Hebrew grammar

This article is about the grammar of Modern Hebrew. For information on the various historical forms of Hebrew, see Hebrew language.

Hebrew grammar is mostly analytical, expressing such forms as dative, ablative, and accusative using prepositional 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.

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); however, this is somewhat flexible. A number of variations exist:

An object can typically be topicalized by moving it to the front of the sentence. When the object is a question word, this topicalization is almost mandatory; for example, L'mi hu amar?, literally "To-whom he told?", means "Who did he tell?" In other cases, this topicalization can be used emphasis. (See dislocation (syntax).)
Because verbs usually indicate the gender, number, and person of their subjects, subject pronouns are often omitted. (See pro-drop language.)
Indefinite subjects (like English's a boy, a book, and so on) are often postponed, giving the sentence some of the sense of "there exists in addition to the verb's normal meaning; for example, Ba elai eize ish she-ratza she-e'ezor lo im mashehu, literally "Came to-me some man that-wanted that-A man came to me wanting me to help him with something." (This serves a purpose somewhat analogous to English's narrative use of this with a semantically indefinite subject: "So, I'm at work, and this man comes up to me and asks me to help him.") Indeed, outside of the present tense, mere existence is expressed using the verb to be with a postponed indefinite subject; for example, Heita siba she-bikashti, literally "Was reason that-[I" target="_blank" >^*-asked", means "There's a reason I asked."
Definite subjects can be postponed for a number of reasons.
- In some cases, a postponed subject can be used to sound formal or archaic. This is because historically, Hebrew was typically Verb-Subject-Object (VSO); the Bible and other religious texts are predominantly written in VSO word order.
- Sometimes, postponing a subject can give it emphasis; for example, one response to Hatkhil ("Start") might be Hatkhil ata! ("You start!").
- A subject might initially be omitted, and then be re-added later as an afterthought; for example, Na'ase et-ze b'yakhad, ata v'ani, literally "^*'ll-do it together, you and-I", means "You and I will do it together" or "We'll do it together, you and me".

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 et.

Sentences without verbs

While the verb to be does have present-tense forms, they are only used in exceptional circumstances. Instead, there are a number of special structures that are used:

Where the past and future tenses have subject of to be complement (analogous to English, except that in English the subject is always mandatory), the present tense has subject pronoun complement; for example, ha-ben shelo hu ha-aba shela, literally "the-son of-his he the-father of-hers", means "his son is her father." Also, while lo ("not") precedes the copula (a form of to be) in the past and future tenses, it follows the copula (a subject pronoun) in the present tense.
Where the past and future tenses have subject of to be complement (analogous to English, except that in English the subject is always mandatory), the present tense has simply [adjective complement; for example, ha-delet s'gura, literally "the-door closed", means "the door is closed." That said, additional subject pronouns are sometimes used, like with noun complements, especially with complicated subjects; for example, she-hu amar kakha ze muzar, literally "that-he said thus that strange", means "that he said that is strange," i.e. "it's strange that he said that." (A more English-like ordering, ze muzar she-hu amar kakha, literally "that strange that-he said thus", is also possible.)
Where the past and future tenses have of to be object (meaning "there was/were/will be object"), the present tense uses the word yesh ("there is/are") to introduce the subject. Also, whereas the past- and future-tense forms prepend the word lo ("not") to form their opposites, the present-tense form replaces yesh with ein ("their isn't/aren't"). In all tenses, an indirect object can follow yesh/ein/the form of to be to indicate a possessor; English's "I have a car" is in Hebrew yesh li mekhonit (literally "there-is to-me car").

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 three consonants (a triliteral) or, more rarely, four consonants (a quadriliteral), 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 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 or a י yod as the 2nd letters are called hollow roots. The ו vav or the י yod rarely appear in any conjugation though are usually written as part of the root. 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 י yod. 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.

The seven verb forms or *binyanim*.
Pa'al	פָּעַל	simple active
Nif'al	נִפְעַל	usually, passive or reflexive of pa'al
Pi'el	פִּעֵל	simple active; often, intensive of pa'al
Pu'al	פֻּעַל	passive of pi'el
Hif'il	הִפְעִיל	usually, causative of pa'al or pi'el
Huf'al	הֻפְעַל	passive of hif'il
Hitpa'el	הִתְפַּעֵל	usually, reflexive or reciprocal of pa'al or pi'el

	Active	Passive	Reflexive
Simple	פָּעַל pa'al	נִפְעַל nif'al
Intense	פִּעֵל pi'el	פֻּעַל pu'al	הִתְפַּעֵל hitpa'el
Causative	הִפְעִיל hif'il	הֻפְעַל huf'al

For example, using the root k-t-v (כתב), we might find the forms:

Form	Transliteration	Hebrew	Translation
Pa'al	katavti	כָּתַּבתִי	first-person singular, past tense, active voice: “I wrote”
Nif'al	nikhtavim	נִכתַּבִים	masculine plural, present tense, passive voice: “they are being written”
Hif'il	hakhtivi	הַכתִּבִי	feminine singular, imperative: “dictate!”
Hitpa'el	yitkatev	יִתכַתֶּב	third-person masculine singular, future tense: “he will correspond”

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.

Form	Transliteration	Hebrew	Translation
Pa'al	shavar	שָׁבַר	Break
Pi'el	shiber	שִׁבֵּר	Shatter

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):

Form	Transliteration	Hebrew	Translation
Pi'el	gile'akh	גִלֵחַ	to shave (someone)
Pu'al	gulakh	גֻלַּח	to be shaved (by someone)
Hitpa'el	hitgale'akh	הִתְגַּלֵּחַ	to shave (oneself)

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):

Form	Transliteration	Hebrew	Translation
Pa'al	katav	כָּתַב	to write
Nif'al	nikhtav	נִכְתּב	to be written
Hif'il	hikhtiv	הִכְתּיב	to dictate
Huf'al	hukhtav	הֻכְתּב	to be dictated
Hitpa'el	hitkatev	הִתְכַּתֵּב	to correspond (with)

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):

Form	Transliteration	Hebrew	Translation
Pi'el	tzilem	צִלֵּם	to photograph
Pu'al	tzulam	צֻלַּם	to be photographed
Hitpa'el	hitz'talem	הִצְטַלֵּם	to become photographed

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.

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.

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. As a result, personal pronouns are not necessary in the past tense and are often dropped, although colloquially they are sometimes used in the third person.

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, although the second-person masculine singular and third-person feminine singular are identical. Separate feminine forms also exist in the second- and third-person plural, but are not usually used nowadays. As in 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.:

ha-sfarim ketuvim (the books have been written)

And, using the present tense of nif'al, which is often the passive of pa'al, a continuing action:

ha-sfarim nikhtavim (the books are being written)

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.

כתב katav (wrote, pa'al) → לכתוב likhtov (to write)

מדבר m'daber (speak, pi'el) → לדבר l'daber (to speak)

התחיל hitkhil (start, hif'il) → להתחיל l'hatkhil (to start)

התפלל hitpalel (pray, hit'pael) → להתפלל l'hitpalel (to pray)

נפגש nifgash (meet with, nif'al) → להיפגש l'hipagesh (to meet with)

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:

שמר shamar (guarded — pa'al) → שמירה sh'mira (guarding)
- שב shav (returned — hollow pa'al) → שיבה shiva (a return)
- שתה shata (drank — weak pa'al) → שתייה sh'tiya (drinking)
ביקר biker (visited — pi'el) → ביקור bikur (a visit)
הפתיע hiftia (surprised — hif'il) → הפתעה hafta'a (a surprise)
התחמם hitkhamem (warmed up — hitpa'el) → התחממות hitkham'mut (warming)

Nouns

The Hebrew word for "noun" is שם עצם shem etsem.

Hebrew nouns are inflected for number and state, but not by case. Nouns are generally related to verbs (by shared roots), but their formation is not as systematic, often due to loanwords from foreign languages.

Gender: masculine and feminine

Every noun in Hebrew has a gender, either masculine or feminine; for example, ספר sefer (book) is masculine, while דלת delet (door) is feminine. There is not a strict system of formal gender, but there is a tendency for nouns ending in ת -t or ה -a 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 ish means man and אישה isha means woman. (When discussing mixed-sex groups, the masculine plural noun is used.)

Number: singular, plural, and dual

Hebrew nouns are inflected for grammatical number; as in English, count nouns have a singular forms for referring to one object and a plural forms 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 -im:

מחשב makhshev (computer) → מחשבים makhshevim

The addition of the extra syllable often causes the vowel in the first syllable to shorten:

דבר davar (thing) → דברים d'varim

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:

ילד yeled (boy) → ילדים y'ladim
בוקר boker (morning) → בקרים b'karim
חדר kheder (room) → חדרים khadarim

Feminine nouns ending in -a or -at generally drop this ending and add -ot, usually without any vowel changes:

מיטה mita (bed) → מיטות mitot
מסעדה mis'ada (restaurant) → מסעדות mis'adot
צלחת tsalakhat (plate) → צלחות tsalakhot

Nouns ending in -et also replace this ending with -ot, with an -e- in the preceding syllable usually changing to -a:

מחברת makhberet (notebook) → מחברות makhbarot

Nouns ending in -ut replace this ending with -uyot:

חנות khanut (store) → חנויות khanuyot

Similarly, nouns ending in -it replace this ending with -iyot:

אשכולית eshkolit (grapefruit) → אשכוליות eshkoliyot

Plural exceptions

A large number of masculine nouns take the usually-feminine ending -ot in the plural:

מקום makom (place) → מקומות m'komot
חלון khalon (window) → חלונות khalonot

A small number of feminine nouns take the usually-masculine ending -im:

מילה mila (word) → מילים milim
שנה shana (year) → שנים shanim

Many plurals simply cannot be predicted from the singular at all and must be separately memorized:

עיר ir (city) → ערים arim
עפרון iparon (pencil) → עפרונות efronot
איש ish (man/person) → אנשים anashim

Dual

Hebrew also has a dual number, expressed in the ending -ayim, but even in ancient times its use was very restricted. In modern times, it is usually used in expressions of time and number. These nouns have plurals as well, which are used for numbers higher than two, for example:

Singular	Double	Triple
פעם אחת pa'am akhat (once)	פעמיים pa'amayim (twice)	שלוש פעמים shalosh p'amim (thrice)
שבוע אחד shavua ekhad (one week)	שבועיים shavuayim (two weeks)	שלושה שבועות shalosha shavuot (three weeks)
מאה mei'a (one hundred)	מאתיים ma'atayim (two hundred)	שלוש מאות shalosh me'ot (three hundred)

The dual is also used for some body parts, for instance:

רגל regel (leg) → רגליים raglayim (legs)
אוזן ozen (ear) → אוזניים oznayim (ears)

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 example of 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, 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:

The masculine plural ending ים- -im changes to י- -ei
The feminine singular ending ה- -a changes to ת- -'at

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.

בית ספר beit sefer (a school) literally, "house of book" or "book house"
בית הספר beit ha-sefer (the school)
בתי חולים batei kholim (hospitals) literally, "houses of sick people" or "sick people houses"
עוגת השוקולד ugat ha-shokolad (the chocolate cake)
דואר אוויר do'ar avir (air mail)
כלב רחוב kelev r'khov (a street dog)
בקבוק החלב bakbuk ha-khalav (the bottle of milk)

Possession

Possession is generally indicated by conjugating the possessive pronoun של shel (of, belonging to):

הספר שלי ha-sefer sheli (my book)
הדירה שלך ha-dira shelkha (your apartment).
המשחק של אנדר ha-miskhak shel ender (Ender's Game)

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 sifreikha (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):

ספר sefer (book) → ספרות sifrut (literature)
התייעץ hitya'etz (consult) → התייעצות hitya'atzut (advice)
התרגש hitragesh (get excited) → התרגשות hitrag'shut (excitement)

The katlan meter, applied to a verb, indicates "someone who does this":

שיקר shiker (lie) → שקרן shakran (liar)
פחד pakhad (be afraid) → פחדן pakhdan (coward)

The suffix -on denotes a smaller version of something:

ספר sefer (book) → ספרון sifron (booklet)
מחשב makhshev (computer) → מחשבון makhshevon (calculator)

Repeating the last two letters of a noun or adjective can also denote a smaller or lesser version:

כלב kelev (dog) → כלבלב k'lavlav (puppy)
קצר katsar (short) → קצרצר k'tsartsar (very short)

The katelet mishkal can have a variety of meanings:

אדום adom (red) → אדמת ademet (measles)
כלב kelev (dog) → כלבת kalevet (rabies)
נייר n'yar (paper) → ניירת naiyeret (paperwork)
כסף kesef (money) → כספת kasefet (a safe)

New nouns are also often formed by the addition of two existing stems:

קול kol (sound) + נוע noa (motion) → קולנוע kolnoa (cinema)

A combination of methods (The example has the katlan meter plus the ending -ut):

תועלת to'elet (benefit) → תועלתנות to'al'tanut (utilitarianism)

Adjectives

In Hebrew, an adjective (שם תואר shem toar) comes after the noun and agrees with it in gender and number:

ספר קטן sefer katan (a small book)
ספרים קטנים sfarim k'tanim (a small books)
בובה קטנה buba k'tana (small doll)
בובות קטנות bubot k'tanot (small dolls)

Adjectives ending in -i have slightly different forms:

איש מקומי ish m'komi (a local man)
אשה מקומית isha m'komit (a local woman)
אנשים מקומיים anashim m'komiyim (local people)
נשים מקומיות nashim m'komiyot (local women)

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, 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 with an attributive adjective, the article may be omitted from the noun; hence, either of the following may be heard:

הבובות הקטנות ha-bubot ha-k'tanot (the small dolls, lit. the-dolls the-small (f.pl.))
בובות הקטנות bubot ha-k'tanot (the small dolls, lit. dolls the-small (f.pl.))

In the case of a proper noun, the adjective can be interpreted as an appositive noun; for example, contrast the following:

דוד הגדול david ha-gadol (David the Great, lit. David the-great (m.sing.))
דוד המלך david ha-melekh (David the King, lit. David the-king)

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:

סוער so'er (stormy, pa'al) → סוערת so'eret, סוערים so'arim, סוערות so'arot
מנותק menutak (alienated, pu'al) gives מנותקת menuteket, מנותקים menutakim, מנותקות menutakot
מרשים marshim (impressive, hif'il) gives מרשימה marshima, מרשימים marshimim, מרשימות marshimot

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 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 et.

אני שכחתי מהבחירות ani shakhakhti me-ha-b'khirot (I forgot about the election)

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

External links

Online Hebrew Tutorial (foundationstone)
Hebrew is easy (babel-site)
Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar
Learning Hebrew - Links, Young Israel

Grammars of specific languages | Hebrew language

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