‫ר ָדמִ ְ לע ַ ִןט ָק ִָ ִ‬

‫ִ ָ ִן‬ ‫םריבע ְ ִה‬ ‫לְ ִ‬

Lesson 1: The Alphabet
1. The consonants

‫ת ׁשש ֹ ר ק צ פ ע ס נ מ ל כ י ט ח ז ו ה ד ג ב א‬

Character Transliteration Pronunciation

‫א‬ A ʾ none
‫ּב‬,‫ב‬ house b,ḇ bus, singles
‫ּג‬,‫ג‬ gimel g goose, will (guill)
‫ּד‬,‫ד‬ door d,ḏ debt, Madrid
‫ה‬ hey h hello
‫ו‬ wow w wow /vingles
‫ז‬ zayin z house
‫ח‬ ḥêṯ ḥ ham
‫ט‬ ṭêṯ ṭ everything (hard, explosive)

‫י‬ Yod y mare

‫ּכ‬,‫ כ‬,‫ך‬ how k,ḵ house, smooth
‫ל‬ lame ḏl to lament
‫ מ‬,‫ם‬ meme m mom
‫ נ‬,‫ן‬ noon n nobody
‫ס‬ joys salmon
‫ע‬ eye ʿ none
‫פ‬,‫פ‬
ּ ,‫ף‬ pê p dad, faafa
‫ צ‬,‫ץ‬ ṣāḏê ṣ nuts
‫ק‬ who q cocktail
‫ר‬ head r Ramón
1
 ֹ‫ש‬ there ś epicure
ׁ‫ש‬ green š Shintani
‫ּת‬,‫ת‬ master t,ṯ to have

2. The Vowels
The vowel is usually found below the consonant that precedes it in pronunciation. In the
table below, we will use the consonant‫( ב‬bêṯ) to demonstrate it. Some vowels carry
I get a consonant (mater lectionis) that helps distinguish them from other similar ones.

Character Transliteration
ַ‫ב‬ door a brief
ָ‫ב‬ we are ā long
‫ הָב‬final round â long
ַ‫ח‬ stealth mode a brief
ֶ‫ב‬ purple e brief
ֵ‫ב‬ sow ē long
‫ יֵב‬breath of life ê long
‫ יֶב‬purple you ê long
ִ‫ב‬ ḥîreq breve i brief
ִ‫ב‬ long vowel ī long
‫ יִב‬hirq yod î long
ָ‫ב‬ the house is beautiful o brief
ֹ‫ב‬ holem ō long
‫ ו ֹב‬great sorrow ô long
ֻ‫ב‬ breve u brief
ֻ‫ב‬ to the pulls ū long
ּ‫ בו‬shurqa û long
2
 ְ‫ב‬ shower ə very brief
ֲ‫ב‬ hā ṭēpataḥ ă very brief
ֱ‫ב‬ I will tell you ĕ very brief
ֳ‫ב‬ meaning the meat ŏ very brief

✝Elpáṯaḥfurtivorealmente is not a vowel but rather a sound that accompanies the

consonants‫ ע‬y‫( ח‬sometimes also‫ה‬but very rarely) that are found at the end of a
the word and the previous syllable do not have the sound "a" (e.g. ַ‫ חּרו‬ruaspirit, wind;‫עּוׁשְי‬
Jesusaʿ=Joshua, Jesus), to help with his pronunciation. It is somewhat similar to the sound "e" that the
Spanish speakers add to words that start with 'sp' or the vowel 'a' that Italians do.
they are added to words that end in consonant.
The dagesh
The dagesh is a dot that is found inside some consonants. It can indicate one of
the following three things:
ְ ‫ךֶלֶּמ‬
a) That the consonant has been reduplicated:‫ ה‬the teacherthe king
b) That in the case of ambiguous consonants‫ת פ כ ד ג ב‬, the one with eldageshes
the one with a hard pronunciation, while the one without is soft.
that one‫ ה‬final is not a mother letter but rather a consonant. For example:
‫ הָכְלַמ‬malkā(h): a queen
ּ‫ הָכְלַמ‬queen: her king (that is, the king of her.)‫ ה‬is part of the suffix 3rd fem. sing)
4. The consonants BeGaDKePaT
In Hebrew, some consonants are pronounced differently when they have a dot.
called eldagesh. That is, when they are pronounced, they have a hard, explosive sound: b, g, d, k, p, t
(ּ‫)תפּ ּכ ּג ּב‬. On the other hand, when they don't carry it, the pronunciation is softer: ḇ, ḡ, ḏ, ḵ, ṯ(‫ב‬
‫)ת פ כ ד ג‬.
A question arises. How do you know if it is a hard sound to pronounce or a
reduplicated character? Two things to keep in mind for most cases:

In general, only hard sounds can be reduplicated. In this case, it is called el dagesh.
strong dagesh (ojazáq), that is, the point indicates that there is a reduplication. Therefore, we can
find -bb- (like enhabbáyiṯ: the house), -gg- (haggammel: the camel), -dd- (haddéleṯ: the
door), -kk- (hakkəlî: the instrument), -pp- (happərî: the fruit), -tt- (ʾattāh: you), but never -
bb-, -gg-, -dd-, etc.

3
When it is not about a reduplication but rather a hard sound in pronunciation, the point
It is called dagesh lene (light, that is, soft, light). The hard sounds b, g, d, k, p occur (unless
it is a reduplication) only at the beginning at the beginning of a word or of a syllable preceded
by a consonant. For example:

my king
But, melech (a king): me-lekh

In other cases, its soft equivalent is pronounced, which we can conclude happens
(a) at the end of a syllable (e.g. mé-leḵ), or (b) at the beginning of a syllable preceded by a vowel: For
example, labdemiḏḇār(miḏ-ḇār: desert) is hard because, although it is at the end of a syllable,
it is preceded by a consonant. In contrast, the b denāḇîʾ(nā-ḇîʾ: prophet) is soft because it occurs at
end of a syllable and is preceded by a vowel. (But, as always, one can find a
exception).

4
Lesson 2: The article
In many languages, there are usually different ways to grammatically indicate whether a word
is or is not defined (in English definite). Generally, this is done through articles (the house),
this house
The same happens in Hebrew.1In this class, we will limit ourselves to the article.

In Spanish, articles also have gender and are singular and plural. The same in Italian: the.
In English, there is only one article: the. In Hebrew, like in English, there is only one article and not
it has a gender‫ ה‬ha-. The article is usually prefixed to the word it modifies. Then, the
the first letter of that word is reduplicated upon receiving the article, and, as we saw before, for
to indicate this reduplication, the strong dagesh is used. E.g.

ְ‫ ·ה‬+ ‫ךֶלֶּמַה ְ= ךֶלֶמ‬the teacherthe king

‫ ·ה‬+ ‫תִיַּבַה = תִיַּב‬the house

‫ ·ה‬+ ‫הַ= רָֹשָּב‬
‫רָֹשָּב‬the meat
ׁ‫ ·ַה‬+ ‫ שֶפֶּנַה =ׁשֶפֶנ‬life, person
This is how it works in most cases. But, when the word to which the article is prefixed
starts with a guttural consonant‫ ה‬,‫ ח‬,‫ ע‬,‫ )א‬o‫ר‬, the article has a slightly shape
diverse due to two reasons:

a) phonetic changes and preferences of some of these consonants

b) the fact that these consonants never take the dagesh forte.

ׁ‫ה‬+ ‫ישִאָה =ׁישִא‬the man

‫ָה‬+ ‫ ריִעָה = ירִע‬the city
‫ה‬+ָ‫בָערָָה = עב ָר‬the famine, the scarcity
‫ה‬+ ‫רָפָעֶה = רָפָע‬the dust
‫ַה‬+ ‫ לָיכֵהַה = כל ָ יֵה‬the palace, the temple

1
It has another way of doing it that does not exist in other languages: the construct state (which we will see in the following...
lesson). It is a form that already existed—although in a different form—in ancient languages such as Greek and Latin,
What is the genitive (liber regis: the book of the king: here the word regis in genitive makes liber definite, that's why
we put the article when translating: the book

5
 ‫ה‬+ ‫ברֶֶחַה = ברֶֶח‬the sword
ְ‫ה‬+ ‫שֶֹח‬
ׁ‫ךֶׁשֹחַהְ = ך‬the darkness, the shadows
‫ֶה‬+ ‫ ןו ֹמָהֶה = ןו ֹמָה‬the agitation, the crowd, the noise, the commotion
‫ה‬+ ‫םָכָחֶה = םָכָח‬the wise
These changes could be summarized in the following way:

If in the first syllable of the In any other case:

there is a word: ‫ר‬ ׁ‫אשֹרָה‬the head
that gastritis that holds ‫א‬ ‫ָה‬ ‫בָאָה‬the father
ֹ‫שָעָה‬the moth‫רָפָעֶה‬ ‫ע‬ ‫ריִעָה‬the city
‫רָהָה‬the mountain ‫ןו ֹמָהֶה‬ ‫ה‬ ‫לָיכֵהַה‬the palace
‫ַה‬
‫גָחֶה‬the party ‫םָכָחֶה‬ ‫ח‬ ׁ‫שדֶֹחַה‬the month

c) Then, if the word starts with yə- or mə-, reduplication does not occur:

‫ַה‬+ ‫ םידִָלְיַה = יםדִָלְי‬the boys

‫ַה‬+ ‫ רֹאְיַה = רֹאְי‬hayʾōr: "the river, the Nile"
‫ַה‬+ ְ‫רְַמ ַ = יםִלְּגר ַמ‬
‫ םיִלְּג ה‬the spies
Finally, there are some words that change when they receive the article. I'll give you some of the most common ones.

important:

‫ ץרֶֶא‬earth→ ‫ ץרֶָאָה‬the land

‫ םַע‬people, nation→ ‫םָע‬the
‫ה‬ people, the nation

6
Lesson 3: The noun: gender, number and state
In Hebrew, all verbs and many nouns have two parts: a root and a vocal pattern.
training. E.g.:
ְ‫ ךּרוָּב‬blessed (adj.)
ְ‫ ךרֵָבְמ‬blessed (verb, participle)
ְ‫( ךרֵֵּב‬someone) blessed (verb)
ְ‫ ךרֶֶּב‬bittercress (noun)

‫ הָכרְָּב‬blessing (noun)
In this group of words, we see that the sequence of consonants BRK carries the notion of
"to bless." This type of sequence is what we call the root of a word. But it is important
knowing that it is not that the root exists first and then the words come; the root does not exist because of its
count; it is a grammatical abstraction given to a group of words for when it is noticed that
they have a common sense or semantic field. In many cases, the root is triliteral, that is,
consists of three consonants. More primitive words have fewer consonants (e.g.‫בָא‬,
father).

This root can have suffixes, prefixes, and vowel patterns added to it to form new ones.
meanings. In the example above, it can be noted that each word in the group has vowels
different. This is because, as in many languages, it is the vowels that help to distinguish the
meaning of the word where the consonants are the same, e.g. the sequence m-s in Spanish
it can have many meanings depending on the vowels it has: mass, table, mass (religious service), muse,
loves, love, we love, we loved. There are different types of prefixes and suffixes and patterns of vowels: for the
nouns, for pronouns, for verbs, etc. The vowel patterns are especially important in the
case of the verbs, which we will see later. For now, we will start with the
nouns.

1. Gender
Hebrew has two genders: masculine and feminine. Grammatical gender often
it corresponds to the natural gender (especially in the case of animated objects, e.g.‫ ישִא‬man
it is masc. while‫שִָּא‬
ׁ‫' ה‬woman' is feminine, but it is not always so.
In general, nouns that end in -āh, or in -ṯ in the singular are usually feminine:

‫כְָלַמ‬
ּ‫ ה‬malkāhreina ‫ הָמדֲָא‬earth

7
 ‫ הר ָו ֹ ּת‬Torah teaching, Law ‫טַָח‬
ּ‫ תא‬error, sin
‫ תַּב‬bathija ּ‫תֶלד‬door
‫ תירְִּב‬poor alliance ‫ תּכוְלַמ‬our dominion
Nouns that do not have these endings in the singular are usually masculine:

‫ חָא‬our brother ‫ בָא‬father

‫ סּסו‬sûscaballo (NB. In Latin = pig! ) ‫ רו ֹא‬Orluz
ּ‫רָבד‬word, matter ‫ רַעַנ‬don't worry, kid
But, as always, we can always find the exceptions:

There are feminine words that seem masculine because they do not have the endings of
feminine, and others that have feminine endings, but are masculine:
‫ םֵא‬mother ‫ תֶוָמ‬death
‫ ץרֶֶא‬earth ‫ ןֶבֶא‬stone
2. In addition, the names of body parts are usually grammatically feminine.
(even if they don't seem so):
‫ דָי‬memorial ‫ ןִיַע‬spring (also: a source, a well)
‫לֶגר‬sprain, leg ‫ ןֶזֹא‬Listen
2. Number
In Hebrew, there are three categories of number: singular, dual, and plural. The singular has no
specific ending like that of the dual and the plural. The dual is not very common. In the
In most cases, it is used with objects that naturally come in pairs, e.g. parts.
of the body, etc. The dual and plural are indicated by means of suffixes added to the word in
singular. This sometimes causes a change in the vocalization of the word for reasons of
phonetics2The dual suffix -áyiny is the same for masculine and feminine words; The suffix
The plural is different for masculine and feminine words, although the rule is not always followed.3.
In general, the suffix for masculine words is -îm and for feminine words is -ôṯ.

2
These changes require more time to learn well. I will limit myself to explaining only a few. For now, trust.
about me.
3
The fact that a masculine word has a feminine suffix does not change its grammatical gender.
it remains masculine. The same happens in the opposite case.

8
 Singular Dual Plural
‫דָי‬ ‫םִידַָי‬ ‫םידִָי‬ hand
‫םו ֹ י‬ ‫ןִיַמו ֹ י‬ ‫םיִמָי‬ day
‫ןִיַע‬ ‫ןִיַניֵע‬ ‫תו ֹניֵע‬ ojo, pozo, fuente
‫לֶֶגר‬ ‫םִיַלְַגר‬ ‫םיִלְָגר‬ pie
‫ןֵּב‬ — ‫םיִנָּב‬ son
‫תַּב‬ — ‫תו ֹנָּב‬ daughter
ׁ‫ישִא‬ — ‫םיִׁשָנֲא‬ man, husband
‫שִָּא‬
ׁ‫ה‬ — ‫םיִׁשָנ‬ woman
‫בָא‬ — ‫תו ֹבָא‬ father
3. Changes in the vocalization of a word
Before moving forward, it would be helpful to analyze how changes in vocalization occur.
from a word. To understand them, it is necessary to keep the following in mind:
In Hebrew, the accent usually falls either on the last syllable (tonic) or on the penultimate one (the
pretonic). It is more common in the last one.
All syllables start with a consonant.
Short vowels are usually found only in a closed syllable except in cases where the syllable carries
the accent
Long vowels are usually found (not always) in open syllables, and when in an open syllable,
they can be reduced to their equivalent short vowels, (e.g. ā can be reduced to aa) or to a
very brief vocal, that is, a Shewa (ְ).

The reduction of a long vowel occurs:

1. When a word contains a long vowel in pretonic position (generally this only happens
with the vowels ā and ē) and a suffix is added, the long vowel is reduced to a Shewa, e.g.
‫ איִבָנ‬prophets→ prophets4→ ‫ יםִיאִבְנ‬prophets
‫ בָבֵל‬heart→ the heart→ ‫ תו ֹבָבְל‬the hearts
2. When a word contains a long vowel in a pre-tonic position, but for some reason
It cannot be reduced; if it has a long vowel in the stressed position, that is the one that gets reduced.

4
The asterisk (*) indicates a form that does not exist. It serves to show the process to arrive at a form that does exist.

9
 by introducing a suffix, following the same process as above. This phenomenon usually occurs
in the verbs, e.g.
ׁ‫טֵפש‬judge5) + îm→ shout→ ׁ‫יםִטְפש‬judges
‫ בֹּתְכִי‬I will write.→ you will be delivered→ ּ‫כְִי‬
‫ בוְּת‬they will write
4. The "segolated" nouns
Before discussing the state of a noun, it is advisable to consider a type of words
calls words swallowed. At the beginning we mentioned the triliteral characteristic of many roots.
Many words of this type have two syllables. But, there are a few words with a root.
triliteral that, in ancient times, only had one vowel, meaning they were monosyllabic. But with the
with the passage of time and the evolution of the language, many of these words begin to include a
vocal helper, that is, a vowel that assists in pronunciation, which in many cases
they were segol ("e"). That's why this group of words is called segolated words. The syllable with the
In these notes, we indicate it with an accent above.
the syllable). By attraction, the original vowel also changes to a similar sound asəgōl. The
syllables that have a guttural prefer the sound 'a' (although, as always, we find
exceptions). In general, the plural of a word is formed normally, that is,
as if it were a two-syllable word likeּ‫רָבד‬e.g.
ְ‫ ךֶלֶמ‬king→ *‫ךָלָמ‬
ְ (angel)→ ‫לְָמ‬
‫ יםִכ‬kings
ׁ‫( שֶפֶנ‬born)→ *ׁ‫ שָפָנ‬I am not→ ‫פְָנ‬
‫תו ֹ ׁש‬
‫ רַעַנ‬youth→ *‫ רָעָנ‬flame→ ‫ יםר ִעְָנ‬young men
Table of some common sibilant nouns.

5
In reality, it is a participle: "the one who judges"

10
 Before* Singular Plural
ְ‫ ךְלַמ‬king ‫ ְךֶלֶמ‬king ‫ םיִכָלְמ‬angels king

‫ ץרְַא‬earth ‫ ץרֶֶא‬earth ‫ תו ֹצרְַא‬its lands earth

‫ רְעַנ‬banner ‫ רַעַנ‬young man ‫ םירִָעְנ‬young men boy

‫ רְפִס‬yes r ‫ רֶפֵס‬to exist ‫ םירִָפְס‬beard Rollo, book

ׁ‫ שְפַנ‬our ׁ‫ שֶפֶנ‬nose ‫ תו ֹ ׁשָפְנ‬what are yousoul,

doingperson

‫ ןרְַק‬horn ‫ ןרֶֶק‬queren ‫ תו ֹנרְָק‬The Quran Horn

ְּ‫ךרְד‬bearḵ ְּ‫ךרֶד‬crazyḵ ּ‫םיִכרָד‬goodblood Path

‫ דְבַע‬lost ‫ דֶבֶע‬slave ‫ םידִָבֲע‬servants servant

5. The absolute state and construct

Hebrew does not have the preposition6equivalent of Spanish 'de' or Italian 'di' or English 'of'
which is expressed in Latin with the genitive case—to express relationships like 'Ricardo’s house'
or 'a cup of gold', etc. To do this, join two nouns in what is called the construct chain.
This string consists of two elements: a noun in the construct state and another in the state.
absolute. So far, all the words we have seen are in the absolute state (that
it is also the state that one finds in a dictionary).

ְּ‫ךֶלֶּמַה ר־ַבד‬the word of the king

the word of
construct state
In the singular, the segregated words have the same morphological form in absolute state and
‫ ְמ‬melodyḵ; cons.‫ךֶלֶמ‬
constructor (abs.)‫ךֶל‬ ְ king). For the other words, only the masculine.
plural and the feminine singular have different morphological forms, that is, they have suffixes that
they differentiate them from the word in absolute state. Finally, the vocalization of a word (not
segolada) in a constructive state (whether masculine plural or feminine singular) is usually, in the
in most cases, different from the vocalization of the word in its absolute state (we will analyze
how these changes occur briefly:

6
We will see the prepositions later.

11
 Singular Plural Dual
Absolute ּ‫רָבד‬word ּ‫םירִָבד‬words *‫רַָב‬
‫םִי ד‬I will speak
Male
Builder ּ‫רַבד‬word ּ‫ירְֵבד‬word *ּ‫רְֵבד‬
‫י‬words
Absolute ‫ הָמדֲָא‬ground ‫ תו ֹמדֲָא‬earth ‫םִיַתַדמ ְא‬land
Female
Constructor ‫ תַמדְַא‬earth ‫ תו ֹמדְַא‬Edmoth *‫מ ְא‬
‫יֵתְד‬Adamah

Characteristics of the chain in construct

a) The whole string is considered as a phrase with a single accentuation. That is why
sometimes the word in construct state is linked to the one in absolute state with a
maqqē. Elmaqqēes a type of script.‫ )־‬that links one word to another. Indicates that the
The word it carries is proclitic, meaning it does not have its own accent, so it has to
rely on the following word. Something similar happens, for example, in the two expressions:
the white house and Casablanca
words combined to form a single one). Therefore,

Absolute:ּ‫רָבד‬word, matter

Constructor:ּ‫דהָוֹהְי רַבד‬
ּ‫הָוֹהְר־יַב‬the word of the Lord
Note. The change in vocalization is due to this fact, namely, to join two words so that
Forming a phrase with a single accentuation causes what we saw before to happen when added.
a suffix to a word: if the word has a long vowel—which can be reduced—in
tonic and/or pre-tonic position, that vowel will necessarily be reduced, e.g.

ּ‫רָבד‬Word‫ ְךֶלֶּמַה‬the king→ You will be exalted→ ּ‫לֶֶּמַה רַבד‬ ְ

‫ך‬word
the king

b) A noun in the construct state never takes the article. However, if the word in
absolute state to which it is linked is defined (it is a proper noun or it carries the article),
So the entire chain inherits this characteristic of being defined. e.g.

ּ‫בַ ד‬
‫דִודּ ָ ר‬The word of David
‫לֶֶמ‬ ְ ‫ ץ‬King of the Earth
‫רֶָאָה ך‬
c) The chain in construct state can have more than one word in the construct state all
linked to one in the absolute state:

12
 ּ‫דָָי־אֵמְיל־‬
‫כ‬ ‫ם‬all the days of Adam
A word in the construct state can be linked to more than one word in the state.
absolute. Sometimes the word is repeated in the construct state:

ֹ‫ץרֶָאָהְו םִיַמשׁ ּה ָ ַ תו ֹדְלות‬generations of the heavens and the earth

and (the origins of) the earth (Gen 2:4)

‫הֵֹלֱא‬
‫שַָּה י‬
ַׁ‫מ‬
‫ ץרֶָאָה יֵהֹאלֵו םִי‬God of the heavens and God of the earth
heavens and the God of the earth (Gn 24:3)

Table of some words with their constructive state:

Absolute Builder Absolute Builder

Singular Singular Plural Plural
Hand (f.) ‫דָי‬ ‫דַי‬ ‫תו ֹדָי‬ ‫תו ֹדְי‬
Father ‫בָא‬ ‫בַא‬ ‫תו ֹבָא‬ ‫תו ֹבֲא‬
Brother ‫חָא‬ ‫חַא‬ ‫םיִחָא‬ ‫יֵחֲא‬
Man ׁ‫ישִא‬ ׁ‫ישִא‬ ‫םיִׁשָנֲא‬ ‫שְֵנַא‬
ׁ‫י‬
Woman (f.) ‫שִָּא‬
ׁ‫ה‬ ‫שֵֶא‬
ׁ‫ת‬ ‫םיִׁשָנ‬ ‫שְֵנ‬
ׁ‫י‬
Year ׁ‫הָנש‬
ָ ׁ‫תַנש‬
ְ ׁ‫םיִנש‬
ָ ׁ‫יֵנש‬
ְ
Day (m.) ‫םו ֹ י‬ ‫םו ֹ י‬ ‫םיִמָי‬ ‫יֵמְי‬

13
Lesson 4: The conjunction
Hebrew has very few conjunctions, which is an advantage, as the student does not have
that learning long lists by heart is a disadvantage because it means that
the student will have to pay more attention to the context to know what function the conjunction has in
the phrase, that is to say, if it is translated with "and" or "although" or "but", etc.

The conjunction waw‫ו‬

The most commonly used conjunction is lawaw.‫)ו‬, which is prefixed to the word that follows and has two
main uses:

a) Connect words and/or phrases to indicate a coordination relationship, e.g.

ְ‫ךֶלֶּמָהְו ה‬the people and the king
‫םָע‬
b) Mark the beginning of a new sentence (the type of sentence it introduces will determine if
we must translate thewawo no), e.g.
‫םיִהֹל ֱ רֵמאּיַֹו‬
‫א‬ ‫ רו ֹא יִהְי‬And God said, 'Let there be light
Let there be light!

The conjunction‫ ו‬it changes its form depending on the word to which it is prefixed:

a) In front of the labial consonants (‫ פ‬,‫ מ‬,‫[ ב‬BuMaP]), or any other letter that
it carries a shewá (except yôḏְ‫ י‬the form changes to‫ו‬ û- (NB. This is how we have the
exception that confirms the rule we saw before that no syllable ever starts
with a vowel):

‫ְו‬+ ‫ תִיַבּו = תִיַּב‬and a house

‫ְו‬+ ‫ םיִנָפּו = םיִנָפ‬ûānîm" a face/a visage"
‫ְו‬+ ‫ הד ָ ּויהִמּו = דה ָ ּויהִמ‬from Judea
‫ְו‬+ ‫ םיִּלַמְגּו = יםִּלַמְּג‬camels
b) In front of a word that starts with yô ḏ with shewá(ְ‫ י‬it), happens again what
We saw above with the word yərûšāláim, that is, and it becomes ḥîreq yôd (î).
result is a new syllable:‫יִו‬

‫ְו‬+ ‫ הד ָ ּויהִו = דה ָ ּוהְי‬the Judean

c) When a word starts with a consonant that carries a very short vowel, the
the shewa of the conjunction changes to the short vowel that corresponds to the very short one:

14
 ‫ְו‬+ ‫ תו ֹצרֲָאַו = תו ֹצרֲָא‬and lands
‫ְו‬+ ‫ םֹדֱאֶו = םֹדֱא‬Edom
‫ְו‬+ ‫ יִנֳאָו = יִנֳא‬I have a fleet
d) Special cases: The words that designate God,‫( הָוֹהְי‬the Lord7) y‫( יםִהֹלֱא‬God)
they behave a little differently with the conjunction‫ו‬:

‫ םיִהֹאלֵו‬and God ‫ יהוהַו‬wa(ʾ)ḏōnāy means "the Lord"8

2. The conjunction‫שֲֶא‬
ׁ‫ר‬that
The word‫שֲֶא‬
ׁ‫ ר‬which can be translated as 'that', 'which', 'who', 'whose', etc.
Some consider it a kind of relative pronoun, but it really isn't.

‫שֲֶא ׁישִאָה‬
ׁ‫ ריִעָּב ר‬the man who is in the city
‫שִָּאָה‬
ׁ‫שֲֶא ה‬
ׁ‫ לָיכֵהָּב ר‬the woman who is in the palace
ַ‫שֲֶא םִיַּהמ‬
ׁ‫ יעִקרָָל תַחַּתִמ ר‬the venom of the serpentathe waters that are
under the vault (Gen 1:7)

Other conjugations are:‫ו ֹא‬o‫ םַּג‬alsoּ‫י‬that,

‫כ‬ because, the fact that, etc.‫ םִא‬yes
etc.

7
For a Hebrew, the name of God, Yahweh, was never pronounced. Therefore, every time it appeared in
the text, instead of reading it as it should be, they read‫( יַנֹדֲא‬ʾăḏōnāy) which means 'my Lord' or simply 'Lord'—
in Greek Κυρίος (Kyrios). This led the Masoretes to place the vowels of ʾăḏōnāy over the tetragram.
‫ )היהו )הָוֹהְי‬so that anyone who read it would never pronounce the name of God. Later, those who did not
they knew that, (clearly they were not Jews) they were wrong in thinking that the name is pronounced Yehowah (from there
the witnesses of Jehovah.
8
The transcription of the 'ālefestá in parentheses because it's quiescent, that is to say, since it has no vowel, it does not
pronunciation.

15
Lesson 5: Prepositions
There are three types of prepositions in Hebrew:

Proclitic
They are the prepositions that are prefixed directly to the word they modify to form a
prepositional phrase. That’s why they are also called inseparable prepositions. They are‫ ב‬in, with [sense
instrumental‫( ל‬a, for [like a dative]), y(like).
‫כ‬
ְ‫ ךֶלֶמְּב‬in a king; ְ‫ ךֶלֶמְל‬to a king; ְ‫כ‬
ּ‫ךֶלֶמ‬like a king
Earlier we saw how the vocalization of a word changes by introducing a suffix.
Now we will see that the introduction of a prefix can also lead to some changes in
the vocalization. We have already seen a few when we dealt with the article and the conjunction.‫ו‬.
Here I give you some more:

i. When a word starts with a consonant that has a shewa, then the shewa
the preposition changes to a short vowel. Naturally, if that first consonant
it was a yôḏ‫ )י‬becomes part of the member, that is, it loses its hue and becomes
in a burning fire

‫ תירְִּב‬bərîṯalianza ִ‫שָ ּורְי‬

ׁ‫ םַל‬Jerusalem
‫ תירְִבִּב‬make a pact ִ‫שָ ּירוִּב‬
ׁ‫ םַל‬Jerusalem
‫ תירְִבִל‬lîḇrîṯa a covenant ִ‫שָ ּירוִל‬
ׁ‫ םַל‬Jerusalem
ּ‫רְִב‬
‫תי כ‬as a covenant ִ‫כ‬
ּ‫שָ ּרו‬
ׁ‫םַל‬like Jerusalem
ii. When a word starts with a consonant that has a very short vowel, the
The preposition changes to the short vowel that corresponds to the very short one:

‫ םו ֹלֲח‬dream ‫ תֶמֱא‬truth
‫ םו ֹלֲחַּב‬baḥălômen a dream ‫ תֶמֱאֶּב‬in truth
‫ םו ֹלֲחַל‬to dream a dream ‫ תֶמֱאֶל‬the truth
ּ‫ֹלֲח‬
‫םו כ‬like a dream‫כ‬
ּ‫תֶמֱא‬as a truth
‫ הָּיִנֳא‬Aren't you a boat?
‫ הָּיִנֳאָּב‬I am on a boat, etc.

16
 iii. When a word already has a prefixed article, when prefixing the proclitic preposition,
the‫ ה‬the article disappears, but the vowel of the article remains, and if it was there, also the
dagesh forteen the first letter of the word:
ְ‫ ךֶלֶּמַה‬the king is dead; ְ‫ ךֶלֶּמַל‬the king lamb
ְ‫ ךֶלֶּמַּב‬let us praise the king; ְ‫כ‬
ּ‫ךֶלֶּמ‬like the king
iv. With the proclitic prepositions, the words‫הְֹי‬
‫ הָו‬y‫ יםִהֹלֱא‬they behave the same
manner as with the conjunction‫ו‬:

‫ םיִהֹאלֵּב‬with God ‫ היהוַּב‬with the Lord

‫ םיִהֹאלֵל‬for God ‫ היהוַל‬for the Lord
ּ‫םיִהֹאל‬like
‫כ‬ God ּ‫היהו‬as
‫כ‬ the Lord
2. Prepositions connected to the noun with a maqqē
The most important prepositions of this group are:‫ל־‬to
‫א‬ (a, towards)‫ ל־ַע‬on top of
of, against) and‫ ן־ִמ‬min-(of, from)‫ם־‬with‫ד־ַע‬
‫ע‬ until

‫שַֻּל־הַע‬
ׁ‫ ןָחְל‬on the table
‫ תִיַּבַל־הֶא‬to the house
‫ תִיַּבַן־הִמ‬from the house
‫שֶֹם־מִע‬
ׁ‫ ה‬with Moses
‫ רָהָּנַד־הַע‬to the river
3. Prepositions that are words in themselves

These are the other prepositions. Some important ones are:‫רַחַא‬/‫ַא‬ ֲ‫ יר ֵח‬behind
‫ין‬between‫ת ַת‬under,
after‫ב‬ ‫ח‬ insteadof

Sometimes (many times!), the prepositions that usually take the elmaqqēsin elmaqqē are used.
changes the meaning at all. Just‫ ןִמ‬it presents some changes, but only in the way of
to write and not of meaning. When is it used‫ן‬If
‫ מ‬the apple is written as if it were one of
the procliticsּ,ְ‫ל‬
‫ כ‬,‫)ב‬. In this case, he loses lanûn(‫)ן‬, and the first letter is duplicated again of the
next word. If that letter is a guttural (‫ ה‬,‫ ח‬,‫ ע‬,‫ )א‬o‫ר‬there is no haydagesh forte, but rather the

17
The ḥîreq(i) of the preposition changes to aUNASERÊ(ē). And if that letter is a yôḏ with shewá(ְ.‫ י‬and, step
What we saw above with the word yərûšāláim, that is, yə becomes ḥîreq yôd (î). For example.

‫ ןִמ‬+ָ‫ש‬
ׁ‫שִָּמ = ם‬
ׁ‫ ם‬from there
ׁ‫מ‬
‫ ן‬+ ‫ישִאֵמ =ׁישִא‬of a man
‫ ןִמ‬+ ‫ הד ָ ּויהִמ = דה ָ ּוהְי‬from Judea/Judas

18
Lesson 6: The Adjective
The form
The adjective expresses the relationship between two things, that is, how one (generally an attribute)
modify the other one. Hebrew does not have as many adjectives as other languages. This is because it is
a very frequent construction called the construct state —which we might see more
forward - to express the relationship between one thing and its attribute.

Unlike the noun, where the morphological form does not necessarily say something about
gender of the word, the distinction between masculine and feminine in the adjective is very clear:

Singular Plural
Absolute ‫ בו ֹט‬ṭôḇ ‫ םיִבו ֹט‬good
male good good
Builder ‫ בו ֹט‬ṭôḇ ‫ יֵבו ֹט‬ṭôḇê
Absolute ‫ הָבו ֹט‬goodness ‫ תו ֹבו ֹט‬ṭôḇôṯ
female good good
Builder ‫ תַבו ֹט‬goodness ‫ תו ֹבו ֹט‬ṭôḇôṯ
Since we are adding one more syllable to an adjective to indicate whether it is masculine or feminine
the plural, the same vowel changes can happen to a word like cuandi when
we added suffixes to form the plural. In addition, other words (usually monosyllabic with
(short vowel) they double the last consonant before adding the suffix:

‫ לו ֹדָּג‬great ‫ הָלו ֹדְּג‬great ‫ יםִלו ֹדְּג‬great ones ‫ תו ֹלו ֹדְּג‬greatness big

‫ םָכָח‬wise ‫ הָמָכֲח‬wisdom‫ יםִמָכֲח‬wise ones ‫ תו ֹמָכֲח‬wisdom wise

‫בר‬raḇ ‫הָּבר‬great ‫םיִּבר‬many ‫תו ֹ ּבר‬Lord much

‫ יַח‬hay ‫ הָּיַח‬life ‫ םיִּיַח‬living ‫ תוֹּיַח‬living creatures alive

‫ הֶפָי‬yeah ‫ הָפָי‬oh yes ‫ םיִפָי‬yāîm ‫ תו ֹפָי‬yāô ṯ beautiful

‫ קיּדִַצ‬righteous — ‫םיִיקדּ ִצ‬righteous ones— just

2. Uses of the adjective

a) Attributive use

In this case, the adjective modifies the noun it accompanies, for example, the good student.
At the syntactic level, it forms a single unit with that noun, e.g. the good student does

19
the good student is the subject, the verb is makes and the complement (direct object) is
questions. In Hebrew, the attributive adjective agrees with the accompanying noun in
gender and number. If the noun has the article, then the adjective that accompanies it also
you have to take it

‫ בו ֹט ׁשיִא‬a good man ָ ‫הָבו ֹט השׁ ּא‬a good woman

‫ׁישִא‬
‫בו ֹ ּטַה ה‬the good man ‫אִָה‬
ָ ּ ׁ‫ הָבו ֹ ּטַה הש‬the good woman
‫םיִׁשָנ‬
‫א‬ ‫םיִבו ֹט‬good men ‫ תו ֹבו ֹט םיִׁשָנ‬good women
‫אֲ ָה‬
‫ּט ַ יםִׁשָנ‬
‫ םיִבו ֹ ה‬the good men‫ּט ַ יםִׁשָּנַה‬
‫ תו ֹבו ֹ ה‬good women
Note: The adjective agrees with the gender of its noun, not with its ending!

b) Predicative use

In this case, the adjective tells us something new about the noun in the same way it would.
a verb. Therefore, at the syntactic level, it does not form a single unit with the noun, but rather
rather fulfills another function. For example, when we say, the student is good, the subject is
"the student" and the predicate is "is good" as another predicate could be "is"
sleeping" or "eats potatoes" or "has no brain." In Hebrew, when the adjective is used in this
In this way, it agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number. However, it does not
it can take the article, even if its noun takes it:

ׁ‫ ישִאָה בו ֹט‬the man is good‫ יםִבו ֹט םיִׁשָנֲאָה‬men are good

‫שִָּאָה‬
ׁ‫ הָבו ֹט ה‬the woman is good‫ יםִׁשָּנַה תו ֹבו ֹט‬women are good
NB. As seen in the examples, the order of the words does not matter.

c) The comparative
To express the comparative, the form of the adjective is not changed nor is another word used for it.
indicate it as it happens in other languages (e.g. in Latin: doctus)→more learned→more
stupid→more stupid→dumber; stupid→more stupid
fool→dumber). In Hebrew, the adjective or preposition is commonly used‫ןִמ‬.

i. With the adjective

It happens with adjectives that already imply a kind of comparison:

20
 ‫חִָא‬
‫קַָה יו‬
ּ‫ ןֹט‬his younger brother
‫ הָלו ֹדְּגַה יִּתִּב‬my eldest daughter (the oldest of my daughters).
ii. With the preposition‫ןִמ‬

The preposition is used‫מן‬because the preposition already indicates the distance or separation of one thing
regarding another. So, to express the comparative degree, one uses‫ן‬before
‫מ‬ the end of
comparison

‫אִָה‬
‫ רַעַּנַהֵמ םָכָח ׁיש‬the man is wiser than the boy
‫אִָה הָפָי‬
ָ ּ ׁ‫ הרֲָעַּנַהֵמ הש‬the woman is more beautiful than the girl
ׁ‫שָָק‬
ׁ‫ֹבֲע ָ ה‬
‫ ישִאָהֵמ דה ָו ה‬the work is harder than the man
too hard for the man

‫שֲֶא דה ֶשַָּהתַּיַח‬
ׁ‫שָָע ר‬
‫םיִהֹלֱא הָהוְי ה‬ ‫ כִֹמ םּרוָע הָיָה ׁשָחָּנַהּ ל‬Hannachashayah
the fruit from all the trees of the garden which the Lord God has made
The serpent was the most cunning of all the creatures of the field that the Lord God had made.
"done." (Gn 3:1)

21
Lesson 7: Pronouns and suffixes
1. Nominal pronouns
They are the following:

Singular Plural
1 ֲ‫א‬
‫ יִנ‬/ ‫ יִכֹנֲא‬I yo ּ‫נוְחַנֲא‬ we we
2 male. ‫הָּתַא‬ you you ‫םֶּתַא‬ you (plural, informal in Spain)
you (plural)
2 female. ְּ‫תַא‬ att you ‫ןֶּתַא‬ you (plural, informal, used in Spain)
you (feminine)
3 male. ‫אּהו‬ he he ‫םֵה‬ hem they
3 female. ‫איִה‬ hîʾ she ‫הָּנֵה‬ Hannah they
As in many languages where the verb is conjugated, pronouns are often used.
mainly personal to emphasize. When I say study, it is understood that the subject is me.
Yo. Instead, when I say I study, it is understood that I want to emphasize 'I'.
subject and not another person, or emphasis on the action of studying and not another action. Something similar
It happens in Hebrew. It is also used to mark a change in speech, that is,
showing that the subject has changed. E.g. 'Lately, Fafa is devouring a lot'
food, therefore, it is hard for him to run on the soccer field. You, on the other hand, are not
eating nothing...

Some examples of the use of the nominal pronoun:

‫ ףֵסו ֹי יִנֲא‬I am José

ְּ‫חֲֹא אָני־רִ ְמִא‬
‫ תַא יִת‬Indeed, for you are my sister.
2. Demonstrative pronouns (and adjectives)

Singular Plural
Masc. ‫הֶז‬ he This
‫לֵֶא‬
ּ‫ה‬ this These
Fem. ‫תאֹז‬ those This
Masc. ‫אּהו‬ he that ‫םֵה‬ them Those
Fem. ‫איִה‬ he that ‫ הָּנֵה‬hennah those
Demonstratives are used in the same way as the noun they replace when used as
pronoun (it's like a predicative adjective) and just like adjectives when they are used

22
as an attributive adjective (that is, they agree with the noun they accompany in gender,
number and whether defined or not):

‫ רָבּדַָה הֶז‬This is the matter (or the word): pronoun

‫לֵֶא‬
ּ‫ םירִָבּדְַה ה‬These are the words9
‫אִָה‬
‫ הֶּזַה ׁיש‬this man: adjective
‫שִָּא‬
‫איִהַה הׁ ה‬that woman: adjective
‫בָּדַָה‬
‫ הֶּזַה לו ֹדָּגַה ר‬this big issue: adjective
‫ִּמ‬
‫אּהוַה אר ָוֹּנַהְו לו ֹדָּגַה רָּבדְ ה‬The great wilderness and the light have done
vast and terrible desert: adjective

As it is seen, when there is a series of adjectives accompanying the noun, the adjective
demonstrative always goes in the last place.

3. The suffix pronouns

This is indeed a novelty for a person accustomed to Romance languages. In the
Semitic languages often feature pronouns attached directly to a word.
that is, like suffixes. Suffix pronouns are used when one wants to express possession: my
word, its glory, our parents and when they are attached to a preposition or to the mark of
direct object10for you, with him, like me, etc.

Singular Plural
1c ‫ יִל‬-ְִ ‫ י‬I to me ְָּ‫ונ‬- ּ‫ נוָל‬we to us
2m ָ‫ ךְל‬-ְְ ‫ ָך‬to you to you ְָ‫םֶכ‬- ‫ םֶכָל‬to you to you
2f ְ‫ ךָל‬-ְָ ‫ ְך‬lake to you ְָ‫ןֶכ‬- ‫ ןֶכָל‬but to you (feminine plural)

3m ‫ו ֹל‬- ֹ ‫ ו‬hello to him ‫ םָּב‬,ָ‫ל‬

‫ םֶה‬-ְָ ‫םֶה‬/-ְָ‫ ם‬to them, in to them, with them
3f ּ‫ּהָל‬-ְָ‫ ה‬lah to her ְָ‫ןֶה‬- ‫ ןֶהָל‬lăhen to them

Table of suffixes attached to prepositions.

9
Thus begins the book of Deuteronomy. In fact, this book is called ʾḗlleh haddəbārîmo in Hebrew.
simply words
10
See Lesson 9.3

23
The suffixes attached to nouns and adjectives are the same as above, but with slight
differences:

To a singular noun To a noun in plural

1cs ְִ‫י‬- ּ‫ירִָבד‬dbārîmi word ְַ‫י‬- ּ‫ירַָבד‬despeak words
2ms ְְָ‫ך‬- ָּ‫ךרְָבד‬dëblessed wordּ‫ יךרֶָבד‬-ְֶ‫יך‬d
ָ blessedָwords
2fs ְְֵ‫ך‬- ְּ‫ךרֵָבד‬dI blessed the word ּ‫ךִירַָבד‬
ְ -ְַ‫ךִי‬blessed
ְ words
3ms ֹ ‫ו‬- ּ‫ו ֹרָבד‬dword ּ‫ יורָָבד‬-ְָ‫יו‬dëbārâwsus words
3fs ְָּ‫ה‬- ּ‫הרָָבּד‬dbārāhsu word ָ‫ָיהרֶָבּד‬-ְֶ‫יה‬deBreathe words
1cpl ּ‫ּנורֵָבּד‬-ְֵ‫ונ‬dbarenourּ‫ּינורֵָבּד‬-ְֵ‫ינו‬dour burdens
word words
2mpl ּ‫ םֶכר ְבָ ד‬-ְְ ‫םֶכ‬dBless you ‫רְֵב‬
‫ םֶיכ ד‬-ְֵ ‫םֶיכ‬di bless you all
your word words
2fpl ּ‫ ןֶכרְָבד‬-ְְ‫ןֶכ‬dbless us ּ‫ ןֶיכרְֵבד‬-ְֵ ‫ןֶיכ‬dibless your
word words
3mpl ּ‫ םרָָבד‬-ְָ‫ם‬dbrámsu word ּ‫ םֶיהרְֵבד‬-ְֵ ‫םֶיה‬diBrahmas' words
3fpl ְָ‫ן‬- ּ‫ןרָָבד‬dbārānsu word ּ‫ ןֶיהרְֵבד‬-ְֵ ‫ןֶיה‬digreeting words

Some examples:
ְ
ׁ‫דֶסֶחַה תַאֵלְמ םָירְ ִמ ךָל םו ֹלש‬Shalomḵ Miriam has filled with grace.
God save you Mary, full of grace.

‫הִֹלֱא םָתֹא ךרֶָבְיַו‬ ְ Blessed them, God said to them

‫םֶהָל רֶמאּיַֹו םי‬
God blessed them and said to them… (Gen 1:28)

24
Lesson 8: Noun Phrases
In Hebrew, the verb 'to be' is rarely used to predicate something to another thing (for example,
to say Juanesalto or Juanestáen casa); it is enough to juxtapose the two elements, the noun or
pronoun and its predicate. The result is what is called a nominal phrase. There are different
types:

two (or more than two) nouns

‫הְֹי‬
‫הֵֹלֱא הָו‬
‫ דָחֶא הָוֹהְי ּינו‬The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
God, the Lord is one/unique” (Deut 6:4)

b) Noun and adjective

‫ רָבּדַָה בו ֹט‬the apartment is good

c) With a demonstrative pronoun/adjective

We already saw some examples when we dealt with demonstratives (predicative use), e.g.:

‫לֵֶא‬
ּ‫ םירִָבּדְַה ה‬These are the words
‫לֵֶא‬
ּ‫ לֵארְָֹשִי יֵנְּב תו ֹמשׁ ְ ה‬these are the names
of the children of Israel" (Ex 1:1)

d) Two nouns with a demonstrative pronoun

In this case, the demonstrative pronoun serves to distinguish the predicate from the subject.
since it generally tends to follow the predicate. E.g.:

‫ םיִהֹלֱאָה אּהו הָהוְי‬The Lord is God11(the true) God is

Yahveh (1 Kings 18:39)

‫ אּהו ירִ ֹכְּב םִירַ ְפֶא‬I will see you tomorrow12Ephraim is my firstborn
31.9

e) with an adverbial predicate.

In this case, the noun is the subject while the predicate is an adverbial phrase, it is
to say, a phrase introduced by an adverb or a preposition:

Answer the question 'Who is God? Who is the true God?' and not 'Who is Yahweh?'
11

12
I would respond to the question 'who is Efraím?' and not to 'who is my firstborn?'

25
 ‫ רַעַּנַההֵּיַא‬Where is the boy?
‫ תִיַּבַּב רַעַּנַה‬the boy is in the house.
f) With a participle

We will explain participles better in the next lesson. For now, it is enough to know that
In general, participles, although they have characteristics in other languages like
a verb — for example, they can take complements — strictly speaking, they are not usually
consider verbs.

‫יֵנ ּ ְ ל־ַע תֶפֶחרְַמ יםִהֹלֱא ַחּרו‬

‫ םִיַּמַה פ‬faceaHe God has moved over the face
The spirit of God (or a strong wind) hovered over the face
surface) of the waters.

26
Lesson 9: The Verb. The participle. The mark of the direct object‫תֵא‬
1. Introduction to the Verb
The verb, as we mentioned before (lesson 3), can be derived from a triliteral root. This
The root is usually modified by affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes) and/or vocal patterns to indicate
his/her person, number, gender, conjugation and binyan.

a) Person and number

As in many languages, verbs in Hebrew have a way to indicate the person.

which acts, that is, whether it is first, second, or third person. Like in Spanish or Italian,
it is usually through suffixes: amo, amas, ama; como, comes, come, etc. In the same way, they have
one way to indicate the number of the verb, that is, whether it is singular or plural. Again, it is to
through the suffixes: amo, amáis, aman; como, comemos, comen, etc.

b) Verbal genre

The novelty for us is that, in Hebrew, the gender is also distinguished in the verb.
a person who acts, that is, whether it is masculine or feminine, but not for the first person. Thus
that we have 1st person plural, 2nd person masculine and feminine both for singular as well
the plural and 3rd person masculine and feminine both for singular and plural.

c) The verb conjugations

In the languages we know (Spanish, Italian, French), the conjugation of a word

it means the way to decline it according to the tenses (present, past, future and tenses)
derivatives) and the moods (indicative, subjunctive, imperative, infinitive, participle) of verbs. By
example, in Spanish, the verbs 'amar' and 'comer' decline in a different way in terms of
to the verb tenses and the mood, and therefore, we say that it belongs to the first conjugation
while eating from the second. It is worth noting that in general, the only difference is in the pattern
vocal (p.ej. el imperativo:ama;come;3ª persona plural pasado remoto:amaron,comieron).

Does anything change in Hebrew? The concept of verb conjugation in Hebrew is very similar to
the same in other languages, just with a few slight differences. For example, in Hebrew, it is not given
as much importance to the verb tense as is given to the verb mood (infinitive, imperative, etc.) and
the verbal aspect, that is, how the action of the verb is seen: completed or uncompleted. The tense, in
In most cases, it tends to be very relative and is understood through context and others.
morphological aspects that we do not have time to analyze. Therefore, unlike the languages
What we know, if one had to construct verbal tables, in addition to the tables of the
verb tenses, I wouldn't have tables for the times but for the aspect: the perfect and the
imperfect

27
d) The binyan
Elbinyan (the plural esbinyanim means "building") indicates the valence of a verb, that is, whether it is
active, passive, reflexive, factitive, or causative. Biblical Hebrew has 7 main binyanim and
others that seem to be vestiges of other very ancient buildings that ceased to be used, but
They survive in very few words. The 7 binyanim are called: Qal (simple active), Nifal
(simple passive and reflexive), piel (active causative), pual (passive causative), hitpael (causative)
reflexive), Hifil (active causative) and Hofal (passive causative).

The main binyan is the Qal (meaning simple) and all the others are its derivatives. Each binyan
it has its vocal pattern and, in some cases, a prefix, to distinguish itself from the other binyanim.
In theory, each verb in Hebrew would have the seven binyanim, that is, each verb would have a Qal,
Nifaletc., but it is not so; in fact, we find verbs that only have one binyan. The most
Common binyanim are Qal, Piel, Hifil. The verb‫דַָק‬ ‫ ש‬qāḏaš (to be holy) is a good candidate
to explain this because, of the seven, it only lacks one binyan, the Hofal:

Simple Factitive/Resultative Causative

Active Qal‫דַָק‬
‫ש‬ Skin‫דִַק‬
ּ‫ׁש‬/ ִ‫שדּ ֵק‬ Hifil‫דְִקִה‬
ּ‫יש‬
‫וידָָגְבּו אּהו ׁשדַָק‬ ְ‫דְִק ִ םָתֹ־אםַּג‬
ְ‫לֶֶּמַה ׁשּדִַק ׁישּ ה‬
‫ךו ֹ ּתת־ֶא ך‬
ְ
‘He and his garments will be holy’ ‫רֵצָחֶה‬ ‫הָיהוַל ידִודּ ָ ךֶלֶּמַה‬
(Ex 29:21)
the king consecrated the central part King David consecrated them.
from the atrium (made it holy) also to Yahweh
(1 Kings 8:64) made/caused them to be
treated like saints) (1Chr
18,11

Passive Nifal‫דְַקִנ‬
ּ‫ש‬ Pual‫דַֻק‬
ּ‫ש‬ ְ
Hofal*‫ךַלְׁשֻה‬

‫ידִֹבְכִּב ׁשּדְַקִנ‬ ׁ‫כַֹל‬

ּ‫דָֻקְמ ַ םיִנֲה‬
‫שּ ה‬ ְ ‫כְמ ך‬
ֹ‫לְַׁשֻהְו ןו‬
will be consecrated by me will belong to the priests ‫ו ֹ ׁשּדְָקִמ‬
glory (Ex 29:43) consecrated (who have been It was thrown the place of his
holy deeds (Ez 48:11)
sanctuary (=caused what
were thrown) (Dan 8:11)

Reflective Nifal‫דְַקִנ‬
ּ‫ש‬ Hitpael‫דֵַקְתִה‬
ּ‫ש‬ Since there is no elhofal
of the verb‫ש ַק‬
‫ ד‬I have used the
ׁ‫קַָה‬
ּ‫דִּ ַּגְתִהְו שּדְָקִנ ׁשו ֹד‬
‫הְִו יִּתְל‬
‫שְ ּדִַקְת‬
ׁ‫לֵאָה יִּת‬ verb‫לַָׁש‬ְ‫ ך‬what does it mean
‫הָקדְָצִּב‬ And I will magnify myself and I to take away
I will sanctify (Ezekiel 38:23)
The holy God reveals Himself
holy in justice' (Isa 5:16)

28
The difference between factitive/resultative and causative is that the factitive refers to the change of
state (often from intransitive to transitive) while the causative refers to the fact of
make someone do something. So with the verb‫דַָק‬
‫ ש‬we see that inQal, is rather a
verb that indicates the state of being holy. When it becomes Flesh, we see that it is now about sanctifying or
to consecrate something. When moving to Hifil, we see that it is now about making someone sanctify or
to consecrate something in a way that it becomes holy. This serves to distinguish broadly between
the binyanim, but it doesn't always work: For example, not all the Qal verbs indicate a
state. Furthermore, many verbs, as we mentioned before, do not have some binyanim, in order to
complicating the matter, they acquire a very different meaning when changing from one to another:
‫ הרָָי‬yārāhen Qal means to throw, to shoot, while in Hifil‫הר ָו ֹה‬hôrāh
for example, the verb

although it can sometimes mean to make someone shoot, many times it means
to teach (probably the word comes from there‫ר ָו ֹ ּת‬
‫ ה‬Torah, teaching, law.
Since we don't have many class hours, we will only deal with the Qal. We will start with the
participles in Qal, because they have the simplest way to learn.

2. The Qal Participles

The Active Participle

Elbinyan Qaltiene active and passive participles. The only difference they have from the
participles of the other binyanim the fact that they do not have prefixes and have a pattern
specific vocal for the active participle. In the table below, we have the paradigm of the participle
active Qal of the verb modelּ‫בַת‬katha
‫כ‬ to write

Singular Plural
Male ּ‫בֵת‬
‫ֹכ‬ to write ּ‫םיִבְת‬
‫ֹכ‬ writings
Female ּ‫תֶבֶת‬
‫ֹכ‬ scribe ּ‫ֹבְת‬
‫תו ֹכ‬ writings
As can be seen, the vocal pattern Qal is the one used for the active participle.

Below we have the paradigm table for the Qal passive participle. Its vocal pattern is ā-û:

Singular Plural
Male ּ‫בּתו‬
‫ָכ‬ written ּ‫םיִבּתו‬
‫ְכ‬ Writings
Female ּ‫בּתו‬
‫הָ ְכ‬ ּ‫ֹבּתו‬
‫תו ְכ‬
marriage contract writings

29
The participle can be used as an adjective, that is, it has an attributive use and also
predicative.

‫כַֹה‬
ּ‫הׁ בֵת‬
‫ישִא‬the writing man: attributive use
ֹ‫כ‬
ּ‫בֵת‬ ׁ ‫ ישִאָה‬the man writes/is writing: predicative use
‫ ךּרוָּבְ הָוֹהְי‬Blessed is the Lord: predicate use
And like the participles in other languages, it can take a direct object, as it is, in order to
accounts, a verbal adjective. It is now advisable to introduce the marker of the direct object.

3. The mark of the direct object

In Hebrew, there is a word that is used to indicate the direct object when it is
determined‫ תֵא‬ʾēṯ (or also,‫ ת־ֶא‬ʾeṯ-con unmaqqēque does not connect to the following word).
Observe the following examples:

‫רַעַּנַל‬ ‫םֶחֶל‬ ‫תֵ ֹנ‬

‫ ישִאָהׁ ן‬give bread to the poor man
boy.

‫לֶַה רַעַּנַל‬
ּ‫ ישִאָהׁ ןֵתֹנ תֵא םֶח‬We have given you the man that you need.
give bread to the boy.

In the first example, the direct object of the participionōṯēnesléḥem. But, since it is not
determined, it does not have the mark of the direct object. In the second example, the direct object is
determined and therefore carries the mark of the direct object. As always, the rule does not
it is always observed, that is, sometimes (very rarely) we find it in front of a
indeterminate word.

30
Lesson 10: Perfect Qal, Imperfect, Imperative, Infinitive
In this lesson, we will see the morphology of several conjugations of the verb. We will not study the
syntax because we don't have time. If we manage to recognize a conjugation, already
We will have done quite a bit. As we said in the previous lesson, we will study the Qal stem.
We will start with the conjugation of the perfect.

The Perfect
In general, verbs are usually stated in the 3rd person masculine singular, because it is the form
simplest of the conjugation, that is, it only has the vowel pattern and no suffix:

Singular Plural
3m ּ‫בַת‬
‫ָכ‬ writing
ָּ
ּ‫בוְת‬
‫כ‬ they wrote
3f ּ‫הָבְת‬
‫ָכ‬ writing
2m ּ‫תְבַת‬
ָָּ
‫כ‬ you wrote ּ‫םֶּתְבַת‬
‫ְכ‬ you wrote
2f ּ‫תְבָת‬
ְָּ
‫כ‬ you wrote ּ‫ןֶתְבַת‬
‫ְכ‬ we have written
1c ּ‫יִּתְבַת‬
‫ָכ‬ I wrote ּ‫נוְבַת‬
ָּ
‫כ‬ we have written
The suffixes—the endings—are standard for almost all verbs in Hebrew.
As can be seen, the plural of the third person is common for the 3rd person, that is, it is the same for both
for the masculine as for the feminine.

The imperfect
Unlike the perfect tense, the imperfect, in addition to having endings for the subjects, has
also a system of prefixes that distinguishes it not only from other conjugations but
also—in some cases—a verbal person of another:

Singular Plural
3m ‫בֹּתְכִי‬ yiwrite ּ‫בוְּתְכִי‬ yiwriteû
3f ‫בֹּתְכִּת‬ youwrite ‫ הָנְבֹּתְכִּת‬youwriteno
2m ‫בֹּתְכִּת‬ youwrite ּ‫בוְּתְכִּת‬ youwriteû
2f ‫יִבְּתְכִּת‬ youhe wrote ‫ הָנְבֹּתְכִּת‬youwriteI am
1c ‫בֹּתְכֶא‬ ʾewrite ‫בֹּתְכִנ‬ nightōḇ

31
In general, the imperfect in Hebrew is translated either with the future or as a habitual action.
(be in the past, present or future) or with emphasis on the mode of the context: condition,
deliberation, etc.

3. The imperative
The imperative is deduced from the imperfect. In the Qal binyan, it is only necessary to remove the prefix.
from the imperfect to obtain the imperative (for most verbs).

Singular Plural
Male ּ‫בֹּת‬
‫ְכ‬ write ּ‫בוְּת‬
ִּ
‫כ‬ to write
Female.ּ‫יִבְּת‬
‫ִכ‬ write to me ּ‫הָנְבֹּת‬
‫ְכ‬ writing
4. The infinitive
Like in other languages, the Hebrew infinitive is a verbal noun. Therefore, like for
In nouns, there is the absolute infinitive and the construct infinitive.

The absolute infinitive has particular uses. The most common use is when it is used together with a
verb conjugated to emphasize its meaning. It is not worth analyzing the other uses in
this lesson. The form of the absolute infinitive is quite standard, that is, it does not vary much,
it always has the vowel pattern vocalā-ôoā-ō

Regarding the infinitive construct, the vowel pattern ə-ō. However, 'irregular' verbs.
tend to have different forms of the constructive infinitive, which sometimes seem to have nothing
what to see with the triliteral root of the verb. The problem, as always, is that irregular verbs
they are the ones that are used most frequently (perhaps that's why they become irregular). Not them
let's analyze. For now, it is enough to know that it is used as the infinitive in the languages that
we know, that is to say,

i. it can be the subject of a sentence (eating is good)

ii. the direct object (I want to eat). In Hebrew, the construct infinitive is usually present
preceded by the preposition‫ל‬
iii. with a preposition to give an adverbial value (in the coming from; when arriving home...).
In Hebrew, prepositions are usually‫ ב‬y‫ְכ‬
it can have several objects of any type [direct, indirect, adverbial, etc.]
in the form of suffixes or not (eating potatoes in classes is very Fafa), etc.

Absolute Infinitive Constructive Infinitive

ּ‫ֹת‬
‫בו ָכ‬ to write ּ‫בֹת‬
‫ְכ‬ to write

32
Some examples of absolute infinitives and construct infinitives:
ָ ‫ םו ֹיְּב ךְלָכֲא‬beyom'awe will be united
‫וּנֶּמִמּ תו ֹמ תּמוָּת‬
On the day you eat of it (the tree) you will surely die (Gn 2:17)

‫שְִל‬
ׁ‫לִָחְּתַּב לֶכֹ־ארָּב‬
ּ‫ דֹרָי נדו ְרַ ָיּ ה‬Our Lord, grant us strength.heel
"Without a doubt, let us go down at once to buy food" (Gn 43:20)

‫אֱ םדָָא‬
‫ םו ֹיְּב אֹרְּב יםִהֹל‬God cursed humanity
On the day the Lord created man...

‫פְֹּסִל םָתֹא‬
‫בִָכו ֹ ּכַה לַכּוּם־תִא ר‬
‫ רֹפְס ים‬you will not be able to find their rights
Count the stars if you can count them (Gn 15:5)

‫שָ ֵע ירְֵבדּ ִ ת־ֶא ויִבָא‬

‫כַ ו‬
ְּ‫ש‬ׁ‫עֹמ‬listenaThe teachings of my father
When Esau heard the words of his father...

33
Brief Word Index

‫ֱ ֹם‬ Edom; 15 ‫גָ דֹו ל‬ big; 19

‫ םיִהֹלֱא‬God; 13, 15, 17, 25, 26
‫ֱ ֶת‬ truth; 16
‫תֶֶדל‬ door; 8

‫ֲ ָד ָ ה‬ tierra, humo de la tierra; 7, 12

‫ךר ֶֶׁד‬ road; 11

‫יַנֹדֲא‬ Lord, our Lord; 15

‫רָָדב‬ word

‫רשֶ ֲא‬ that, which, who, etc.; 15

‫דִָדו‬ David

‫יִנֳא‬ fleet of ships; 15 ‫לָיכֵה‬ palace, temple; 5, 6, 15

‫הָיִנֳא‬ a boat; 16 ‫ןו ֹמָה‬ tumult, crowd; 6
‫ש ׁ יִא‬ man; 5, 7, 9, 13, 15, 18, 21, 30
‫םִא‬ yes; 15 ‫םו ֹלֲח‬ dream; 16
‫השָ ִא‬ woman; 7, 9, 13, 15, 21 ‫ברֶ ֶח‬ sword; 6
‫םֵא‬ mother; 8 ‫ַטאת‬ pecad , rror; 8
‫ןֶבֶא‬ stone; 8 ‫יַח‬ live; 19
‫ץרֶ ֶא‬ tierra; 6, 8, 11, 13, 15 ‫גָח‬ party; 6
‫בָא‬ father; 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 ‫םָכָח‬ wise; 6, 19, 21
‫םדָ ָא‬ the man, Adam; 13 ‫ש ׁדֶ ֹח‬ month; 6
‫חָא‬ brother; 8, 13 ׁ‫ךֶשֹח‬ darkness; 6
‫ֹ זֶן‬ ear; 8
‫טֹו ב‬ good; 19
ֹׁ‫א‬ o; 15
‫אֹו ר‬ light; 8, 14 ‫רֹיא‬ river, the Nile; 6
‫הָוֹיה‬ the Lord, Yahweh; 12, 15, 17, 25
‫רָֹשָב‬ meat; 5
‫ הד ָ יהו‬Judea, Judas; 14, 18
‫רו ֹכב‬ firstborn; 25
‫ םידִ ָיל‬boys; 6
‫תיר ִ ב‬ alliance; 8, 16
ִ‫םׁ ַשל ָ ירו‬Jerusalem; 16
‫ב ָר ָ ה‬ bendiciótranslatedText
;7
ַ‫ ע ׁ ישו‬Jesus, Joshua, savior; 3
‫ֵן‬ son; 9, 25
‫דָי‬ hand; 8, 9, 13
ׁ‫ךרֶ ֶב‬ knee; 7
‫הֶפָי‬ beautiful; 19
‫תִיַב‬ house, dynasty; 5, 17, 26
‫םו ֹ י‬ day; 9, 13
‫תַב‬ daughter; 8, 9
ׁ ‫ָ רו‬ blessed; 7, 30 ִ‫יכ‬ that, the fact that, because, etc.; 15
‫־ל‬
‫ָכ‬ everything, everyone; 13
‫לִ ַגמ‬
‫ םי‬camels; 14
‫בַת‬
‫ָכ‬ write; 29, 31, 32
‫גַם‬ also; 15

34
‫בָבֵל‬ heart; 9 ‫רָפָע‬ powder; 5
‫םֶחֶל‬ pan; 30 ֹ‫שָע‬ moth; 6

‫ מ ַר ג ִ י ם‬espías; 6 ‫ָ נִי ם‬ face, face; 14, 26

‫ִד ָר‬ de ierto; 4
ׁ‫ךֶלֶמ‬ king; 3, 10, 11, 14, 17
‫ַ ִד י ק‬ just; 19

‫םִיַמ‬ water; 15, 26 ‫ןרֶ ֶק‬ horn; 11

‫ הכ ָ לַמ‬queen; 3, 7 ‫ש ׁדַ ָק‬ be a saint; 28
‫ ַ ל כ ו ת‬rei o, domi io; 8 ‫ןֹטָק‬ small; 20
‫ָ וֶת‬ death; 8 ‫השָ ָק‬ hard, difficult; 21

‫שׁ ֶפֶנ‬ soul, person, life; 5, 10, 11 ‫לֶֶגר‬ pie; 8, 9

‫רַעַנ‬ boy, young; 8, 10, 11, 21, 26, 30 ַ‫בר‬ a lot; 19
‫הרָ ֲעַנ‬ girl; 21 ‫בָ ָער‬ famine, drought; 5
‫איִבָנ‬ prophet; 4, 9 ‫ש ׁ אֹר‬ head; 6
‫רָהָנ‬ river; 17 ַ‫רוח‬ wind, spirit; 3, 26
‫ןַתָנ‬ give; 30
‫טֵֹשפ‬ judge; 10
‫רֶפֵס‬ book, roll; 11 ‫םִיַָשמ‬ the skies; 13
‫ססו‬ horse; 8 ‫הָשנ‬
ָ año; 13

‫ֲ בֹו ָד ה‬ trabajo; 21
‫ש ל ָן‬ table; 17

‫ריִע‬ 5, 6, 15 ‫ַ ַת‬ under, instead of; 15

‫דֶבֶע‬ servant, slave; 11 ‫ תֹו ל דֹו ת‬orígines, generaciónes; 13
‫ןִיַע‬ eye, source, well; 8, 9 ‫תֹו ָר ה‬ teaching, the Law; 8
‫םַע‬ people, nation; 6, 14

35