Jill Suzanne Jacobs - Hebrew For Dummies

אֶכְתֹּב (ech -tohv; [I] will write)

תִּכְתֹּב (teeḥ- tohv; [you] will write) (MS)

תִּכְתְּבִי (teeh-tuh- vee; [you] will write) (FS)

יִכְתֹּב (yeeḥ- tohv; [he] will write)

תִּכְתֹּב (teeḥ- tohv; [she] will write)

נִכְתֹּב (neeḥ -tohv; [we] will write)

תִּכְתְּבוּ (teeḥ-tuh- voo; [you] will write) (MP/FP)

יִכְתְּבוּ (yeeḥ-tuh- voo; [they] will write) (MP/FP)

To make a command (the imperative mood), you can choose among three forms: “you” (MS), “you” (FS), and “you” (MP/FP). Believe it or not, many Modern Hebrew speakers consider this tense to be quite rude — like something an army commander or strict teacher would say. Generally speaking, you should avoid the command tense. Use the future tense instead, because it’s perceived to be more polite. But if you really want to, you can conjugate the command form like this:

כתוב (kuh- tohv; [you] Write!) (MS)

כִּתְבֵי (keet -vee; [you] Write!) (FS)

כִּתְּבוּ (keet- voo; [you] Write!) (MP/FP)

The beauty of the Hebrew verb lies in its versatility as well as its simplicity. In Table 2-8, I include some common Hebrew verbs listed in their present tense, masculine singular form.

TABLE 2-8Some Common Present-Tense Verbs

Like English, most Hebrew adverbs are similar to adjectives — just with different endings. When you use an adjective as an adverb, you don't conjugate it; it stays in the masculine singular form. Here are a couple of examples:

הוּא כּוֹתֵב יָפֶה (hoo koh- tehv yah- feh; He writes nicely.)

הִיא כּוֹתֶבֶת יָפֶה (hee koh- teh -veht yah- feh; She writes nicely.)

Note that although the pronoun and the verb conjugation changes — in this case from masculine singular to feminine singular — the adverb remains unchanged.

You can also make an adverb by adding the prefix בְּ’ ( buh; in or with) to a noun. שִׂמְחָה (seem- chah ; happiness), for example, becomes בְּשִׂמְחָה (buh-seem- chah ; happily).

A third way to make an adverb is to take an adjective and add the suffix ut( oot ) to make a noun. Then you add the prefix בְּשִׂמְחָה (buh; in or with) to make the adverb. עָדִין (ah- deen; gentle), for example, becomes עֲדִינוּת (ah-dee- noot; gentleness), and with a prefix בַּ, it becomes בעדינות (buh-ah-dee- noot; gently).

A fourth way to make an adverb is to add the word בְּאֹפֶן (buh- oh- fehn; in the way of) in front of an adjective. אוֹהוֹמָתִי (oh-toh- mah -tee; automatic), for example, becomes בְּאֹפֶן אוֹהוֹמָתִי (buh- oh- fehn oh-toh- mah -tee; automatically).

Table 2-9lists some common adverbs.

TABLE 2-9Common Adverbs

Prepositions are words that show relations among words (such as “in,” “by,” and “with,” to name a few common English prepositions). In Hebrew, prepositions sometimes stand alone; at other times, they’re attached to another word as a prefix. Table 2-10breaks down prepositions for you.

TABLE 2-10Hebrew Prepositions

In English, you combine prepositions with nouns to make prepositional phrases , such as “in the box,” “by the river,” or “with a friend.” In Hebrew, if you want to add the word “the” — to form a prepositional phrase — you have to change the vowel sound of the preposition. The uh vowel sound becomes an ah sound.

So, if a definite direct object is preceded by a preposition, the preposition will include the definite article. “He helped a girl” is הוּא עָזַר לְיַלְדָּה (hoo ah- zahr luh- yahl -dah; literally: He helped to girl.). The preposition in this case is לְ. But if you want to say “He gave assistance to the girl,” you say הוּא עָזַר לַיַּלְדָּה (hoo ah- zahr lah- yahl -dah; Literally: he helped to the girl.). The preposition אֵל is combined with the definite article in this case and becomes לַ ( lah; to the).

In Hebrew, all nouns, adjectives and verbs have gender; they’re classified as either masculine or feminine. Like many world languages, Hebrew has begun to grapple with nonbinary gender identities, and the Hebrew Nonbinary Project has created a third, nonbinary gender category. In addition, all nouns, adjectives, and verbs have number; they’re classified as either singular or plural.