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This article is about the grammar of Modern Hebrew. For information on the various historical forms of Hebrew, see Hebrew Language . Hebrew Grammar is partly Analytical , expressing such forms as Dative , Ablative , and Accusative using Preposition al particles rather than Morphological Cases . However, Inflection plays a decisive role in the formation of the verbs, the declension of prepositions (i.e. with pronominal suffixes), and the Genitive construct of nouns as well as the formation of the plural of nouns and adjectives. NOTE ON THE REPRESENTATION OF HEBREW EXAMPLES Since this article is intended to be useful to non-Hebrew speakers, all examples of Hebrew are represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a system of phonetic notation that provides a standardized, accurate and unique way of representing the sounds of any spoken language. This presents the complication that not all Hebrew speakers pronounce Hebrew the same; for example, many speakers (primarily Sephardi Jews ) distinguish between the letters ח and כ , pronouncing the former as and the latter as , while many other speakers pronounce them both as . For each such variation, this article uses the first transcription given at Hebrew Phonology , which strives to represent the pronunciation used by a majority of Israeli Hebrew-speakers today. That being said, the IPA transcriptions have been slightly modified to incorporate some punctuation — hyphens, commas, and so on — indicating the structure of an example. Further, since the Hebrew writing system (its Alphabet and Niqqud ) reflects not only phonology but also some grammar (for example, the sounds and are represented by a single letter, פ , since Hebrew grammatical rules generally determine which of the two sounds is to be used), Hebrew text is provided alongside IPA transcriptions in those cases where it has been deemed illustrative. (The Hebrew text may be presented with or without niqqud, as the example requires.) SENTENCE STRUCTURE Sentence structure in Hebrew is somewhat similar to that in English, but there are a number of differences; notably, the verb ''to be'' is not used in the present tense, resulting in a number of special present-tense structures. Sentences with verbs As in English, most sentences have a subject, a Verb , and possibly other Arguments and Complements . In this case, the word order is usually Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) , like in English; however, this is somewhat flexible. A number of variations exist:
Generally, Hebrew marks every noun in a sentence with some sort of preposition, with the exception of subjects and semantically indefinite direct objects; unlike English, there is no prepositionless indirect object (as in "He gave me the ball"), and very much unlike English, semantically definite direct objects are introduced by the preposition את . Sentences without verbs While the verb ''to be'' does have present-tense forms, they are used only in exceptional circumstances. Instead, there are a number of special structures that are used:
VERBS The Hebrew , in Valency , in semantic intensity, in Aspect , or in more than one of these. Conjugation See Also: Hebrew verb conjugation Each binyan has a certain pattern of conjugation; verbs in the same binyan are conjugated similarly. Nonetheless, there are some irregular verbs, and there are some patterns of exceptions; for example, most three-letter roots ('' Triliteral s'') whose second letter is ו or י are so-called ''hollow'' roots, losing their second letter in binyan , in , and in much of . Every verb has a past tense, a present tense, a future tense, and a and an Infinitive ; verbs in four of the binyanim have Gerund s; and verbs in one of the binyanim have a Past Participle . Finally, a very small number of fixed expressions include verbs in the Jussive Mood , which is essentially an extension of the imperative into the third person. Except for the infinitive and gerund, these forms are conjugated to reflect the number of their subject (singular or plural), as well as, depending on the form, its person (first, second, or third) or gender (masculine or feminine) or both. Verbs in Hebrew are identified, in dictionaries and elsewhere, by their third-person masculine singular past tense form; this differs from English verbs, which are identified by their infinitives. (Nonetheless, the Hebrew term for ''infinitive'' is ''shem po'al'', which means ''verb name''.) Further, each of the seven binyanim is identified by the third-person masculine singular past tense form of the root פ-ע-ל (''P/F-'-L'', meaning ''doing'', ''action'', etc.) cast into that binyan: , , , , , , and . Binyan ''pa'al'' Binyan ''pa'al'', also called binyan קל (''light''), is the most common binyan. ''Pa'al'' verbs are in the active voice, and can be either transitive or intransitive; that is, they may or may not take Direct Object s. ''Pa'al'' verbs are never formed from four-letter roots. Binyan ''pa'al'' is the only binyan whose verbs have past participles; for example, רצוי (''desirable'') is the past participle of רצה (''to want''). Binyan ''nif'al'' Verbs in binyan ''nif'al'' are always intransitive, but beyond that there is little restriction on their range of meanings. First of all, ''nif'al'' is the passive-voice counterpart of ''pa'al''; in principle, any transitive ''pa'al'' verb can be rendered passive by taking its root and casting it into ''nif'al''. Nonetheless, this is not ''nif'al'''s main use, as the passive voice is fairly rare in ordinary Modern Hebrew. More commonly, it is ''pa'al'''s middle- or reflexive-voice counterpart. English's Ergative Verb s often translate to Hebrew as a ''pa'al''–''nif'al'' pair. For example, English ''he broke the plate'' corresponds to Hebrew הוא שבר את הצלחת , using ''pa'al''; but English ''the plate broke'' corresponds to Hebrew הצלחת נשברה , using ''nif'al''. The difference is that in the first case, there is an agent doing the breaking, while in the second case, the agent is ignored. (Nonetheless, like in English, it can still be made clear that there was an ultimate agent: הוא הפיל את הצלחת והיא נשברה , ''he dropped the plate and it broke'', uses ''nif'al''.) Other examples of this kind include פתח /נפתח (''to open'', transitive/intransitive) and גמר /נגמר (''to end'', transitive/intransitive). Other relationships between a ''pa'al'' verb and its ''nif'al'' counterpart can exist as well. One example is זכר and נזכר : both mean ''to remember'', but the latter implies that one had previously forgotten, rather like English ''to suddenly remember''. Another is פגש and נפגש : both mean ''to meet'', but the latter implies an intentional meeting, while the former often means ''to run into'' (in the non-literal sense). Finally, sometimes a ''nif'al'' verb has no ''pa'al'' counterpart, or at least is much more common than its ''pa'al'' counterpart; נדבק (''to stick'', intransitive) is a fairly common verb, but דבק (''to cling'') is all but non-existent by comparison. (Indeed, נדבק 's transitive counterpart is הדביק , of binyan ''hif'il''; see below.) Like ''pa'al'' verbs, ''nif'al'' verbs are never formed from four-letter roots. ''Nif'al'' verbs, like verbs in the other passive binyanim (''pu'al'' and ''huf'al'', described below), do not have gerunds; however, they do have infinitives and imperatives. Binyan ''pi'el'' Binyan ''pi'el'', like binyan ''pa'al'', consists of transitive and intransitive verbs in the active voice, though there is perhaps a greater tendency for ''pi'el'' verbs to be transitive. Most roots with a ''pa'al'' verb do not have a ''pi'el'' verb, and vice versa, but even so, there are many roots that do have both. Sometimes the ''pi'el'' verb is a more intense version of the ''pa'al'' verb; for example, קיפץ (''to spring'') is a more intense version of קפץ (''to jump''), and שיבר (''to smash'', ''to shatter'', transitive) is a more intense version of שבר (''to break'', transitive). In other cases, a ''pi'el'' verb acts as a causative counterpart to the ''pa'al'' verb with the same root; for example, לימד (''to teach'') is essentially the causative of למד (''to learn''). And in yet other cases, the nature of the relationship is less obvious; for example, ספר means ''to count'', while סיפר means ''to narrate'' (or ''to cut (hair)''), and פתח means ''to open'' (transitive), while פיתח means ''to develop'' (transitive). Binyan ''pu'al'' Binyan ''pu'al'' is the passive-voice counterpart of binyan ''pi'el''. Unlike binyan ''nif'al'', it is used ''only'' for the passive voice. It is therefore not very commonly used in ordinary speech, except that the present participles of a number of ''pu'al'' verbs are used as ordinary adjectives: מבולבל means ''mixed-up'' (from בולבל , the passive of בלבל , ''to confuse''), מעוניין means ''interested'', מפורסם means ''famous'' (from פורסם , the passive of פרסם , ''to publicize''), and so on. (Indeed, the same is true of many ''pi'el'' verbs, including the ''pi'el'' counterparts of two of the above examples: מבלבל , ''confusing'', and מעניין , ''interesting''. The difference is that ''pi'el'' verbs are also frequently used as verbs, whereas ''pu'al'' is much less common.) ''Pu'al'' verbs do not have gerunds, imperatives, or infinitives. Binyan ''hif'il'' Binyan ''hif'il'' is another active binyan. ''Hif'il'' verbs are often causative counterparts of verbs in other binyanim; examples include הכתיב (''to dictate''; the causative of כתב , ''to write''), הדליק (''to turn on (a light)'', transitive; the causative of נדלק , ''(for a light) to turn on'', intransitive), and הרשים (''to impress''; the causative of התרשם , ''to be impressed''). Nonetheless, not all are causatives of other verbs; for example, הבטיח (''to promise''). Binyan ''huf'al'' Binyan ''huf'al'' is much like binyan ''pu'al'', except that it corresponds to ''hif'il'' instead of to ''pi'el''. Like ''pu'al'', it is not commonly used in ordinary speech, except in present participles that have become adjectives, such as מוכר (''familiar'', from הוכר , the passive of הכיר , ''to know (a person)'') and מוגזם (''excessive'', from , the passive of הגזים , ''to exaggerate''). Like ''pu'al'' verbs, ''huf'al'' verbs do not have gerunds, imperatives, or infinitives. Binyan ''hitpa'el'' Binyan ''hitpa'el'' is rather like binyan ''nif'al'', in that all ''hitpa'el'' verbs are intransitive, and most have a reflexive sense. Indeed, many ''hitpa'el'' verbs are reflexive counterparts to other verbs with the same root; for example, התרחץ (''to wash oneself'', i.e. usually ''to shower'') is the reflexive of רחץ (''to wash'', transitive), and התגלח (''to shave oneself'', i.e. ''to shave'', intransitive) is the reflexive of גילח (''to shave'', transitive). Some ''hitpa'el'' verbs are a combination of causative and reflexive; for example,הסתפר (''to get one's hair cut'') is the causative reflexive of סיפר (''to cut (hair)''), and הצטלם (''to get one's picture taken'') is the causative reflexive of צילם (''to take a picture (of someone or something)''). ''Hitpa'el'' verbs can also be reciprocal; for example, התכתב (''to write to each other'', i.e. ''to correspond'') is the reciprocal of כתב (''to write''). In all of the above uses, the ''hitpa'el'' verb contrasts with a ''pu'al'' or ''huf'al'' verb in two ways: firstly, the subject of the ''hitpa'el'' verb is generally either performing the action, or at least complicit in it, whereas the subject of the ''pu'al'' or ''huf'al'' verb is generally not; and secondly, ''pu'al'' and ''huf'al'' verbs often convey a sense of completeness, which ''hitpa'el'' verbs generally do not. So whereas the sentence אני מצולם (''I am photographed'', using ''pu'al'') means something like ''there exists a photo of me'', implying that the photo already exists, and not specifying whether the speaker caused the photo to be taken, the sentence אני מצטלם (''I am photographed'', using ''hitpa'el'') means something like ''I'm having my picture taken'', implying that the picture does not exist yet, and that the speaker is causing the picture to be taken. In other cases, ''hitpa'el'' verbs are ordinary intransitive verbs; for example, התנהג (''to behave''), while structurally the reciprocal of נהג (''to drive''), is essentially a separate verb; in talking about a car that drove itself, one would say מכונית שנוהגת עצמה (''a car that drives itself'', using ''nahag''), not מכונית שמתנהגת (''a car that '''behaves''''', using ''hitnaheg''). NOUNS The Hebrew Noun (שם עצם is inflected for number and state, but not for Case . Nouns are generally related to verbs (by shared roots), but their formation is not as systematic, often due to Loanword s from foreign languages. Gender: masculine and feminine Every noun in Hebrew has a Gender , either masculine or feminine; for example, ספר (''book'') is masculine, while דלת (''door'') is feminine. There is not a strict system of Formal gender, but there is a tendency for nouns ending in ת () or ה (usually ) to be feminine and for nouns ending in other letters to be masculine. There is a very strong tendency toward natural gender for nouns referring to people and some animals. Such nouns generally come in pairs, one masculine and one feminine; for example, איש means ''man'' and אישה means ''woman''. (When discussing mixed-sex groups, the plural of the masculine noun is used.) Number: singular, plural, and dual Hebrew nouns are inflected for Grammatical Number ; as in English, Count Noun s have a singular form for referring to one object and a plural form for referring to more than one. Unlike in English, some count nouns also have separate ''dual'' forms, for referring to two objects; see below. Masculine nouns generally form their plural by adding the suffix ים :
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 () in both syllables, undergo more drastic characteristic vowel changes in the plural:
Feminine nouns ending in or generally drop this ending and add , usually without any vowel changes:
Nouns ending in also replace this ending with , with an in the preceding syllable usually changing to :
Nouns ending in and replace these endings with and , respectively:
Plural exceptions A large number of masculine nouns take the usually-feminine ending in the plural:
A small number of feminine nouns take the usually-masculine ending :
Many plurals are completely irregular:
Dual Hebrew also has a dual number, expressed in the ending , 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 ("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 (''eyeglasses'') and מספריים (''scissors''). As in the English "two pairs of pants", the plural of these words uses the word זוג (''pair''), e.g. ("two pairs-of scissors-DUAL"). The name of the city גבעתיים '' Givataim '' (''Тwo Peaks'', or ''Twin Peaks'') is an atypical use of the dual number. Noun construct Hebrew's Genitive Case is achieved by placing two nouns next to each other. This is called a '' Noun Construct '' (סמיכות ). 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''. For most nouns, the construct form is derived fairly easily from the normal (indefinite) form:
There are many words (usually ancient ones) that have changes in vocalization in the construct form. For example, the construct form of (house) is . In addition, the definite article is never placed on the first noun (the one in the construct form).
However, this rule is not always adhered to in colloquial speech, as for example העורך דין (literally ''the law organiser'', i.e. ''lawyer''). Possession Possession is generally indicated using the preposition (של, ''of'' or ''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 (discussed above). So, ספרי (''books of'') can be inflected to form ספריי (''my books''),ספריך (''your books''), ספרנו (''our books''), and so forth, while דירת (''apartment of'') gives דירתי (my apartment), דירתה (''your apartment''),דירתנו (''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, such as ?מה שלומך (literally "what peace-of-you?", i.e. "what is your peace?", i.e. "how are you?") or לדעתי (in my opinion). In addition, the inflected possessive is commonly used for terms of kinship; for instance,בני (''my son''), בתם (''their daughter''), and אשתו (''his wife'') are preferred to הבן שלי , הבת שלהם , and האישה שלו . However, usage differs for different Registers and Sociolects : In general, the colloquial will use more analytic constructs in place of noun declensions. 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 ) to the same roots. Gerunds are one example (see above). Many abstract nouns are derived from another noun, or from a verb (usually one in binyan ''hitpa'el'') using the suffix :
The meter, applied to a verb, indicates "someone who does this":
The suffix 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 mishkal can have a variety of meanings:
New nouns are also often formed by the combination of two existing stems:
A combination of methods (the example has the ''kat'lan'' meter plus the ending ):
ADJECTIVES In Hebrew, an Adjective (שם תואר ) 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 still take masculine plural adjectives, e.g. מקומות יפים ('''''beautiful''' places''). The reverse goes for feminine plural nouns ending in , e.g. מילים '''ארוכות''' ('''''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, unlike in English, an Attributive adjective takes the definite article if it modifies a definite noun (either a proper noun, or a definite common noun). When a definite common noun is with an attributive adjective, the article may be omitted from the noun; hence, either of the following may be heard:
In the case of a proper noun, the adjective can be interpreted as an Appositive noun; for example, contrast the following:
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 . Hebrew forms adverbs in several different ways. Some adjectives have corresponding one-word adverbs. In many cases, the adverb is simply the adjective's masculine singular form:
In other cases, the adverb has a distinct form:
Most adjectives, however, do not have corresponding one-word adverbs; rather, they have corresponding adverb ''phrases'', formed using one of the following approaches:
The use of one of these methods does not necessarily preclude the use of the others; for example, ''slowly'' may be either לאט (a one-word adverb), or באטיות (literally ''in slowness''; a somewhat more elegant way of expressing the same thing), בלאט (an even more elegant way of rendering the same), or באופן אטי ("in slow fashion", i.e. "slowly"), as mentioned above. Finally, like in English, there are various adverbs that do not have corresponding adjectives at all:
PREPOSITIONS Like English, Hebrew is primarily a Preposition al language, with a large number of prepositions. Several of Hebrew's most common prepositions, however, unlike any of English's, are prefixes rather than separate words; for example, English ''in the room'' is Hebrew בחדר . The preposition The preposition את plays an important role in Hebrew grammar. Its most common use is to introduce a direct object; for example, English ''I see the book'' is in Hebrew אני רואה את הספר (literally ''I see the-book''). However, את is used only with semantically ''definite'' direct objects, such as nouns with ''the'', proper nouns, and personal pronouns; with semantically ''indefinite'' direct objects, it is simply omitted: אני רואה ספר ''ani ro'e sefer'' (''I see a book'') does not use את . Finally, את has a number of special uses; for example, when the adjective צריך (''in need (of)'') takes a definite noun complement, it uses the preposition את : היית צריך את זה (literally ''I-was in-need-of this'', i.e. ''I needed this''). Here as elsewhere, the את is dropped with an indefinite complement: היו צריכים יותר (literally ''were in-need-of more'', i.e. ''they needed more''). This is perhaps related to the verb-like fashion in which the adjective is used. MISCELLANEOUS Indirect objects Indirect objects are objects requiring a preposition other than את . The preposition used depends on the verb, and these can be very different from 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 .
The Hebrew grammar distinguishes between various kinds of indirect objects, according to what they specify. Thus, there is a division between objects for time תיאור זמן (), objects for place תיאור מקום (), objects for reason תיאור סיבה () and many others. Impersonal sentences A sentence may lack a subject. In this case it is called סתמי , or indefinite. If several parts of the sentence have the same function and are attached to the same word, they are called כולל , or collective. Two or more sentences that do not share common parts and are separated by comma are called משפט מחובר , or joined sentences. In many cases, the second sentence uses a pronoun that stands for the other's subject; they are generally interconnected. Subordinate clauses Like English, Hebrew allows Clause s פסוקיות () to serve as parts of a sentence. A sentence containing a subordinate clause is called a משפט מורכב . Subordinate clauses almost always begin with the Conjunction ש (usually ''that''), which attaches as a prefix to the word that follows it. For example, in the sentence יוסי אומר שהוא אוכל (''Yosi says that he is eating''), the subordinate clause שהוא אוכל (''that he is eating'') serves as the direct object of the verb אומר (''says''). Unlike English, Hebrew does not have a large number of subordinating conjunctions; rather, subordinate clauses almost always act as nouns and can be introduced by prepositions in order to serve as adverbs. For example, the English ''As I said, there's nothing we can do'' in Hebrew is כפי שאמרתי, אין מה לעשות (literally '''''Like that'''-I-said, there-isn't what to-do''). That said, Relative Clause s, which act as adjectives, are also formed using ש . For example, English ''Yosi sees the man who is eating apples'' is in Hebrew יוסי רואה את האיש שאוכל תפוחים (literally ''Yosi sees the-man '''that'''-eats apples''). In this use ש sometimes acts as a Relativizer rather than as a Relative Pronoun ; that is, sometimes the pronoun remains behind in the clause: היא מכירה את האיש שדיברתי עליו , which translates to ''She knows the man I talked about'', literally means ''She knows [et the-man '''that'''-I-talked '''about him'''''. This is because in Hebrew, a preposition (in this case על ) cannot appear without its object, so the ''him'' יו () could not be dropped. REFERENCES # 1 # 2 EXTERNAL LINKS
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