012
Now that we have learned the Hebrew alphabet and the vowel signs and other pronunciation aids, let’s turn to pronouns and nouns.
As you can see in the chart below, Hebrew personal pronouns indicate the person, number and gender of the individual referred to, except for the first person, “I” and “we.” The Hebrew words for “I” and “we” signal person and number, but not gender.
Singular Pronouns
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Plural Pronouns
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ykinOàa;, ynIa}
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(ahnee, ah-no-chee)
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I
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Wnj]n”aÒ
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(ah-nach-nu)
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we
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hT;a’
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(aht-tah)
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you (m.)
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µT,a’
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(aht-tem)
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you (m.)
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T]a’
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(aht)
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you (f.)
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÷T,a’
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(aht-ten)
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you (f.)
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aWh
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(hoo)
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he, it (m.)
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µhe
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(hem)
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they (m.)
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ayhi
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(hee)
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she, it (f.)
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÷he
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(hen)
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they (f.)
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ykinOa; (ah-no-chee) is seldom used and is a more archaic form than the familiar ynIa} (ahnee).
Practice substituting the other singular pronouns for ynIa} with vyai (man) and hV;ai (woman). The Plural of eesh µyvin:a} (ah-na-sheem) and for eesh-sha the Plural is µyvin: (na-sheem). Practice using pronouns with nouns until you are familiar with them, for example, hV;aih;Övyaih; ynIa} “I and the man/woman”
A biblical example of a similar expression occurs in 2 Samuel 12:7. The prophet Nathan told King David the story of the rich man with many flocks who took the only ewe of a poor man to serve to visitors. When Nathan finished the story, David was so incensed at the injustice that he was ready to have the rich man killed for the deed. He asked Nathan who the man of wealth was. Nathan replied, “vyaih; hT;a’” (aht-tah ha-eesh!) “You (are) the man!” (“are” is placed in parentheses because Hebrew has no expression for “to be” in the present tense, but English requires one. Hebrew has expressions for “to be” in the past and future tenses, which we will learn later).
Notice the ha before eesh. Ha is the equivalent of “the” in English. This definite article has only this from and may be used with any noun. Note that it is attached to the noun as a prefix; in this respect it is unlike our independent word “the” Hebrew has no indefinite articles like a or an. The indefinite idea is expressed by the noun without a definite article.
The main conjunction in Hebrew is the letter Vav, meaning “and.” It is used as a prefix to the following word. We can practice using the conjunction with the pronoun expressions we have been learning:
hV;aih; ynIa}w” vyaih; hT;a’ (aht-tah ha-eesh vah-ahnee ha-eesh-shah) “You (are) the man and I (am) the woman”
µyvin: ÷T,a’wÒ µyvin:a} Wnj]n&”a} (ah-nach-nu ah-na-sheem veh-aht-ten na-sheem) “We are men and you (all) are women.”
Or we could be more definite by saying, µyviN:h’ ÷Tma’wÒ µyvin:a}h; Wnj]n&”a} (ah-nach-nu ha-ah-na-sheem veh-aht-ten ha-na-sheem) “We are the men and you (all) are the women.”
By now, you have met several nouns. Let’s meet some feminine nouns, as well as some adjectives:
Feminine Nouns and Adjectives
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Singular
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Plural
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Translation
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hw;x]mi
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t/kr;B]
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commandment
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hk;r;B]
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t/kr;B]
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blessing
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hy:j’
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t/Yj’
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alive, living
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tB;v’
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t/tB;v’
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sabbath
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hg;y:
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t/gy;
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beautiful
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hr;/nm]
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t/r/nm]
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candelabra (menorah)
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hl;/dG]
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t/lo/dG]
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great, large
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Many singular feminine nouns end with the vowel kamats followed by a silent He (hë; “-oh”). These are replaced by the cholam and Tav (twOë “-ot”) ending in the plural. tB;v’ ends in t, another ending for feminine singular nouns. Practice making sentences using as subjects the feminine pronouns provided above, combined with the singular and plural noun and adjective forms. For example, hp;y: T]a’ (aht ya-fah) “You (are) beautiful.”
Masculine nouns usually have a plural ending of chirik gadol and Mem (µyëI, “-eem”). They have no distinctive singular endings:
Masculine Nouns and Adjectives
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Singular
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Plural
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Translation
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rb;D;
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µyrib;D]
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word, thing
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÷Be
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µynIB;
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son
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yj’
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µyYIj’
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alive, living
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Jl,m,&
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µykil;m]
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king
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fG;v;mi
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µyfiG;v]mi
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judgment, custom
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aybin;
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µyaiybinÒ
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prophet
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l/dG;
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µyli/dG]
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great, large
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Use the masculine personal pronouns together with these nouns to form sentences in the present tense, for example, Jl,m, aWh (oo e-lech) “He (is) a king,” or Jl,M,h’ aWh (hoo ha-me-lech).“He (is) the king.” Practice all the pronouns, nouns, the definite article, and the conjunction in this lesson. For example, formulate expressions such as aybin: ynIa}w” Jl,M&,h’ aWh (hoo ha-me-lech vah-ahnee na-vee) “He is the king and I am a prophet.”
In our next lesson we will study verbs and use them with the examples given here to form simple sentences. In the meantime, you have learned enough to read Genesis 1:1, which we met in our first lesson: År,a&,h; ta,wÒ µyIm&’V;h’ ta, µa, µyhil¿aÔ ar;B; tyviareB]
bereh-sheet ba-rah e-lo-heem et ha-sha-ma-yeem ve-et ha-ah-rets.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Now that we have learned the Hebrew alphabet and the vowel signs and other pronunciation aids, let’s turn to pronouns and nouns.