Hebrew Grammar Basics
The basic grammar of Biblical Hebrew, one topic per page, in detail. Each name is given in English and in Hebrew with transliteration, and every example is a word actually used in the Bible. Grammar terms on the Genesis pages link here.
Letters and sounds
The Alphabetאָלֶף־בֵּית alef-bet22 consonants written right to left — five of them change shape at the end of a wordVowelsנִקּוּד niqquddots and dashes below, above or inside the consonants — they mark a · e · i · o · u and their lengthSheva and Ḥatafשְׁוָא shva (sheva)two vertical dots ְ under a letter — either a very short “e” or a silent syllable-closerDagesh and Mappiqדָּגֵשׁ dageshone dot inside a letter — it hardens the sound (lene), doubles the letter (forte), or sounds a final ה (mappiq)Gutturalsאוֹתִיּוֹת גְּרוֹנִיּוֹת otiyyot geroniyyotthe throat letters א ה ח ע (and ר) — they cannot double and love “a,” changing the vowels around themSyllables, stress and metegהֲבָרָה havarahdividing words into syllables, where the stress falls, and what the small vertical meteg isMaqqefמַקֵּף maqqefa raised stroke ־ that joins two (or more) words into one reading unit — the first word loses its stressAccentsטְעָמִים te‘amimsmall marks above and below the letters — they show the stress and divide a verse into units read apart or togetherPausal formsצוּרַת הֶפְסֵק tsurat hefseqforms with lengthened vowels at the major pauses of a verse — מַיִם → מָיִם
Nouns and small words
Gender and numberזָכָר וּנְקֵבָה zakhar uneqevahevery noun is masculine or feminine, and singular, plural or dual (two) — shown by its endingSegolate nounsסֶגּוֹל segoltwo-syllable nouns like אֶרֶץ חֹשֶׁךְ, stressed on the first syllable, with segol ֶ in the secondDefinite articleהֵא הַיְדִיעָה he hayedi‘ah“the” — הַ in front of a word and a dot in the next letterConstruct stateסְמִיכוּת semikhut“A of B” — the first noun shortens and leans on the nextPronominal suffixesכִּנּוּי kinnui“my · his · to them” — short forms on the end of nouns and prepositionsPrepositionsמִלַּת יַחַס millat yaḥas“in · to · from” — the prefixed בְּ כְּ לְ, מִן, and separate prepositionsConjunction wawוָו הַחִבּוּר waw haḥibbur“and · but” — וְ joined to the front of a word, becoming וּ וִ וָ by the next letterAdjectivesשֵׁם תֹּאַר shem to’ar“good · great” — after the noun matching gender, number and article = attributive; without the article = predicatePersonal pronounsכִּנּוּי גּוּף kinnui guf“I, you, he, we …” — independent pronouns: first person begins with א, second with אַתּ, third with הDemonstrativesכִּנּוּי רוֹמֵז kinnui romez“this, that” — near זֶה זֹאת אֵלֶּה; far = the 3rd-person pronoun with the article, הַהוּא הַהִיאRelativeאֲשֶׁר ’asher“who, which, that” — the unchanging אֲשֶׁר that joins a clause to a nounDirect object markerאֵת ’etthe untranslated אֵת that stands before a definite direct objectInterrogativesמִלּוֹת שְׁאֵלָה milot she’elah“…? who, what, where, why” — the הֲ on the first word, and מִי מָה אַיֵּה לָמָּהNumeralsשְׁמוֹת הַמִּסְפָּר shemot hammispar“one, two, three, first, second” — 3–10 cross the noun’s gender; ordinals end in ִיHe localeהֵא הַמְּגַמָּה he hammegammah“to, toward” — an unstressed ָה at the end of a word (אַרְצָה to the land)Adverbs and adverbial phrasesתֹּאַר הַפֹּעַל to’ar happo‘al“so · very · there · now” — invariable adverbs, and phrases built from preposition + noun
Verb roots and stems
Rootsשֹׁרֶשׁ shoreshthree consonants carry the meaning; vowels and added letters make the wordThe Seven Stemsבִּנְיָנִים binyanimQal · Niphal · Piel · Pual · Hiphil · Hophal · Hithpael — seven “buildings” on one rootNiphalנִפְעַל nif‘al“be done · do to oneself” — a נ in front, or that נ merged into a dot in the first letterQalקַל qalthe basic stem with nothing added — seven verbs in tenPielפִּעֵל pi‘elthe active stem that doubles the middle root letter — “make it so”Pualפֻּעַל pu‘althe passive of the Piel — “u” (ֻ) under the first letter and a middle doubling dotHiphilהִפְעִיל hif‘il“cause to do” — הִ in front (יַ in the imperfect) and ִי before the last root letterHophalהָפְעַל hof‘al“be caused to do” — the passive of the Hiphil: first vowel ָ (o) or ֻ (u), last vowel ַ (a)Hithpaelהִתְפַּעֵל hitpa‘el“do to oneself · to one another · to and fro” — הִתְ (hit) in front and a doubled middle root letterRare stemsפּוֹלֵל · פִּלְפֵּל polel · pilpelstems used in place of the Piel · Pual · Hithpael by verbs that cannot double a middle letter — they repeat the last letter or two letters
Verb forms
Perfectקָטַל qatal“he did” — “who” is attached at the end of the word (קָטַלְתִּי I killed)Imperfectיִקְטֹל yiqtol“will do · used to do” — “who” is attached at the front of the word (יִקְטֹל he will kill)Wayyiqtolוַיִּקְטֹל wayyiqtol“and he did” — וַ + a dotted “who” letter; the form that carries biblical narrative step by stepWeqatalוְקָטַל weqatal“and will · and do” — וְ + the perfect form; continues future action and commandsJussiveיְהִי yehi“let him … · may he …” — a command or wish for a third person; sometimes shorter than the imperfect (יְהִי let there be)Cohortativeאֶקְטְלָה ’eqtelah“let us · I will” — ָה added to a first-person imperfect (נִלְבְּנָה let us make bricks)Imperativeצִוּוּי tsivvui“do!” — the imperfect with its “who” prefix removed · second person onlyInfinitive constructמָקוֹר נָטוּי maqor natui“to do · doing · when doing” — a noun-like verb form · לְ בְּ כְּ in front, “whose” at the endInfinitive absoluteמָקוֹר מֻחְלָט maqor muḥlat“surely, indeed” — a bare verb form placed before a verb of the same root to give it force (מוֹת תָּמוּת)Participleבֵּינוֹנִי beinoni“doing, one who does” — a verb form with gender and number like an adjective · Qal קֹטֵל, other stems with מְObject suffixes on verbsכִּנּוּי kinnui“me · you · him · them” attached to the end of a verb — נִי ךָ הוּ הָ נוּ ם
Weak verbs
Guttural verbsפְּעָלִים גְּרוֹנִיִּים pe‘alim geroniyyimwith א ה ח ע ר in the root — no dagesh, hateph for sheva, “a” vowels, a furtive “a” at the endI-Nun verbsפ״נ pe-nunthe first נ merges into a dot in the next letter, or drops off — וַיִּפַּח תֵּתI-Yod / I-Waw verbsפ״י · פ״ו pe-yod · pe-wawthe first י vanishes (וַיֵּשֶׁב), shows up as ו (הוֹלִיד), or becomes a long vowel (וַיִּיצֶר)Hollow verbsע״ו · ע״י ‘ayin-waw · ‘ayin-yodthe middle ו / י survives only as a vowel or vanishes — וַיָּשֶׂם תָּמוּתIII-He verbsל״ה lamed-hethe final ה changes to ָה ֶה וֹת or drops off — וַיְהִי וַיַּעַשׂIII-Aleph verbsל״א lamed-alephthe final א falls silent and the vowel before it lengthens to ָ — בָּרָא יִקְרָאGeminate verbsע״ע ‘ayin-‘ayintwo identical letters merge into one, kept as a dot — קַלּוּ תַּם הַסֹּבֵבCommon irregular verbsהָלַךְ · לָקַח · נָתַן · הָיָה halakh · laqaḥ · natan · hayahהָלַךְ לָקַח נָתַן הָיָה — four verbs that borrow other weak-verb rules
Sentences
Sentence patternsGenesis 1–2The 32 sentence patterns of Genesis 1–2, with the actual sentencesVerbal and verbless clausesמִשְׁפָּט פָּעֳלִי · מִשְׁפָּט שֵׁמָנִי mishpat po‘oli · mishpat shemaniclauses whose predicate is a verb, and verbless clauses that are complete with no “is”Word order and frontingסֵדֶר הַמִּלִּים seder hammillimnarrative order is verb → subject → object; put something else first and the wayyiqtol becomes a perfectThe narrative chainוָו הַהִפּוּךְ waw hahippukhwayyiqtols, “and he did,” link events in order; when something else comes first the chain pauses for background or contrastNegationלֹא · אַל · אֵין · בַּל lo’ · ’al · ’en · bal“not · do not · there is no” — לֹא negates verbs and words, אַל the jussive (prohibition), אֵין existenceThere is · there is notיֵשׁ · אַיִן yesh · ’ayinיֵשׁ “there is” · אֵין “there is not” — not verbs; with “to” they also say “have”Hinneh “behold”הִנֵּה hinneh“behold, here is” — a word at the head of a clause that points to the whole clauseKi and connectorsכִּי ki“that, because, when, but” — a connector whose meaning is set by what comes beforeConditionals — ’im and luאִם ’im · lu“if …, if it had been …” — אִם for possible conditions, לוּ for conditions contrary to factPurpose and resultלְמַעַן lema‘an“so that, lest” — לְ + infinitive, לְמַעַן + imperfect, פֶּןReporting speechלֵאמֹר lemorinstead of quotation marks — וַיֹּאמֶר (and he said) and לֵאמֹר (saying) open the words