Definite article הֵא הַיְדִיעָה he hayedi‘ah
Hebrew has a definite article like English “the.” It is not a separate word but a letter joined to the front of the noun: הַ (ha). With it the noun becomes “the (known) …”. This page shows its three shapes, and how it hides inside a preposition, one by one in words actually used in the Bible.
Hebrew grammars call it הֵא הַיְדִיעָה (he hayyedi‘ah), “the ה of knowing”
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What the article is
The article marks a noun as definite: the hearer knows which one is meant. אֶרֶץ (’erets) is “a land, some land”; הָאָרֶץ (ha’arets) is “the land.”
Hebrew has no indefinite article (English a, an). A noun without the article is simply indefinite. גַּן in 2:8 is “a garden”; הַגָּן in 2:9 is “the garden.”
The article is one of the most common marks in the Bible. Counted from the OSHB morphology, 30,431 words in the Old Testament contain it (including the article hidden inside prepositions).
2Where the name comes from — הֵא הַיְדִיעָה
“Definite article” means “the article that makes definite.”
Hebrew grammars call it הֵא הַיְדִיעָה (he hayyedi‘ah). הֵא is the name of the letter ה, and יְדִיעָה (yedi‘ah) is “knowing.” It is “the ה of knowing”: it signals “this is the one you already know.”
3At a glance — how to recognize the article
- Before ordinary lettersהַ (ha) + a dot (dagesh) in the next letter — הַשָּׁמַיִם (Gen 1:1).
- Before א ע רNo dot is possible, so the vowel lengthens: הָ — הָאָרֶץ (Gen 1:1).
- Before ה חNo dot, but the vowel stays הַ — הַחֹשֶׁךְ (Gen 1:4).
- Before unstressed הָ עָ, and before חָהֶ (he) — הֶהָרִים (Gen 7:19).
- After בְּ כְּ לְThe ה drops and its vowel moves to the preposition — לָאוֹר (Gen 1:5), בַּיּוֹם (Gen 1:18).
4The shapes of the article — by the next letter
There is one article, but its shape depends on the letter right after it. All the words below are used in Genesis.
| Next letter | Article | Bible word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ordinary (ש מ י ג …) | הַ + dot | הַשָּׁמַיִם (1:1) | hashshamayim | the heavens |
| א | הָ | הָאָרֶץ (1:1) | ha’arets | the earth |
| ע | הָ | הָעֵץ (1:29) | ha‘ets | the tree |
| ר | הָ | הָרָקִיעַ (1:7) | haraqia‘ | the firmament |
| ח | הַ (no dot) | הַחֹשֶׁךְ (1:4) | haḥoshekh | the darkness |
| ה | הַ (no dot) | הַהֹלֵךְ (2:14) | haholekh | the one flowing |
| unstressed הָ | הֶ | הֶהָרִים (7:19) | heharim | the mountains |
| unstressed עָ | הֶ | הֶעָרִים (19:25) | he‘arim | the cities |
In every shape, the article is the ה at the very front. Only its vowel (a · a · e) and the dot change, because of the next letter.
5Before ordinary letters — real examples from the Bible
Look for the dot in the letter after הַ. That dot is the article’s second sign.
hashshamayim — the heavens
הַ (the article) + שָּׁ (a dot in the first letter שׁ) + מַיִם (heavens). This is the article in the very first verse of the Bible. The dot in שׁ tells you to read that letter twice: hash-shamayim.
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
hammayim — the waters
הַ + מַּ (a dot in the first letter מ) + יִם. The article on מַיִם (water). These are the waters already named in 1:2, so “the waters.”
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.
hayyabbashah — the dry land
הַ + יַּ (a dot in the first letter י) + בָּשָׁה. “Let the dry land appear” — the particular land God calls forth.
YLVAnd God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
haggan — the garden
הַ + גָּ (a dot in the first letter ג) + ן. Just before, in 2:8, it is introduced without the article as גַּן (a garden). Once introduced, it becomes “the garden.” The vowel also changes from ַ to ָ.
YLVAnd YHWH God made to sprout from the ground (adamah) every tree pleasant to sight and good for food, and the tree of life (chai) in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
6Why the next letter gets a dot
- 1. The article doubles the next soundThe article הַ makes the following letter sound twice: הַשָּׁמַיִם is hash-shamayim, not ha-shamayim.
- 2. A doubled sound = a dotHebrew writes a doubled letter once, with a dot (dagesh) inside. So שׁ has a dot.
- 3. Letters that cannot doubleThe gutturals א ה ח ע and ר cannot be doubled and cannot take the dot. Something else happens instead (next section).
7Before gutturals — the vowel changes instead of a dot
(1) Before א ע ר: הָ — since the letter cannot double, the vowel before it makes up for it: short ַ becomes long ָ. This is called “compensatory lengthening.”
(2) Before ה ח: הַ — these two are treated as doubled in principle though no dot is written (“virtual doubling”), so the article keeps its short ַ.
(3) Before unstressed הָ עָ, and before חָ: הֶ — when the next letter is a guttural with ָ (qamets), the article’s vowel becomes ֶ (e). In הֶהָרִים the stress is on רִים, so הָ is unstressed.
8Before gutturals — real examples from the Bible
The next letter has no dot. Look instead at the article’s vowel: ָ, ַ or ֶ.
ha’arets — the earth
הָ (the article with long a) + אָרֶץ. א cannot be doubled, so it takes no dot, and the article’s vowel lengthens from ַ to ָ. Without the article the word is אֶרֶץ (’erets, 1:10); with it, the first vowel also becomes אָ.
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
ha‘ets — the tree
הָ + עֵץ (tree). ע is also a guttural, takes no dot, and the article becomes הָ.
YLVAnd God said, "Behold, I have given to you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.
haraqia‘ — the firmament
הָ + רָקִיעַ (firmament). ר is not a guttural, but like the gutturals it cannot be doubled, so it behaves like א and ע: הָ.
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.
haḥoshekh — the darkness
הַ + חֹשֶׁךְ (darkness). ח takes no dot either, but the article keeps its short ַ. ח and ה are treated as “virtually doubled”: doubled in principle, with no dot written.
YLVAnd God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided between the light and between the darkness.
haholekh — the one flowing
הַ + הֹלֵךְ (going, flowing — the participle of הָלַךְ). Before ה, as before ח, the article stays הַ with no dot.
YLVAnd the name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one going east of Asshur. And the fourth river, it is the Euphrates.
heharim — the mountains
הֶ (the article with e) + הָרִים (mountains). When the next letter is הָ (ה with qamets) in an unstressed syllable (the stress is on רִים), the article becomes הֶ.
YLVAnd the waters prevailed very, very much upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were under all the heavens were covered.
he‘arim — the cities
הֶ + עָרִים (cities). עָ is unstressed, so for the same reason as הֶהָרִים the article is הֶ.
YLVAnd he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the growth of the ground (adamah).
9With a preposition — the ה hides
When one of the prefixed prepositions בְּ (in) · כְּ (like) · לְ (to, for) comes before the article, the ה drops and the article’s vowel moves to the preposition: לְ + הָאוֹר → לָאוֹר.
So if one of these three has ַ ָ or ֶ instead of a sheva, an article is hidden in it. With ַ the dot in the next letter also stays (בַּיּוֹם).
The conjunction וְ (and) and the preposition מִן (from) do not swallow the article: וְהָאָרֶץ, מֵהָעוֹף — the ה stays.
10With prepositions and the conjunction — real examples from the Bible
la’or — to the light
לְ (to) + הָאוֹר (the light) → לָאוֹר. The ה drops out and the article’s vowel ָ moves to לְ. So when לְ has ָ instead of a sheva, an article is hidden in it.
YLVAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.
bayyom — in the day
בְּ (in) + הַיּוֹם (the day) → בַּיּוֹם. The ה is gone, but both signs of the article remain: the vowel ַ and the dot in the next letter י.
YLVand to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide between the light and between the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
ba’arets — in the earth
בְּ + הָאָרֶץ → בָּאָרֶץ. Before the guttural א the article had ָ, and that ָ moves to בְּ.
YLVAnd God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply in the earth."
beḥaravah — on the dry ground
בְּ + הֶחָרָבָה → בֶּחָרָבָה. Before חָ the article was הֶ, and its ֶ moves to בְּ.
YLVall in whose nostrils was the breath (neshamah) of the spirit (ruach) of life (chai), of all that was in the dry land, died.
veha’arets — and the earth
וְ (and) + הָ (the article) + אָרֶץ. The conjunction וְ does not swallow the article; the ה stays.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
meha‘of — of the birds
מֵ (from, a shortened מִן) + הָ (the article) + עוֹף (birds). מִן does not swallow the article either.
YLVOf the bird after its kind, and of the beast after its kind, of every creeping thing of the ground (adamah) after its kind, two of each shall come to you to keep alive.
11What the article does
(1) Something already mentioned or known — גַּן (a garden, 2:8) → הַגָּן (the garden, 2:9). אָדָם likewise continues from 2:7 as הָאָדָם (the man).
(2) Something unique — הַשָּׁמַיִם (the heavens), הָאָרֶץ (the earth).
(3) “Today, this time” — הַיּוֹם is “the day” and so “today” (4:14); הַפַּעַם (2:23) is “this time.”
(4) On adjectives, demonstratives and participles — words that describe a definite noun take the article too (הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל 1:16, הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא 2:12). On a participle it means “the one who/that …” (הַסֹּבֵב 2:11).
12Uses — real examples from the Bible
hayyom — this day, today
הַ + יּוֹם (day). “The day” here means “today” — the very day of speaking.
YLVBehold, you have driven me this day from upon the face of the ground (adamah), and from your face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a wanderer and a fugitive in the earth, and it shall come to pass that anyone finding me will kill me."
hahi — that (land)
הַ + הִוא (she). With the article, the pronoun becomes the demonstrative “that.” הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא “that land” — it takes the article just as its noun does.
YLVAnd the gold of that land is good; there is the bdellium and the onyx stone.
hassovev — the one that winds around
הַ + סֹּבֵב (winding around — participle of סָבַב). The article on a participle works like a relative clause: “the one that winds around the whole land of Havilah.”
YLVThe name of the first is Pishon; it is the one surrounding all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.
haggadol — the great
הַ + גָּדֹל (great). הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל “the great light” — when a noun has the article, the adjective that describes it takes the article too.
YLVAnd God made the two great lights — the great light for the rule of the day, and the small light for the rule of the night — and the stars.
13Definite without the article
Names of people and places — עֵדֶן (Eden), נֹחַ (Noah): a name is definite by itself and normally takes no article.
Nouns with a suffix — זַרְעוֹ (his seed, 1:11): “his …” is already definite, so no article is used.
The first noun of a construct chain — in חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ (the beast of the earth, 1:25) the first word חַיַּת never takes the article. If the last word הָאָרֶץ is definite, the whole chain is definite (see “Construct state”).
14Easy to confuse
The question הֲ — הֲ with a hateph patah (a very short “ha”) is not the article but the question mark “…?”: הֲמִן (3:11, “is it from …?”). The article is הַ (patah) + a dot.
בַּיּוֹם and בְּיוֹם — בַּיּוֹם (2:2, “on the day”) hides an article; בְּיוֹם (2:4, “in the day of …”) is a construct form with no article. One vowel under the preposition decides it.
ָה at the end — ָה at the end of a word is not the article (directional ה, feminine ending, and others). The article is always at the front.
The ה of the Hiphil and Niphal — הִ in front of a verb (Hiphil perfect, Niphal imperative) is not the article. The article goes only on nouns, adjectives and participles.
15Where this appears in Genesis 1–2
All 141 places, found from the OSHB morphology. Tap one to go to that word’s notes.