. For example, using the root k-t-v (כתב), we might find the forms: There are relationships between these forms, described below. Although they often accurately describe the relationship between the binyanim, there are many exceptions. Intensification: ''pa'al'' to ''pi'el'' ''Pa'al'' and ''pi'el'' are both really "simple active" forms and usually mutually exclusive; verbs that can be conjugated into one form cannot usually be conjugated into the other. But of those verbs which can be conjugated into both, the ''pi'el'' form connotes an intensified form of the ''pa'al'' form. The interpersonal triangle: ''pi'el'', ''pu'al'', ''hitpa'el'' Often the ''pi'el'', ''pu'al'' and ''hitpa'el'' forms form a triangle of actions taken between two people (or between a person and his or herself). For instance, from the root g-l-kh (גלח): Causative and co-operative: ''hif'il'', ''hitpa'el'' ''Hif'il'' is usually the causative of the ''pa'al'' or ''pi'el'' and the ''hitpa'el'' is usually the reflexive, co-operative or "continuous passive". An example, with k-t-v (כתב): ''Hitgale'akh'' is an example of reflexive ''hitpa'el'' and ''hitkatev'' is reciprocal ''hitpa'el''. However, there also exists a sort of "continuous passive" hitpa'el. With the root tz-l-m (צלמ): The difference between tzulam and hitz'talem is this. ''Ani m'tzulam'' (אֲנִי מְצֻלָּם) means ''I am photographed'' (there exists a photo of me) while ''ani mitz'talem'' (אֲנִי מִצְטַלֵּם) means ''I am being photographed'' (I am in the act of being photographed). Tense Once a verb is cast into a certain form, it then undergoes conjugation into one of the three tenses: past, present, and future. Present tense A verb in the present tense (הוֹוֶה ''hove'') agrees with its subject in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural), such that each verb has four present-tense forms: Past tense A verb in the past tense (עָבָר ''avar'') agrees with its subject in person (first, second, or third) and number, and in the second-person singular and plural and third-person singular, gender. Personal pronouns are not necessary in the past tense and are often dropped, although colloquially they are sometimes used in the third person. Future tense A verb in the future tense (עָתִיד ''atid'') agrees with its subject in person and number, and in the second- and third-person singular, gender. The second-person singular masculine and third-person singular feminine forms are identical for all verbs in the future tense. Technically, there are separate feminine forms for the second- and third-person plural (with a נָה- ''nah'' ending, as in תְּשַׁמֵּרְנָה ''tishmarnah'' or תִּגְדַּלְנָה ''tigdalnah''), but colloquially the male form is commonly used for both genders. 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. Imperative Except for the strictly passive binyanim (''pu'al'' and ''huf'al''), each binyan has distinct imperative forms in the second person. This imperative form is only used for affirmative commands. ''Pa'al'', ''nif'al'', ''pi'el'', and ''hif'il'' form their imperatives by dropping the initial ת of the future-tense form (e.g., ''tiftakh'' (singular, masc.) → ''ptakh!'' "open!", ''tishm'ri'' (singular, fem.) → ''shimri!'' "guard!"); the fifth, ''hitpa'el'', forms its imperative by replacing this initial ת with ה (''titbatel'' → ''hitbatel'' "do nothing!"). Negative commands use the particle אל ''al'' followed by the future-tense form. For example, ''al tid'ag'' means "don't worry" (masculine, singular). The future tense is commonly used for affirmative commands when making requests, so that for example, ''tiftakh'' can mean either "you will open" or "open" (masculine, singular). It is used because the true imperative mood can be considered rude. The infinitive can be used as a "general imperative" when addressing nobody in particular (e.g. on signs, or when giving general instructions to children or large groups), so that for example, ''lo liftoakh'' can mean either "not to open" or "no opening," "no one open." Participles Present participles are identical to present tense forms: ''nerot bo'arim'' (burning candles), ''ha-yalda hi maksima'' (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.:
And, using the present tense of nif'al, which is often the passive of pa'al, a continuing action:
The passive participle is commonly used as an adjective, as in ''ha-p'kuda ha-katuva'' (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 ''he'ir'' (light up) we get ''kheder mu'ar'' (illuminated room). Infinitives Infinitives (''shem hapo'al'') in Hebrew are primarily formed by adding the letter lamed (ל) to the front of the word. The vowels change systematically according to the binyan.
There is no infinitive for Pu'al or Huf'al verbs. Gerunds Gerunds (''shmot pe'ula'') are nouns expressing an action. Gerunds are created in Hebrew by putting the root of a verb in a "mishkal" (which will be explained more thoroughly in the "Nouns" later on). Four of the binyanim have gerunds: pa'al, pi'el, hif'il, and hitpa'el. For example:
NOUNS The Hebrew word for "noun" is שם עצם ''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 ספר ''sefer'' (book)—and feminine nouns—such as דלת ''delet'' (door). Feminine nouns can generally be identified by the characteristic endings -a, or -t. There are a large number of nouns, especially ancient ones, that are in some way irregular in their gender. For example, זית ''zayit'' (olive) has a feminine ending, but is masculine and has a masculine plural. עיר ''ir'' (city) has a masculine ending and a masculine plural, but is feminine and takes feminine adjectives. Number Generally, Hebrew distinguishes between singular and plural forms of a noun. Masculine nouns generally form their plural by adding ''-im'':
The addition of the extra syllable often causes the vowel in the first syllable to shorten:
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:
Feminine nouns ending in ''-a'' or ''-at'' generally drop this ending and add ''-ot'', usually without any vowel changes:
Nouns ending in ''-et'' also replace this ending with ''-ot'', with an ''-e-'' in the preceding syllable usually changing to ''-a'':
Nouns ending in ''-ut'' replace this ending with ''-uyot'':
Similarly, nouns ending in ''-it'' replace this ending with ''-iyot'':
Plural exceptions A large number of masculine nouns take the "feminine" ending ''-ot'' in the plural:
A small number of feminine nouns take the "masculine" ending ''-im'':
Many plurals simply cannot be predicted from the singular at all and must be separately memorized:
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 usually used in expressions of time and number. These nouns have plurals as well, which are used for numbers higher than two, for example: The dual is also used for some body parts, for instance:
In this case, even if there are more than two, the dual is still used, for instance לכלב יש ארבע רגליים ''l'kelev yeish arba raglayim'' (a dog has four legs). The dual is also used for certain objects that are "inherently" dual. These words have no singular, for instance משקפיים ''mishkafayim'' (eyeglasses) and מספריים ''misparayim'' (scissors). As in the English "two pairs of pants", the plural of these words uses the word זוג ''zug'' (pair), e.g. שני זוגות מספריים ''shnai zugot misparayim'' (two pairs of scissors). The name of the city גבעתיים '' Givataim '' (Тwo Peaks, or Twin Peaks) is an interesting example of untypical use of dual number. Noun construct Hebrew's Genitive Case is achieved by placing two nouns next to each other. This is called a noun construct, or סמיכות ''s'mikhut''. The second noun can be viewed as an adjective modifying the first noun. The first noun in a noun construct must be in its ''construct form''. The construct form can generally be derived easily:
There are many words (usually ancient ones) that have other changes in vocalization in the construct form. For example, the construct form of בית ''bayit'' (house) is ''beit''. In addition, the definite article is placed on the second word.
Possession Possession is generally indicated by conjugating the possessive Pronoun של ''shel'' (of, belonging to):
In literary style, nouns are inflected to show possession through noun declension; a personal suffix is added to the construct form of the noun (the same form used by the סמיכות ''smikhut''). So, ספרי ''sifrei'' (books, construct form) can be inflected to form ספריי ''sifrai'' (my books), ספרייך ''sifraikha'' (your books), ספרינו ''sifreinu'' (our books) and so forth, while דירת ''dirat'' (apartment, construct form) gives דירתי ''dirati'' (my apartment), דירתך ''diratkha'' (your apartment), דירתינו ''dirateinu'' (our apartment), etc. While the use of these forms is mostly restricted to formal and literary speech, they are in regular use in some colloquial phrases, for instance, מה שלומך ''ma shlomkha?'' ("what is your peace?" or "how are you?") or לדעתי ''l'da'ati'' (in my opinion). In addition, the inflected possessive is commonly used for terms of kinship, for instance בני ''bni'' (my son), בתם ''bitam'' (their daughter), אשתו ''ishto'' (his wife) are preferred to הבן שלי ''ha-ben sheli'', הבת שלכם ''ha-bat shelahem'', and האשה שלו ''ha-isha shelo''. Noun derivation 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 ''mishkalim'') to the same roots. Gerunds are one example (see above). The words for many abstract concepts are derived by adding the ending ''-ut'' to another noun or a verb (usually hit'pael):
The ''katlan'' meter, applied to a verb, indicates "someone who does this":
The suffix ''-on'' denotes a smaller version of something:
Repeating the last two letters of a noun or adjective can also denote a smaller or lesser version:
The ''katelet'' mishkal can have a variety of meanings:
New nouns are also often formed by the addition of two existing stems:
A combination of methods (The example has the katlan meter plus the ending ''-ut''):
ADJECTIVES The Hebrew adjective שם תואר ''shem toar'' comes after the noun and agrees with it in gender and number:
Adjectives ending in ''-i'' have slightly different forms:
Masculine nouns that take the "feminine" plural ending ''-ot'' still take masculine plural adjectives, e.g. מקומות יפים ''m'komot yafim'' (beautiful places). The reverse goes for feminine plural nouns ending in ''-im'', e.g. מילים ארוכות ''milim arukot'' (long words). Note also that many adjectives, like segolate nouns, change their vowel structure in the feminine and plural. Use of the definite article with adjectives In Hebrew, an adjective that modifies a definite noun (including proper nouns) also takes the definite article:
Adjectives derived from verbs Many adjectives in Hebrew are derived from the present tense of verbs. These adjectives are inflected the same way as the verbs they are derived from:
ADVERBS The Hebrew term for adverb is תואר הפועל ''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 חזק ''khazak'' (strongly), יפה ''yafe'' (nicely) or ברור ''barur'' (clearly). Some adjectives have a unique adverb that must be memorized, for instance מהר ''maher'' (quickly) or לאט ''l'at'' (slowly). These forms cannot be used as adjectives (the corresponding adjectives are מהיר ''mahir'' and איטי ''iti''). In most cases, though, the adverb will be expressed by some sort of adverbial phrase. Many adjectives prefer the prefix ''b'-'' plus a noun, for instance ''b'zehirut'' (carefully); בעדינות ''b'adinut'' (gently). Others prefer באופן ''b'ofen'' (in a nature/fashion) plus a masculine singular adjective, or בצורה ''b'tsura'' (in a form) plus a feminine singular, e.g. באופן מאפיין ''b'ofen me'afyen'' (characteristically) or בצורה אלגניטית ''b'tsura elegantit'' (elegantly). The use of one of these methods does not necessarily preclude the use of the others: even though לאט ''l'at'' exists, for instance, one may also use באיטיות ''b'itiut'' to express "slowly" in a more elegant way. MISCELLANEOUS Indirect objects Indirect objects are objects requiring a preposition other than את ''et''. The preposition used depends on the verb, and these can be very different than the one used in English. A good dictionary is required to look these up. In the case of definite indirect objects, the preposition will replace את ''et''.
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 z'man''), objects for place (''te'ur makom''), objects for reason (''te'ur siba'') and many others. Impersonal sentences A sentence may lack a subject. In this case it is called סתמי ''s'tami'', or indefinite. If several parts of the sentence have the same function and are attached to the same word, they are called ''kolel'', or collective. Two or more sentences that do not share common parts and are separated by comma are called משפט מחובר ''mishpat m'khubar'', or joined sentences. In many cases, the second sentence uses a pronoun that stands for the other's subject; they are generally interconnected. Relative clauses A sentence in which one or more of the parts are replaced by a clause (''p'sukit'') is called a ''mishpat murkav'' (compound sentence). Compound sentences usually use the conjunctional prefix ש ''she-'' (usually "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 and ''hu okhel'' (he is eating) is the direct subject clause that follows it. REFERENCES # 1 # 2 EXTERNAL LINKS
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