Grammar!

1#

MOSES AND CALEB, YOUR PREPESITIONAL PREFIX PALS

 THE BASICS:

מ- is for from.   אני + מ + שיקגו   = אני משיקגו =  I’m from Chicago.

שׁ- is for that or whom.      שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ-  that kept us alive

ה- is for the direct object. ה  + רַב =  הרַב- the rabbi.

ו - is for and.  

כּ/כ- is for like.

ל- is for to as in both relation (going to a place) or the infinitive form of a verb (to be, to do).

 ב/בּ- is for  in  or  at. בראשית

 

There are seven prepositional prefixes commonly used in Hebrew, remembered by the mnemonic for “Moses and Caleb” in Hebrew,  “מֹשֶׁה וכָּלֵב”. 

 

The Details ….

 

1) As a prepositional prefix, the letter  מ Mem will show up as  מְּ(with a shvah)  or מִ  ( which is short for the word  מין-  from) and sometimes, just sometimes as  with the tzeyrey [..] . When מ is not a prepositional-prefix but still a prefix?  When it is an indicator of present tense, as in medaber,     מדבר (speaking), or  mitkaleach  מתקלח(showering).

 

2) The ש Shin will almost always- a have a segol שֶׁ

 (shehhhhh).   Always.  Find an exception, and you win a gumball!  J

 

3) ה as a prefix will usually be הַ "Hah." It makes the definite article.   Exception to the rule: When the first letter of the word starts with “Hah”.  “Hah,” along with some other conditions (gutturals are part of it) will make the prefix Heh with a segol…so the word does not start with “Haha.” Example:  The mountains-“he’harim”- הֶהָרִים, in this verse from Psalms 121:

אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי, אֶל-הֶהָרִים-- מֵאַיִן, יָבֹא עֶזְרִי?. I lift my eyes to the mountains, from where does my strength come?

 

4)  ו -Vav will be either  Veh-xxxxxxxxx, Vah-xxxxxxxx, or when a word begins with a Vet (among other conditions),  Oooo-Vxxxxxx.   So... in the case of  "Moses and Caleb,"  It's Moshe Veh'Kalev.  But in the case of the salutation "Peace and Blessing," it's Shalom U'vracha.

 

5) כּ  ,  ל and בּ    with a shvah underneath are the standard:

כְּמשה - like Moses

לְמשה- to Moses ְ

בְּשיקגו-  in Chicago

 

But these three can be combined with Hey prefix for a double duty prefix. Or, to use a name to impress your friends, call it the prepositional definite article. (And yes,  hurt my head just typing that, you know. J )

 

כְּ is "as/like"  but there is also כָּ Kah --"like the."

לְ is "to",  but there is also לָ Lah -- "to the"

בְּ is "at"  but there is also בָּ Bah -- "in the."

 

6) Hey!  Wait!  Wikipeida says there are 11!  What about this “איתן” set?

Those are in fact prepositional prefixes, but only for verbs, and only for future tense at that. When you are ready to learn future tense verbs, you will discover how those four prefixes work.  But for now, you lose 5 points for looking at Wikipiedia and have to start reading from the start of the page.  Too bad, you were almost done… J

אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּשׁ, 2#

THOSE INSUFFERABLE SUFFIXES,

PART ONE
(mostly, this is stolen shamelessly from Wikipedia)

 

There are several sets of suffixes in Hebrew that are essential for decoding content.  We’re starting with the most foundational ones.

The Most Common: Nouns and Adjectives

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
none	masculine singular	סוּס (horse) טוֹב סוּס (good horse)
ָה      (Kamatz and He)	feminine singular	סוּסָה   (mare) סוּסָה טוֹבָה     (good mare)
ִים     (Chirik, Yud and Mem)	masculine plural	סוּסִים   (horses) סוּסִים טוֹבִים     (good horses)
וֹת (Cholam and Tav)	feminine plural	סוּסוֹת   (mares) סוּסוֹת טוֹבוֹת     (good mares)
ַיִם       (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Mem)	masculine and feminine noun dual form	יָדַיִם   (two hands)

NOTE: “Due to noun-adjective agreement rules, these apply to nouns and to adjectival modifiers. In some cases, a masculine plural noun will have a feminine plural suffix and vice versa, but the adjectival modifiers are always the same.”

Smichut (Construct State, a.k.a. Semi-Compound Words)

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ַת     (Patach and Tav)	Changes a singular feminine noun to the construct form  of	תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה     (Torah of Moses)
ֵי      (Tzere and Yud)	Changes a plural masculine noun to the construct form  of	סִפְרֵי קְדוּשָׁה     (Books of holiness)

 

And now for something completely different….

 

FROM Yael Breuer and Eyal Shavit’s  Hilarious Hebrew: The Fun and Fast Way to Learn the Language.   

Other puns include such gems as “Don’t stick a FORK in MA’S LEG” and “Its so very COLD in my CAR.”

https://www.hilarioushebrew.com/hh-cards 

Oh Joy!  It’s a chart of Pronominal Suffixes!

Singular nouns

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ִי   (Chirik and Yud)	First person, singular possessive. My	סוּסִי   (my horse) תּוֹרָתִי   (my law)
ְךָ   (Shva and Final Chaf with Kamatz)	Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your	סוּסְךָ   (your horse) תּוֹרָתְךָ   (your law)
ֵךְ   (Tzere and Final Chaf with Shva)	Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your	סוּסֵךְ   (your horse) תּוֹרָתֵךְ   (your law)
וֹ ( Cholam male)	Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His	סוּסוֹ   (his horse) תּוֹרָתוֹ   (his law)
ָהּ     (Kamatz and He with Mappiq)	Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her	סוּסָהּ   (her horse) תּוֹרָתָהּ   (her law)
ֵנוּ      (Tzere and Nun with Shuruk)	First person, plural possessive. Our	סוּסֵנוּ   (our horse) תּוֹרָתֵנוּ   (our law)
ְכֶם   ( Shva, Chaf with Segol and Final Mem)	Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your	סוּסְכֶם   (your horse) תּוֹרַתְכֶם   (your law)
ְכֶן   (Shva, Chaf with Segol and Final Nun)	Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your	סוּסְכֶן   (your horse) תּוֹרַתְכֶן   (your law)
ָם   (Kamatz and Final Mem)	Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their	סוּסָם   (their horse) תּוֹרָתָם   (their law)
ָן   (Kamatz and Final Nun)	Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their	סוּסָן   (their horse) תּוֹרָתָן   (their law)

 

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