NOUNS: REVIEW

יוֹם

“day” MS Unmarked

סוּסָה

“Mare” FS

מֶלֶךְ

“king” MS Unmarked

יַבָּשָׁה

“Dry ground” FS

לַיְלָה

MASCULINE NOUNS WITH FEMININE SINGULAR ENDING לַיְלָה “night”

אָחוֹת

Sister FS

יָד

Hand FS

לֵב

Heart MS

סוּסִים Horses; M Pl

רוּחוֹת Spirits; f pl

עָרִים Cities; f pl

אְַנָשִׁי ם Men

שֵׁמוֹת Names; M Pl

יָדַיִם Hands

ADJECTIVES

ADJECTIVES: GENDER AND NUMBER  The function of an adjective is to describe or limit a noun.  In comparison with other languages, Hebrew has relatively few adjectives.

MASCULINE SINGULAR FORMS  Can only be used to describe or limit masculine singular nouns

THE MOST COMMON MASCULINE SINGULAR FORMS גָּדוֹלgreat, large גָּדֹלgreat, large זָקֵןold (of persons only) חָדָשׁnew חָזָקstrong

חַיliving חָכָםwise טוֹבgood טֹבgood יָפֶהbeautiful, fair, handsome יָשָׁרstraight, right מַרbitter

עַזstrong קָדוֹשׁholy קָדֹשׁholy קָטֹןsmall קָרוֹבnear קָרֹבnear קָשֶׁהhard, difficult, stubborn

רַבmany, much, great יָחוֹקfar, distant רָחֹקfar, distant רַעevil תָּמִיםperfect, complete, whole

ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING MASCULINE PLURAL NOUNS END IN ִים

ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING FEMININE SINGULAR NOUNS END IN ָה

ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING FEMININE PLURAL NOUNS END IN וֹת

These adjective endings are consistent and uniform, even when the nouns they describe are irregular in their plural endings

אָב טוֹב

“a good father”

אָבוֹת טוֹבִים

“good fathers” Irregular M.Pl. form of אָבוֹת

אִשָּׁה טוֹבָה

“a good woman”

נָשִׁים טוֹרוֹת

נָשׁים טוֹרוֹת “good women” Irregular M.Pl. form of נָשִׁים ִ

CHANGES  There are certain changes that take place in the vocalization and structure of masculine singular adjectives when gender and number endings are added.  These changes depend in part upon whether the masculine singular form is monosyllabic or bisyllabic.

RULES FOR ADDING GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS TO MASCULINE SINGULAR ADJECTIVES THAT ARE MONOSYLLABIC a. Monosyllabic adjectives with unchangeably long vowels retain these vowels when gender and number endings are added. b. Monosyllabic adjectives that end in non-gutturals and have short vowels retain their short vowels when gender and number endings are added. i. When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). c. Mono syllabic adjectives that end in gutturals and also have short vowels must have their short vowels lengthened to long vowels when gender and number endings are added. This is because gutturals refuse to be doubled.

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. טוֹב (ms) Good

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. טוֹבִים (mp) Good

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. טוֹבָה (fs) Good

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. טוֹבוֹת (fp) Good

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. ריק (ms) ֵ Empty

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. ריקִים (mp) ֵ Empty

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. ריקָה (fs) ֵ Empty

A. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES WITH UNCHANGEABLY LONG VOWELS RETAIN THESE VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. ריקוֹת (fp) ֵ Empty

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. חי (ms) ַ Living

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. חיִּים (mp) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Living

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. חיָּה (fs) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Living

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. חיּוֹת (fp) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Living

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. עז (ms) ַ Strong

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. עזִּים (mp) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Strong

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. עזָּה (fs) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Strong

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. עזּוֹת (fp) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Strong

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. רב (ms) ַ Many

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. רבִּים (mp) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Many

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. רבָּה (fs) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Many

B. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN NON- GUTTURALS AND HAVE SHORT VOWELS RETAIN THEIR SHORT VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. רבּוֹת (fp) When such endings are added, the final consonant of the masculine singular form of the adjective must be doubled (by the addition of dagesh forte). ַ Many

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. מַר (ms) Bitter

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. מָרים (mp) ִ Bitter

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. מָרה (fs) ָ Bitter

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. מָרוֹת (fp) Bitter

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. רַע (ms) Evil

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. רָעים (mp) ִ Evil

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. רָָעה (fs) ָ Evil

C. MONOSYLLABIC ADJECTIVES THAT END IN GUTTURALS AND ALSO HAVE SHORT VOWELS MUST HAVE THEIR SHORT VOWELS LENGTHENED TO LONG VOWELS WHEN GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS ARE ADDED. THIS IS BECAUSE GUTTURALS REFUSE TO BE DOUBLED. רָעוֹת (fp) Evil

RULES FOR ADDING GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS TO MASCULINE SINGULAR ADJECTIVES THAT ARE BISYLLABIC a) All masculine singular adjectives that are bisyllabic will have a qames in their initial syllable. When gender and number endings are added, this initial qames is left two syllables before the tone (accented) syllable and therefore must be volatilized (reduced to a vocal sheva). i. If the initial consonant of the bisyllabic adjective is a non-guttural, the qames that accompanies it will be reduced to a simple sheva.

גָּדוֹל (ms) Great

גְּדוֹלִים (mp) Great

גְּדוֹלָה (fs) Great

גְּדוֹלוֹת (fp) Great

זָקֵן (ms) Old

זְקֵנִים (mp) Old

זְקֵנָה (fs) Old

זְקֵנוֹת (fp) Old

RULES FOR ADDING GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS TO MASCULINE SINGULAR ADJECTIVES THAT ARE BISYLLABIC a. All masculine singular adjectives that are bisyllabic will have a qames in their initial syllable. When gender and number endings are added, this initial qames is left two syllables before the tone (accented) syllable and therefore must be volatilized (reduced to a vocal sheva). i. If the initial consonant of the bisyllabic adjective is a non-guttural, the qames that accompanies it will be reduced to a simple sheva. ii. However, if the initial consonant of the bisyllabic adjective is a guttural, then the qames that accompanies this consonant must be reduced to a compound sheva, since gutturals prefer compound shevas.

חָדָשׁ (ms) New

חְַדָשִׁים (mp) New

חְַדָשָׁה (fs) New

חְַדָשׁוֹת (fp) New

RULES FOR ADDING GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS TO MASCULINE SINGULAR ADJECTIVES THAT ARE BISYLLABIC b. The bisyllabic adjective קָטֹן, “small,” behaves in an irregular manner. When gender and number endings are added, holem is replaced by patah, and a dagesh forte is placed in the nun.

קָטֹן (ms) Small

קְטַנִּים (mp) Small

קְטַנָּה (fs) Small

קְטַנּוֹת (fp) Small

RULES FOR ADDING GENDER AND NUMBER ENDINGS TO MASCULINE SINGULAR ADJECTIVES THAT ARE BISYLLABIC c) Bisyllabic adjectives ending in ֶה will drop the ֶה whenever gender and number endings are added.

יָפֶה (ms) Beautiful

יָפִים (mp) Beautiful

יָפָה (fs) Beautiful

יָפוֹת (fp) Beautiful

קָשֶׁה (ms) Difficult

קָשִׁים (mp) Difficult

קָשָׁה (fs) Difficult

קָשׁוֹת (fp) Difficult

ADJECTIVES: ATTRIBUTIVE USAGE  An attributive adjective is one that directly describes a noun. Attributive adjectives usually stand after the nouns they describe, although this order may be reversed if the adjective is to be emphasized

ADJECTIVES: ATTRIBUTIVE USAGE Adjective Noun

ADJECTIVES: ATTRIBUTIVE USAGE Adjective + ArticleNoun + Article

אִישׁ טוֹב

A good man

הָאִישׁ הַטּוֹב

The good man

אִשָּׁה טוֹבָה

A good woman

הָאִשָּׁה הַטּוֹבָה

“the good woman”

FEATURES OF THE ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE 1. Follows the noun it modifies 2. Agrees with the noun it modifies in gender a) The attributive adjective agrees with the gender of the noun it modifies—not with the ending on that noun

ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES שָׁנָה שָׁנִים הָשּׁנִים הַטּוֹבוֹת Year Years The Good Years

ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES אִשָּׁה נָשִׁים נָשִׁים טוֹבוֹת Woman Women Good Women

ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES אָב אָבוֹת טוֹבִים אָבוֹת Father Fathers Good Fathers

FEATURES OF THE ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE  Agrees with the noun it modifies in number  Agrees with the noun it modifies in definiteness  To agree in definiteness means that when the noun is definite, the attributive adjective must also be definite; when the noun is indefinite, the attributive adjective must also remain indefinite.

מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל A great king

הַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל The great king

מְלָכִים גְּדוֹלִים great kings

הַמְּלָכִים הַגְּדוֹלִים The great kings

עִיר גְּדוֹלָה

A great city

הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה

The great city

עָרִים גְּדוֹלוֹת

Great cities

הֶעָרִים הַגְּדוֹלוֹת

The great cities

ADJECTIVES: PREDICATE USAGE  Hebrew often makes use of simple sentences consisting of a noun, which functions as subject, and an adjective, which functions as predicate.  There are verbless sentences, since the verb “to be” is not written but only implied. It must be supplied in translation

ADJECTIVES: PREDICATE USAGE  A predicate adjective usually stands before its subject noun, but occasionally will stand after it.  A predicate adjective will agree with its subject noun in gender and number, but it will never take the article, even though the subject noun is definite.

טוֹב הַדָּבָר

The word (is) good

כִּי הַמָּקוֹם קָדשׁ

כִּי הַמָּקוֹם קָדֹשׁ For the place (is) holy

כִּי־קָדוֹשׁ הַיּוֹם

For the day (is) holy

טוֹבָה הָאָרֶץ מְאֹד מְאֹד

The land (was) exceedingly good

וְהַמֶּלֶךְ זָקֵן מְאֹד

And the king (was) very old

PREDICATE ADJECTIVES  Two predicate adjectives are sometimes used to describe one subject noun

טוֹב־וְיָשָׁר יְהוָה Good and upright (is) the Lord

SUBSTANTIVE ADJECTIVES  When a word classified as an adjective is used syntactically as a noun  Agrees in gender, number, but not definiteness

SUBSTANTIVES הֶחָכָם “the wise (man)”

SUBSTANTIVES הָרַע “the evil/that which is evil”

SUBSTANTIVES הַטּוֹב “the good/that which is good”