Adverbs and adverbial phrases תֹּאַר הַפֹּעַל to’ar happo‘al

khen — so

וַיְהִי־כֵן “and it was so.” After וַיְהִי (and it was), כֵן says how it came to be: “so,” as God had said. The word takes no ending for gender, number or person. Genesis 1 has it six times in the same phrase (1:7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30). On its own it is written כֵּן with a dot in כ; here, joined by maqqef to the vowel before it, the dot drops.

YLVAnd God made the firmament, and divided between the waters which were under the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

me’od — very

טוֹב מְאֹד “very good.” It comes right after the adjective טוֹב (good) and tells how much. English puts “very” before the adjective; Hebrew מְאֹד follows it.

YLVAnd God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

terem — not yet

טֶרֶם יִהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ “was not yet in the earth.” טֶרֶם is an adverb of time, “not yet, before,” followed by an imperfect verb (יִהְיֶה, יִצְמָח); The imperfect is used even of the past because at that point the event was “not yet done.” YLV: “was not yet … had not yet sprouted.” The verse has it twice.

YLVAnd every shrub of the field was not yet in the earth, and every herb of the field had not yet sprouted, for YHWH God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man (adam) to work (avad) the ground (adamah).

sham — there

וַיָּשֶׂם שָׁם אֶת־הָאָדָם “and there he put Adam.” Right after the verb וַיָּשֶׂם (and he put) it gives the place: “there,” the garden just named.

YLVAnd YHWH God planted a garden in Eden, from the east, and there he put Adam whom he had formed.

ummisham — and from there

וּמִשָּׁם יִפָּרֵד “and from there it parted.” Three pieces: the conjunction וּ (and) + the preposition מִ (from; the נ of מִן has merged into the next letter, doubling שׁ) + the adverb שָׁם (there). An adverb can take a preposition.

YLVAnd a river was going out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four heads.

‘od — again

וַיֵּדַע אָדָם עוֹד אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ “and Adam knew his woman again.” עוֹד is an adverb of time, “still, again, more”: something continues or happens once more.

YLVAnd Adam knew his woman (ishah) again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth: "For God has appointed for me another seed instead of Abel, because Cain killed him."

’az — then

אָז הוּחַל לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה “Then it was begun to call upon the name of YHWH.” Standing first in the sentence, it ties the event to the time just told (Enosh’s birth).

YLVAnd to Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then it was begun to call upon the name of YHWH.

ve‘attah — and now

וְעַתָּה פֶּן־יִשְׁלַח יָדוֹ “and now, lest he put forth his hand.” עַתָּה (now) with the conjunction וְ. In speech וְעַתָּה often takes up what was just said and moves on: “so now.” It occurs 272 times in the Old Testament (26 in Genesis).

YLVAnd YHWH God said, "Behold, Adam has become like one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life (chai), and eat, and live forever—"

poh — here

שְׁבוּ־לָכֶם פֹּה עִם־הַחֲמוֹר “Stay here with the donkey.” After the imperative שְׁבוּ (stay) it gives the place, “here,” the partner of שָׁם (there).

YLVAnd Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and return to you."

koh — so, thus

כֹּה יִהְיֶה זַרְעֶךָ “So shall your seed be.” An adverb of manner: “like this,” like the stars just mentioned. It is the כֹּה of the prophets’ כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה (thus says YHWH). Where כֵּן mostly points back to what was said (“so, just so”), כֹּה mostly points to what is in view or what follows (“thus, like this”).

YLVAnd he brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your seed be."

yaḥdav — together

לָשֶׁבֶת יַחְדָּו “to dwell together.” After the infinitive לָשֶׁבֶת (to dwell) it tells how. It is the noun יַחַד (unity) with an old suffix ָו (his), fixed as an adverb (root יחד “be one”). The verse has it twice.

YLVAnd the land did not bear them to dwell together, for their possessions were great, and they were not able to dwell together.

gam — also

וַתִּתֵּן גַּם־לְאִישָׁהּ עִמָּהּ “and she gave also to her man with her.” גַּם adds “also” to the word after it: “to her man too.” Unlike מְאֹד, it stands before what it marks.

YLVAnd the woman (ishah) saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a desire to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise; and she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her man (ish) with her, and he ate.

raq — only

רַק רַע כָּל־הַיּוֹם “only evil all the day.” רַק narrows to the word after it, רַע (evil): nothing else.

YLVAnd YHWH saw that the evil of man (adam) was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day.

’akh — only

וַיִּשָּׁאֶר אַךְ־נֹחַ “and only Noah was left.” אַךְ, like רַק, means “only”: after everything was blotted out, it sets apart the one left.

YLVAnd he blotted out all that exists, which was upon the face of the ground (adamah), from man (adam) to beast, to creeping thing, and to bird of the heavens; and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

yomam — by day

The noun יוֹם (day) + the ending ָם: the noun “day” becomes the adverb “by day.” וַיהוָה הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם יוֹמָם “And YHWH was going before them by day.” The verse ends with יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה (by day and night).

YLVAnd YHWH was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give light to them, to go by day and night.

reqam — empty

The adjective רֵיק (empty) + ָם: “empty-handed.” כִּי עַתָּה רֵיקָם שִׁלַּחְתָּנִי “surely now you would have sent me away empty.” It tells how he would have been sent.

YLVUnless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and gave judgment last night."

ḥinnam — for nothing

The noun חֵן (favor) + ָם: “freely,” so “for nothing.” וַעֲבַדְתַּנִי חִנָּם “should you serve me for nothing?” The doubled נ of the root חנן shows as a dagesh (נּ).

YLVAnd Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my brother, should you serve (avad) me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"

‘odennu — he (is) still

The adverb עוֹד (still) + the suffix ֶנּוּ (he). וְאַבְרָהָם עוֹדֶנּוּ עֹמֵד לִפְנֵי יְהוָה “but Abraham was still standing before YHWH.” A few adverbs take suffixes to say who is “still” so; here a participle עֹמֵד (standing) follows.

YLVAnd the men (ish) turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham was still standing before YHWH.

bereshit — in beginning

The preposition בְּ (in) + the noun רֵאשִׁית (beginning). Written as one word, it is built as “preposition + noun,” an adverbial phrase telling when בָּרָא (created) happened. YLV: “In beginning (bereshit).”

YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.

miqqedem — from the east

The preposition מִ (from; the נ of מִן doubled into ק) + the noun קֶדֶם (front, east). It says where the garden was: “in Eden, from the east” (YLV).

YLVAnd YHWH God planted a garden in Eden, from the east, and there he put Adam whom he had formed.

levaddo — alone

The preposition לְ (to) + the noun בַּד (separation) + the suffix וֹ (his): literally “to his separateness,” meaning “he alone.” לֹא־טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ “It is not good for Adam to be alone.” Hebrew has no single-word “alone,” so it uses this phrase.

YLVAnd YHWH God said, "It is not good for Adam to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart."

happa‘am — this time, now

The article הַ + the noun פַּעַם (time, occurrence). With no preposition, the bare noun gives the time: “the time” → “this time, now.” זֹאת הַפַּעַם עֶצֶם מֵעֲצָמַי YLV “This now is bone of my bones.” The article points to “this very” time.

YLVAnd Adam said, "This now is bone of my bones and flesh (basar) of my flesh (basar); for this one it shall be called Woman (ishah), because from Man (ish) this one was taken."

harbeh — much

The Hiphil infinitive absolute הַרְבֵּה (making much; the הַ begins the Hiphil form, not the article), from רבה (be many). וַיִּצְבֹּר יוֹסֵף בָּר … הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד “And Joseph heaped up grain … very much.” It modifies the verb וַיִּצְבֹּר (and he heaped up), telling how much; מְאֹד (very) in turn modifies הַרְבֵּה. (In Gen 15:1, שְׂכָרְךָ הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד, it stands in the predicate of a verbless clause: “your reward is exceedingly great.”)

YLVAnd Joseph heaped up grain like the sand of the sea, very much, ad(עד) he ceased to count, for it was without number.

maher — quickly

The Piel infinitive absolute מַהֵר (hurrying), root מהר (hurry). סָרוּ מַהֵר מִן־הַדֶּרֶךְ “They have turned aside quickly from the way”: after סָרוּ (they turned aside) it tells how. The infinitive absolute page covers this use in more detail.

YLVThey have turned aside quickly from the way which I commanded them (tzivvah); they have made for themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it, and have sacrificed to it, and have said: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."

sham — there (adverb)

אֲשֶׁר־שָׁם הַזָּהָב “where there is gold,” literally “which there (is) the gold.” Vowel qamets (ָ): the adverb “there.”

YLVThe name of the first is Pishon; it is the one surrounding all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.

shem — name (noun)

שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פִּישׁוֹן “The name of the first is Pishon.” In the same verse the consonants are the same שׁם, but with tsere (ֵ) it is the noun “name.” One vowel tells the part of speech.

YLVThe name of the first is Pishon; it is the one surrounding all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.