Gender and number זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה zakhar uneqevah
Every Hebrew noun has a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular, plural or dual). Not only people but things — earth, water, light — are masculine or feminine. Gender and number usually show in the ending of the word, and the adjectives that describe a noun and the verbs it governs take the same gender and number. This page shows the four endings and their exceptions with words from Genesis 1–2.
“Male and female.” Hebrew grammar calls masculine and feminine זָכָר (zakhar) and נְקֵבָה (neqevah) — the very two words of Gen 1:27, “male and female he created them.” Singular is יָחִיד (yaḥid, “one”), plural רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”).
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 gender and number are
Gender is whether a noun is grammatically masculine or feminine. Every Hebrew noun is one or the other: יוֹם (yom, “day”) is masculine; הַיַּבָּשָׁה (hayyabbashah, “the dry land,” Gen 1:9) is feminine. For things, gender says nothing about the thing itself; it only tells which grammatical class the word belongs to.
Number is one or more. Besides singular and plural Hebrew has a dual (“two, a pair”), used mainly for things that come in pairs — eyes, hands, ears — and for expressions of time such as “two days,” “two years.”
Gender and number matter because of agreement: adjectives and verbs take the gender and number of the noun they refer to, so they show what describes what and who the subject is.
2Where the names come from — זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה
Hebrew grammar calls masculine זָכָר (zakhar, “male”) and feminine נְקֵבָה (neqevah, “female”) — the two words of Genesis 1:27, זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בָּרָא אֹתָם (male and female he created them).
Singular is יָחִיד (yaḥid, “one, alone”), plural רַבִּים (rabbim, “many”).
3At a glance — four endings tell you
- Masculine singular — no endingThe base form — יוֹם (yom “day,” Gen 1:5).
- Feminine singular — ָה or תEither ָה (ah) — נְקֵבָה (neqevah, 1:27) — or ת — הַדַּעַת (hadda‘at “the knowledge,” 2:9).
- Masculine plural — ִיםיַמִּים (yammim “seas,” 1:10).
- Feminine plural — וֹתבָנוֹת (vanot “daughters,” Gen 19:8).
- Dual — ַיִםַיִם (ayim) for both genders — אַפַּיִם (’appayim “two nostrils → face,” Gen 19:1).
4Paradigm — the model סוּס (horse)
The standard grammar model סוּס (sus, “horse,” masculine) and סוּסָה (susah, “mare,” feminine). The right-hand columns give the construct (“… of”), joined to the next word (see Construct state). Endings are orange.
| Absolute | Reading | Construct “… of” | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masc. singular | סוּס | sus | סוּס | sus |
| fem. singular | סוּסָה | susah | סוּסַת | susat |
| masc. plural | סוּסִים | susim | סוּסֵי | suse |
| fem. plural | סוּסוֹת | susot | סוּסוֹת | susot |
| dual (model יָד hand) | יָדַיִם | yadayim | יְדֵי | yede |
In the construct, feminine singular ָה becomes ַת (at); masculine plural ִים and dual ַיִם become ֵי (e). Feminine plural וֹת stays the same.
5Singular — real examples from the Bible
Look for the two feminine singular endings, ָה and ת.
yom — day (masculine singular)
The bare base form, masculine singular. It occurs in 1:5, וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם (God called the light day).
YLVAnd God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.
uneqevah — and female (feminine singular)
וּ (and) + נְקֵב (stem) + ָה (feminine ending). ָה is the most common feminine singular ending. The word before it, זָכָר (male), is a masculine singular with no ending.
YLVAnd God created the man (adam) in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
hayyabbashah — the dry land
הַ (the article) + יַּבָּשׁ (dry) + ָה (feminine ending). The feminine ending turns “dry” into a feminine noun, “dry thing → dry land.” So the verb in the same verse is feminine too: וְתֵרָאֶה (and let her appear).
YLVAnd God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
hadda‘at — the knowledge (feminine singular)
הַ (the article) + דַּעַ (from the root י-ד-ע “know”) + ת (feminine ending). ת is the second feminine singular ending. Used in עֵץ הַדַּעַת (the tree of knowledge).
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.
6Plural and dual — real examples from the Bible
Look for the endings ִים, וֹת, ַיִם.
yammim — seas (masculine plural)
יָם (sea) + ִים (masculine plural ending). With the ending the מ is doubled, written מּ with a dot, and the first vowel becomes ַ (a). Short words that double their last letter in the plural like this are learned one by one.
YLVAnd God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters he called Seas; and God saw that it was good.
hattanninim — the sea creatures
הַ (the article) + תַּנִּין (sea creature) + ִם (masculine plural). The plural ending ִים is written “defectively,” without its י: ִם. It is read the same, “im.”
YLVAnd God created the great sea-creatures (tannin), and every living soul (nephesh) that creeps, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
vanot — daughters (feminine plural)
The plural of בַּת (daughter). The feminine singular ת drops and the feminine plural ending וֹת (ot) is added. Feminine plurals usually drop ָה or ת and add וֹת this way.
YLVBehold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man (ish); let me bring them out to you, and do to them as is good in your eyes; only to these men (ish) do nothing, for therefore they have come under the shadow of my roof."
’appayim — face (the two nostrils)
אַף (nose, nostril) + ַיִם (dual ending). “The two nostrils” means “face,” as in “bowed with his face to the ground.” בְּאַפָּיו (into his nostrils) in Gen 2:7 is the same word in the dual (construct + “his”).
YLVAnd the two messengers came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom; and Lot saw, and rose up to meet them, and bowed himself, his face to the earth.
shenatayim — two years
שָׁנָה (year) with the dual ending ַיִם. A feminine noun turns ָה into ת before ַיִם (שְׁנָת + ַיִם). The dual alone says “two years,” so no separate numeral is needed.
YLVFor these two years the famine has been in the midst of the land, and there are yet five years in which there is neither plowing nor harvest.
7Why vowels change in the plural
An ending makes the word a syllable longer and moves the stress to the end, so a vowel now far from the stress reduces (see Syllables, stress and meteg).
- 1. Singularמָאוֹר (ma-’OR “light,” Gen 1:16 הַמָּאוֹר) — stress on the last syllable אוֹר, with a long vowel in מָ just before it.
- 2. The ending is addedThe plural ending וֹת takes the stress.
- 3. The early vowel reducesמָ is now two syllables before the stress and reduces to מְ → מְאֹרֹת (me-’o-ROT, 1:14).
- 4. Irregular wordsThe plural of יוֹם (day) is יָמִים (yamim — וּלְיָמִים 1:14), outside the rule. Such words are learned one by one.
8Agreement — adjectives and verbs follow gender and number
Compare the endings of the adjective that describes, or the verb that takes, the noun.
veha’arets — and the earth
אֶרֶץ (earth) has no feminine ending, yet it is a feminine noun. So the verb right after it is feminine: הָיְתָה (hayetah, “she was” — masculine would be הָיָה). Even without an ending, agreement shows the gender.
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.
ḥayyah — living
The adjective חַי (living) + ָה (feminine singular). The noun it describes, נֶפֶשׁ (living being), is feminine, so the adjective is too — נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (a living creature). A Hebrew adjective follows its noun and matches its gender and number.
YLVAnd God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms, a living soul (nephesh); and let birds fly above the earth upon the face of the firmament of the heavens."
haggedolim — the great (ones)
הַ (the article) + גְּדֹל (great) + ִים (masculine plural). In הַתַּנִּינִם הַגְּדֹלִים (the great sea creatures) the noun is definite, masculine and plural, so the adjective is too.
YLVAnd God created the great sea-creatures (tannin), and every living soul (nephesh) that creeps, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
veha‘of — and the birds
עוֹף (flying creatures) is singular in form but a collective noun for the whole group. It is translated “birds,” but grammatically singular, so its verb is singular too: יִרֶב (let it multiply).
YLVAnd God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply in the earth."
9When ending and gender disagree — check the agreement
Endings are a guide, not a rule. Some masculine nouns form their plural with וֹת, some feminine nouns with ִים; then the gender is known from agreement.
Masculine with וֹת — מָאוֹר (light) is masculine, yet its plural is מְאֹרֹת (1:14). In 1:16, הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים (the great lights), the masculine ִים on the adjective shows it is masculine. שֵׁמוֹת (names, 2:20) is likewise the plural of masculine שֵׁם.
Feminine with ִים — שָׁנָה (year) is feminine, yet its plural is וְשָׁנִים (and years, 1:14).
Feminine without an ending — some feminine nouns have no ending, like אֶרֶץ (earth) and נֶפֶשׁ (living being) above. Paired body parts (eye, hand, ear, foot) are also usually feminine without an ending.
10Easy to confuse
ַיִם is not always a dual. מַיִם (water) and שָׁמַיִם (heavens) look like duals but do not mean “two.” Grammars usually treat them as plurals, and the OSHB analyses them as plurals in Genesis 1–2.
אֱלֹהִים is plural in form with a singular verb. In 1:1, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֱלֹהִים has the masculine plural ending ִים, but the verb בָּרָא (he created) is third person masculine singular; the grammar treats the subject as one. With a plural verb (when other gods are meant) it is plural. The verb’s agreement tells which.
“b” in the word analysis. In this site’s word analysis (OSHB), a noun whose gender is marked b (both) is used in the Bible as both masculine and feminine (אֶרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ אוֹר …). Check the verbs and adjectives in that verse for its gender there.
ָה is not always the feminine ending. לַיְלָה (night) ends in ָה but is masculine, and the ָה is unstressed (LAY-lah). The directional ה (אָרְצָה “to the ground,” Gen 19:1) is not a feminine ending either.
11Where this appears in Genesis 1–2
All 96 places, found from the OSHB morphology. Tap one to go to that word’s notes.