Hebrew Lesson 2 - One And Many

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roeeh Saturday 03rd of June 2006 06:45:59 PM
Lesson 2 - One and Many - Shalom again!

Today I want to talk to you about the plural forms in Hebrew.
Basically there are 2 ways to make a singular noun plural:
Masculine nouns usually get the ending -im (ים-):
ספר -> ספרים - sefer -> sfarim - (one) book -> (many) books
ילד -> ילדים - yeled -> yeladim - child -> children
בקבוק -> בקבוקים - bakbuk -> bakbukim - bottle ->bottles

In feminine nouns ending with ה (-ah), the ה is usually dropped and the word gets the ending ות (-ot) instead:
ילדה -> ילדות - yalda -> yeladot - girl -> girls
משפחה -> משפחות - mishpakha -> mishpakhot - family -> families
תמונה -> תמונות - tmuna -> tmunot - picture -> pictures

Feminine words that do not end in ה (-ah) usually get the same ending as masculine words, but they remain faminine:
דרך -> דרכים - derekh -> drakhim - way -> ways
עיר -> ערים - ir -> arim - city -> cities

REMEMBER: these are not iron rules and there are quite a few male words that get the female plural form and female words that get the male plural form.

We learned that adjectives must corelate with the gender of the noun they are describing, but it get even tougher - they must also corelate with the number of the noun(s) they are describing. Therefore, each adjective has 4 forms, for example - the adjective גדול (gadol - big):
גדול - gadol - singular, male
גדולה - gdola - singular, female
גדולים - gdolim - plural, male
גדולות - gdolot - plural, female

Now 2 more small rules that will help you start building simple sentainces:
1. Like in English, the word \"the\" has only one form: (ha-). It is attachet to the subject of the sentaince (which, as you remember, comes first).
2. The verb \"to be\" (am, is, are) does not exist in Hebrew. Instead, the parts of the sentaince just follow each other. In simple sentainces it is possible to add הוא (hu, for male) or היא (hi, for female), but it\'s not a must.

Now you can build simple sentainces, like:
השולחן גדול - hashulkhan gadol - the table [is] big

החתולה לבנה - hakhatula levana - the (female) cat [is] white

הספרים כבדים - hasfarim kvedim - the books [are] heavy

הערים גדולות - ha\'arim gdolot - the cities [are] big

דוד הוא ילד חכם - david hu yeled khakham - David is a smart boy

Now let\'s learn the numbers. Like I told you before, gender influences everything in Hebrew, and this is why each number has 2 forms - a male one and a female one:

no. female form male form
1 - אחת (akhat) - אחד (ekhad)
2 - שתיים (shtayim) - שניים (shnayim)
3 - שלוש (shalosh) - שלושה (shlosha)
4 - ארבע (arba) - ארבעה (arba\'a)
5 - חמש (khamesh) - חמישה (khamisha)
6 - שש (shesh) - שישה (shisha)
7 - שבע (sheva) - שבעה (shiv\'a)
8 - שמונה (shmone\') - שמונה (shmona)
9 - תשע (tesha) - תשעה (tish\'a)
10 - עשר (eser) - עשרה (asara)

When you just want to count, or say the name of the nimber you should use the FEMALE form, but but when the number is used to describe the amount of some object (exp: three apples) you should use the form according to the gender of the object you are discribing (just like with regular adjectives), in this case apple (תפוח, tapuakh) is male so we will use the male form - shlosha tapukhim (שלושה תפוחים ).

חמישה ילדים - khamisha yeladim - five kids
ארבע משפחות - arba mishpakhot - four families
עשרה חדרים - asara khadarim - ten rooms
שבע קופסאות - sheva kufsa\'ot - seven boxes

One exeption to this rule is the number 2. When you you want to do the same thing with the number 2, the ending ים- is dropped:
שני חדרים - shney khadarim - two rooms
שתי קופסאות - shtey kufsa\'ot - two boxes

OK, I think it\'s enough for one time. untill next time, have fun.

roee

Eli Sunday 04th of June 2006 02:51:56 AM
- If you just have had enough with the previous message, ignore mine! :)
I want to add something little in order to confuse you more :p
It is not totally correct that English\'s \"the\" has only one form - ha. That\'s the case for like 90% of the words, but for couple of them we use \"he\" instead of \"ha\".
Since, here, in Israel the majority of people don\'t speak in correct language, \"he\" is used only by us - teachers of the language.:p
So if you don\'t want to get a strange look from people on your next visit - stick with \"ha\".
If you use \"he\", even in correct way, they will probably say:\"Ohh...he/she just have begun to study language.He/She will learn one day how to pronounce it correctly\" :p

So.....after all, one little, meaningless correction.
The following expression:
\"הערים גדולות - ha\'arim gdolot - the cities [are] big\"
must be:
\"הערים גדולות - he\'arim gdolot - the cities [are] big\"

Again, you could ignore this message!
I posted it only because I am a freak of correct Hebrew :p

P.S: Roeeh, you are doing great job!

roeeh Sunday 04th of June 2006 05:19:50 AM
- I stand corrected. :)

There is the form he- (pronounce like in the english word \"hen\").
If we want to be 100% acurate, the form he- is basiclly the same as ha-, but because of certain punctuation rules it changes in some cases when it comes before the letters ע and ח. Anyway, these rules are WAY too complicated to explain to people who don\'t have a basic knowledge of Hebrew, let alon doing it in english... :)

But, as lekker said - most Israelis don\'t know them themselvs and almost never use this form so there is no real need to learn it if you just want to be able to have a basic conversation.

If you are confused, ignore this message too... :)

ladysmyrna Tuesday 06th of June 2006 09:31:47 PM
- I read all the posts!!! It is good to know. Thanks guys!

*confused but still determined to learn* :D

Eli Wednesday 07th of June 2006 12:25:33 AM
- [quote][i]Originally posted by ladysmyrna[/i]

I read all the posts!!! It is good to know. Thanks guys!

*confused but still determined to learn* :D

[/quote]

Are you confused because of that??
Jezzz........I don\'t see you pass my test on Friday!
Well, maybe the breeze of Bosporus will make me less exigent :)

ladysmyrna Wednesday 07th of June 2006 08:14:59 PM
- *No Eli, I\'ll just scare you with coffee without milk and you\'ll forget about the exam instantly :D *

I want to ask if it\'s possible to say \"David yeled katan\" instead of \"David hu yeled katan\"? Ze efshari? I\'ve come across this in grammar books as well.

Toda raba :)

roeeh Thursday 08th of June 2006 05:07:54 AM
- yes, ladysmyrna, \"david yeled katan\" is 100% correct.
These are two ways to put the sentaince together, but there is not much difrence between them.

Phrasebase Archive
	roeeh	Saturday 03rd of June 2006 06:45:59 PM
	Lesson 2 - One and Many - Shalom again! Today I want to talk to you about the plural forms in Hebrew. Basically there are 2 ways to make a singular noun plural: Masculine nouns usually get the ending -im (ים-): ספר -> ספרים - sefer -> sfarim - (one) book -> (many) books ילד -> ילדים - yeled -> yeladim - child -> children בקבוק -> בקבוקים - bakbuk -> bakbukim - bottle ->bottles In feminine nouns ending with ה (-ah), the ה is usually dropped and the word gets the ending ות (-ot) instead: ילדה -> ילדות - yalda -> yeladot - girl -> girls משפחה -> משפחות - mishpakha -> mishpakhot - family -> families תמונה -> תמונות - tmuna -> tmunot - picture -> pictures Feminine words that do not end in ה (-ah) usually get the same ending as masculine words, but they remain faminine: דרך -> דרכים - derekh -> drakhim - way -> ways עיר -> ערים - ir -> arim - city -> cities REMEMBER: these are not iron rules and there are quite a few male words that get the female plural form and female words that get the male plural form. We learned that adjectives must corelate with the gender of the noun they are describing, but it get even tougher - they must also corelate with the number of the noun(s) they are describing. Therefore, each adjective has 4 forms, for example - the adjective גדול (gadol - big): גדול - gadol - singular, male גדולה - gdola - singular, female גדולים - gdolim - plural, male גדולות - gdolot - plural, female Now 2 more small rules that will help you start building simple sentainces: 1. Like in English, the word \"the\" has only one form: (ha-). It is attachet to the subject of the sentaince (which, as you remember, comes first). 2. The verb \"to be\" (am, is, are) does not exist in Hebrew. Instead, the parts of the sentaince just follow each other. In simple sentainces it is possible to add הוא (hu, for male) or היא (hi, for female), but it\'s not a must. Now you can build simple sentainces, like: השולחן גדול - hashulkhan gadol - the table [is] big החתולה לבנה - hakhatula levana - the (female) cat [is] white הספרים כבדים - hasfarim kvedim - the books [are] heavy הערים גדולות - ha\'arim gdolot - the cities [are] big דוד הוא ילד חכם - david hu yeled khakham - David is a smart boy Now let\'s learn the numbers. Like I told you before, gender influences everything in Hebrew, and this is why each number has 2 forms - a male one and a female one: no. female form male form 1 - אחת (akhat) - אחד (ekhad) 2 - שתיים (shtayim) - שניים (shnayim) 3 - שלוש (shalosh) - שלושה (shlosha) 4 - ארבע (arba) - ארבעה (arba\'a) 5 - חמש (khamesh) - חמישה (khamisha) 6 - שש (shesh) - שישה (shisha) 7 - שבע (sheva) - שבעה (shiv\'a) 8 - שמונה (shmone\') - שמונה (shmona) 9 - תשע (tesha) - תשעה (tish\'a) 10 - עשר (eser) - עשרה (asara) When you just want to count, or say the name of the nimber you should use the FEMALE form, but but when the number is used to describe the amount of some object (exp: three apples) you should use the form according to the gender of the object you are discribing (just like with regular adjectives), in this case apple (תפוח, tapuakh) is male so we will use the male form - shlosha tapukhim (שלושה תפוחים ). חמישה ילדים - khamisha yeladim - five kids ארבע משפחות - arba mishpakhot - four families עשרה חדרים - asara khadarim - ten rooms שבע קופסאות - sheva kufsa\'ot - seven boxes One exeption to this rule is the number 2. When you you want to do the same thing with the number 2, the ending ים- is dropped: שני חדרים - shney khadarim - two rooms שתי קופסאות - shtey kufsa\'ot - two boxes OK, I think it\'s enough for one time. untill next time, have fun. roee
	Eli	Sunday 04th of June 2006 02:51:56 AM
	- If you just have had enough with the previous message, ignore mine! :) I want to add something little in order to confuse you more :p It is not totally correct that English\'s \"the\" has only one form - ha. That\'s the case for like 90% of the words, but for couple of them we use \"he\" instead of \"ha\". Since, here, in Israel the majority of people don\'t speak in correct language, \"he\" is used only by us - teachers of the language.:p So if you don\'t want to get a strange look from people on your next visit - stick with \"ha\". If you use \"he\", even in correct way, they will probably say:\"Ohh...he/she just have begun to study language.He/She will learn one day how to pronounce it correctly\" :p So.....after all, one little, meaningless correction. The following expression: \"הערים גדולות - ha\'arim gdolot - the cities [are] big\" must be: \"הערים גדולות - he\'arim gdolot - the cities [are] big\" Again, you could ignore this message! I posted it only because I am a freak of correct Hebrew :p P.S: Roeeh, you are doing great job!
	roeeh	Sunday 04th of June 2006 05:19:50 AM
	- I stand corrected. :) There is the form he- (pronounce like in the english word \"hen\"). If we want to be 100% acurate, the form he- is basiclly the same as ha-, but because of certain punctuation rules it changes in some cases when it comes before the letters ע and ח. Anyway, these rules are WAY too complicated to explain to people who don\'t have a basic knowledge of Hebrew, let alon doing it in english... :) But, as lekker said - most Israelis don\'t know them themselvs and almost never use this form so there is no real need to learn it if you just want to be able to have a basic conversation. If you are confused, ignore this message too... :)
	ladysmyrna	Tuesday 06th of June 2006 09:31:47 PM
	- I read all the posts!!! It is good to know. Thanks guys! confused but still determined to learn :D
	Eli	Wednesday 07th of June 2006 12:25:33 AM
	- [quote][i]Originally posted by ladysmyrna[/i] I read all the posts!!! It is good to know. Thanks guys! confused but still determined to learn :D [/quote] Are you confused because of that?? Jezzz........I don\'t see you pass my test on Friday! Well, maybe the breeze of Bosporus will make me less exigent :)
	ladysmyrna	Wednesday 07th of June 2006 08:14:59 PM
	- No Eli, I\'ll just scare you with coffee without milk and you\'ll forget about the exam instantly :D I want to ask if it\'s possible to say \"David yeled katan\" instead of \"David hu yeled katan\"? Ze efshari? I\'ve come across this in grammar books as well. Toda raba :)
	roeeh	Thursday 08th of June 2006 05:07:54 AM
	- yes, ladysmyrna, \"david yeled katan\" is 100% correct. These are two ways to put the sentaince together, but there is not much difrence between them.