What are their main differences? Why is it difficult for Russian speakers to learn Hebrew?
The first problem is Jewish alphabet. By design, he not similar to Latin and Cyrillic.
In Hebrew they write from right to left, in Russian they write from left to right.
The Russian alphabet has 33 letters, vowels and consonants. Hebrew has 22 letters, and only consonants. (Sometimes the letters SHIN and SIN are considered different letters, despite the same spelling - ש . And then the number of letters increases by one).
Some of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet have two pronunciations.
Table 1. One letter - two sounds in Hebrew
Some sounds can be transmitted by different letters.
2. Table 2. One sound - two letters in Hebrew
To designate vowels in Hebrew, a set of characters is used - vowels. Most Hebrew texts are written without vowels, and for correct reading You need some skill and knowledge of grammar.
Hebrew has no uppercase (capital) and lowercase letters, but some letters have a special form ( סופית soffit- "final"), when they are at the end of the word.
| כ (HAF) | ך (HAF SOFIT) |
| מ (MEM) | ם (MEM SOFIT) |
| נ (NUN) | I (NUN SOFIT) |
| פ (Drink) | ף (DRINK SOFIT) |
| צ (Tsadi) | ץ (TSADI SOFIT) |
3. Final letters in Hebrew
Grammar differences between Russian and Hebrew
Hebrew has definite article, in Russian it is not.
IN Hebrew there is a so-called סמיחות smihut("conjugated combination of nouns"). One of them serves as a definition of the other.
עיתון ערב eTon Erav(NEWSPAPER + EVENING) - "Evening newspaper"
שיורי בית ShiurAy Byte(LESSONS + HOME) - "Homework"
בית אבן Bate Evan(HOUSE + STONE) - "Stone House"
In Russian, a noun and an adjective are used for this purpose.
Sometimes the meaning of smihut is not reduced to the sum of the meanings of nouns.
בעל עגלה baAl agalA(OWNER + CART) - not just "The owner of the cart", but the "Cab"
בית ספר bate sEfer(HOUSE + BOOK) - not the “House of the Book”, but the “School”.
Even if it's a dance or driving school.
IN Hebrew no neuter, but masculine and feminine are both in the singular and in plural . A group of objects can be either masculine or feminine.
Verbs, adjectives and pronouns belonging to these groups will also differ in gender. If we are talking about a group of women, the feminine is used, if men are used, the masculine. If the group is mixed, then also male.
In Hebrew: מורים טובים morim tovim (MM) – מורות תובות Morot toVot (LJ)
In Russian: "Good teachers are good teachers."
In the Russian language, there are three genders in the singular: masculine, feminine, neuter, and in the plural there is no gender at all.
Some Russian masculine words in Hebrew are feminine and vice versa.
large restaurant (M) - מיסרה גרולה misada gdola(AND)
small fork (W) - מזלג קטן mazleg katan(M)
A small group of Russian words singular in Hebrew it is used only in the plural.
hot WATER (W) - מימ חמים maim hami Mmm)
easy LIFE (F), UN) – חיי ם קלים haim kalim(MM)
IN Hebrew has singular, plural and dual. Dual number ending ("- AIM”) have some units of time with the value “two”, objects with paired parts and paired body parts. In the masculine plural, the ending "- THEM", female - " - FROM»
חודשיים ,יומיים hodshAim, yomAim- "two months", "two weeks"
מכנסיים, אופניים mihnasAim, ofanAim- "trousers", "bike"
ידיים, אוזניים yadAim, know- "hands", "ears"
In modern Russian there is only singular and plural.
Time in Hebrew and Russian is the same: past, future, present, but the category of aspect (perfect - imperfect) is absent in Hebrew.
In the phrases "noun + adjective" in Hebrew, the word being defined comes first, then the definition
ספר גדול sefer gadol- big book
איש טוב Ish tov- "a good person"
ילד קטן Eled katan- "small child"
In Russian, the word order is reversed: first the definition, then the word being defined.
For example, “big book”, “little child, good person”.
In Hebrew, unlike Russian, many prepositions and conjunctions are written together (adjacent to the next word).
בבית ספר baby sefer - "at school"
איש ואישה ish veisha- "Man and woman"
In Russian, only the numerals "one" and "two" have a gender.
two(M) a chair, but two(W) beds
The rest of the numerals have no gender.
five chairs and five beds.
IN Hebrew all numerals have a gender, which depends on the gender of the noun.
חמש מיטות hamesh mito t (five beds), but חמישה כיסאות HamishA Kis'aFrom(five chairs).
In Hebrew there are so-called pronominal suffixes, meaning belonging.
סיפרי sifri - "my book"
סיפרו cifrO - "his book"
סיפרך sifreKh - "your book" (F)
In Russian, this requires two words.
What are the similarities between Hebrew and Russian?
Neither language has a strict word order in a sentence.(except for nouns and adjectives in Hebrew).
Affirmative and interrogative sentences are constructed in the same way, the word order is the same.
“יש לו ספר” Esh lo sEfer– "He has a book"
“יש לו ספר?” Esh lo sEfer? – "Does he have a book?"
This question or statement in speech is understandable only by intonation.
In English, to construct an interrogative or affirmative sentence need to change the word order. Neither Russian nor Hebrew have this.
Unlike many European languages, both in Russian and in Hebrew there is a construction "I have ..." – « לי.. יש (whether…).
In other languages, the same meaning is conveyed by the construction "I have" - “I have…”(in English), “Ich habe…”(in German).
Both in Russian and in Hebrew there is a double negation.
…אף אחד לו רוצה (Af ehAd lo rotse…)- "Nobody wants…".
In English - nobody wants... (literally - "No one wants ...")
In the grammar of modern Hebrew, the influence of Slavic languages is felt.
Perhaps the reason is that at the end of the XIX century. a wave of repatriation of Jews from Eastern Europe to Palestine began, and “the father of modern Hebrew, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was born and raised on the territory of the Russian Empire.
In general, for those who speak Russian, learning Hebrew is not difficult. You just need to understand its structure, the basics of grammar and learn it correctly.
Hebrew letters, including soffits, in alphabetical order
Hebrew is the official language of Israel and is fluent most of population of that country, including many Israeli Arabs and Druze. Modern Hebrew was revived at the end of the 19th century. and quite different from the language of the Old Testament. Together with Arabic and Amharic, Hebrew is part of the Semitic group. Knowledge of Arabic will help in learning Hebrew, but Arabs and Jews are prevented from understanding each other by a significant difference in the pronunciation of sounds and different systems writing.
In Hebrew, there is a significant difference between the official and spoken languages, which manifests itself even in the simplest sentences. Many textbooks and manuals set out the academic norm of the language, and the words from this phrasebook are more simple, street.
Alphabet
Hebrew uses its own alphabet, which, apart from it, is used only in other Jewish languages. There are 22 letters in total (or 23 if divided tire/syn), are read from right to left and from top to bottom. There are no capital letters. Pages in Hebrew books should be turned to reverse side. Each letter has its own name. In the list, letters are listed in dictionary order.
א (aleph) is not read ב (bet) like Russian B or INג (gimel) as Russian Gד (dalet) as Russian Dה (hey) like English h, at the end of the word is not read ו (vav) like Russian IN, ABOUT or Atז (zaʹin) as Russian Wח (khet) like Russian Xט (tet) as Russian Tי (yud) like Russians Y, AND or Eכ (kaf) like Russians TO or Xל (lamed) as Russian Lמ (meme) like a Russian Mנ (nun) like Russian Hס (samekh) as Russian WITHע (aʹin) is not read פ (drink) like Russian P or Fצ (tsadi) as Russian Cק (kuf) like Russian TOר (resh) as "burr" Rש (shin/sin) as Russian W or WITHת (tav) as Russian T
Soffits
The letters kaf, mem, nun, drink, tsadi also have end variants - the so-called spotlights. They are used if the given letter is the last letter in the word. Soffits look like this:
כ = ך ,מ = ם ,נ = ן ,פ = ף ,צ = ץ
Soffits are a must. There is only one case when an ordinary letter is written at the end instead of a soffit - when the letter פ at the end of a borrowed word is read as P(in Hebrew words this is impossible).
Reading Rules
Hebrew phonetics almost coincides with Russian, with the exception of "burr" R and the letters ה, but reading Hebrew words is a big problem.
The first difficulty arises from the fact that the letters א and ע are not readable. The appearance of one of these letters at the beginning of a word means that the word begins with a vowel (it is not known which one), and in the middle of a word, these letters usually signal that there is a combination of two vowels. Arabic connoisseurs should note that the Hebrew aleph is not identical to the Arabic alif, but to the Arabic letter "hamza".
The second difficulty is consonants with two reading options. There are four of them - ב, כ, פ and ש. The first three letters have two reading options - solid ( B, K, P) and soft ( V, X, F). Always used at the beginning of a word hard version, at the end - soft. In the middle, both options can be used. The Israelis themselves sometimes confuse these two options and will understand you without any problems if you confuse them. With the letter ש, the situation is different, since these are actually two different letters - shin and sin, which are written the same way in modern Hebrew. Formally, the letter "shin" is written with a dot in the upper right corner, and "sin" - in the upper left, but usually do not put dots, and the letters merge. No rules to help define what's in front of us - W or WITH- does not exist, the words just need to be memorized, and here the Israelis forgive confusion much less often.
The third difficulty is the letters that are read the same way, but are written differently. sound IN correspond to the letters ב and ו, the sound TO- letters כ and ק, sound X- letters כ and ח, sound T- letters ט and ת, sound WITH- letters ס and ש. If you are not going to write in Hebrew, then this difficulty is not so terrible.
The fourth difficulty is vowels, which in most cases are not written at all. Regarding vowels, there are following rules. Vowel At always written with a ו. Vowel ABOUT in most cases also written with the letter ו. Vowel AND usually not written when in the first syllable, otherwise written with a י. Vowel E usually not written, in rare cases marked with the letter י. Vowel A usually not written unless the word ends with it.
The letter ה at the end of a word is not readable, but indicates that the word ends in a vowel. In 99% of cases, this is the vowel A or E, and A is much more common. If the letter ע or ח is at the end of the word, then the last vowel in the word will be A, in the case of the final ח the word ends in -Oh.
In some cases, vowels can be written through the so-called vowels - dots and dashes that stand above or below the previous consonant. The vowel system is very complex and not commonly used, so we do not describe it here. The Israelis themselves understand which vowel to pronounce, based on the context and general feeling language, but a foreigner will not be able to read the Hebrew text correctly without knowing the language itself, but he will understand the approximate reading, on the basis of which he will be able to “think” the word if he has met it before.
In addition, the letters י, ו and ה can also represent consonants. These are the rules here. The letter י at the beginning of a word is always read as Y, in other positions can denote Y or AND. If there is a sound in the middle of a word Y, then this is usually indicated by the combination יי. The letter ו at the beginning of a word is always read as IN, in other positions - usually as ABOUT or At. If in the middle of a word ו means IN, then the combination וו indicates this. The letter ה is very difficult. At the end of a word, as already mentioned, it is read as a vowel. In all other positions, theoretically, the letter should be read as English h, but in practice it is often read as a barely noticeable aspiration or not read at all, similar to the letters א and ע.
In borrowed words, sounds missing in Hebrew are marked with an apostrophe: "צ is H, "ג is J, "ז is AND.
Hebrew punctuation marks are European, with the exception of the apostrophe, which is written with a slope to distinguish it from the letter י. The double apostrophe sign means that we have an abbreviation; it is always placed before the last letter of the abbreviation. Abbreviations are read like ordinary words, all vowels are A. For example, צה""ל is the IDF, the Israeli army. Also, this sign is used when writing numbers in Hebrew numerals.
Grammar categories
There are no cases in Hebrew, nouns are not declined.
Rhoda
Every Hebrew noun is masculine or feminine. words generic, as in Russian, it is not in Hebrew, that is, it is impossible, for example, to say about a woman “writer” - only “writer”. Usually feminine words end in -A(ה-) or on -T(ת-). Words with other endings are usually masculine. All names of cities and countries, regardless of the ending, are feminine.
Numbers
The plural is formed by adding suffixes: -THEM(ים-) for masculine words, -FROM(ות-) for feminine words. There are a lot of exceptions when words in the plural either take the endings of an “alien” gender, or change their stem. For example word gadol(large) plural sounds godolim.
Pledges
in Hebrew very a complex system pledges, or so-called binyans. Each verbal root has seven voices that convey different shades meaning. As a rule, the verb should simply be memorized along with the voice in which it is located.
Tenses and conjugations
There are three tenses - past, present and future. In the present tense, verbs change by gender and number, but do not conjugate by person. In the past and future, verbs change according to persons and numbers, and in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular - also according to gender. Verb conjugations are very complex, as the table is different for each of the seven binyans.
Articles
Hebrew has a definite article ha(ה). It is always written together with the word before which it stands. The article does not change by gender and number.
Pairing
If two nouns are combined with each other, the first of them is put in the so-called conjugate form or smikhut. In the feminine singular, words ending in -A(ה-) change the ending to -AT(ת-). In the masculine plural, words ending in -THEM(ים-) change the ending to -HEY(י-). In other forms, words usually do not change, but there are exceptions. The second word smihuta does not change. The article in smihut always comes before the second word. The gender and number of the smihut is determined by the gender and number of its first word.
Building a sentence
The word order in the Hebrew sentence is partially free. Usually it is close to Russian, but there is one important difference: adjectives always come after nouns. For example, kelev gadol- Big dog. IN interrogative sentences the word order is the same as in narrative, the question is conveyed by intonation.
Polite and basic words
Hello! שלום - shalom Good morningבוקר טוב - boker tov Good evening ערב טוב - erev tov How are you? מה נשמע - ma nishma How are you? מה שלומך - ma shlomha (to a woman - ma shlomeh) Everything is in order shalom My name is… קוראים לי - Korim Li Yes כן - Ken No לא - Lo Okay בסדר - Beseder Thank you תודה - Toda Thank you very much תודה רבה - Toda Raba Please בבקשה - Bewakasha Sorry סלי חה - sliha May I? … אפשר - efsharPersonal pronouns
There are no polite forms of address in Hebrew, to strangers turn to "you".
I am אני - ani You are אתה - ata (appeal to a man); את - at (appeal to a woman) He הוא - hu She היא - hi We אנחנו - anahnu You אתם - atem; if there are only women in the group, then אתן - aten Oni הם - hem; if there are only women in the group, then הן - hen
Possessive pronouns
Formed by conjugating a preposition shell. They are always placed after the noun they refer to, while the article is placed before the noun: “my passport” = הדרכון שלי (ha-darkon sheli). They do not change by gender and number.
My שלי - sheli Your שלך - is read shekel if the item belongs to a man, shellah- if to His woman ("he's") שלו - it was her ("her") שלה - our shela שלנו - your shelanu שלכם - their shelachem ("theirs") שלהם - shelahem
Other pronouns
pointing
Here פה - according to There שם - sham This זה - ze, f.r. - זאת - thotInterrogative and relative
Interrogative and relative pronouns sound the same as in Russian.
What מה - ma Who מי - mi Where איפה - eyfo Where לאן - lean Where מאיפה - me-eyfo When מתי - matai How much כמה - kama How איך - eykh Why למה - lama
Negative and indefinite
Indefinite pronouns (someone, something, etc.) are formed from relative pronouns and particles -shehu (-שהו): mishehu, mashehu etc.
Nobody אף אחד - af echad Nothing כלום - klum, also שום דבר - davar noise Nowhere שום מקום - poppy noise Never אף פעם - af paam All כל - kol Everything הכל - ha-kol
Numerals
Hebrew has a very complex number system. All numbers from 1 to 19 change by gender depending on the gender of the noun, ordinal numbers are formed incorrectly and also change by gender. In addition, there are swaggering forms of numerals, which are also formed incorrectly.
The Israelis themselves often say numbers incorrectly - they omit the plural of the noun, and the numeral is always pronounced in the feminine. So, ten shekels according to the rules will be asara shkalim, and in conversation - eser shekel. The exception is the unit, which is usually spoken in the masculine form.
In addition to ordinary numbers, there are special Jewish numbers that are outwardly indistinguishable from letters. They are rarely used - mainly to indicate the months and years of the Jewish calendar.
0 אפס - hilt 1 אחד - echad 2 שתיים - shtaim 3 שלוש - shalosh 4 ארבע - arba 5 חמש - hamesh 6 שש - shesh 7 שבע - sheva 8 שמ ונה - shmone 9 תשה - teisha 10 עשר - eser 11 אחת עשרה - ahat- esre 12 שתים עשרה - shteim-esre 13 שלוש עשרה - shlosh-esre 14 ארבע עשרה - arba-esre 15 חמש עשרה - hamesh-esre 16 שש עשרה - shesh-esre 17 שבע עשרה - shva-esre 18 שמנה עשרה - shmona-esre 19 תשה עשרה - tsha-esre 20 עשרים - esrim 21 עשרים ואחד - esrim ve-ehad 30 שלושים - shloshim 40 ארבעים - arbaim 50 חמשים - Hamishim 60 ששים - Shishim 70 שבעים - Shivim 80 שמונים - Shmonim 90 תשעים - Tishim 100 מאה - mea 200 מתיים - mataim 300 שלוש מאות - shlosh-meot 1000 אלף - eleph Percentage אחוז - akhuz Half חצי - khetsi Number מספר - mispar
Basic adjectives and adverbs
All adjectives are given in two forms: masculine and feminine singular. Adverbs usually coincide with masculine adjectives.
Good טוב - tov / טובה - tova Bad לא טוב - lo tov / לא טובה - lo tova New חדש - hadash / חדשה - hadasha Old ישן - yashan / ישנה - yeshana (only about things) Hot חם - boor / חמה - boor Cold קר - kar / קרה - kara Large גדול - gadol / גדולה - gdola Small קטן - katana / קטנה - ktana Complex, heavy קשה - porridge / קשה - porridge Light קל - kahl / קלה - kala Much הרבה - harbe Little קצת - ktsat Very מאוד - method More יותר - öter Less פחות - ploughing Usually בדרך כלל - be-derech klal Rarely, sometimes לפעמים - lifamim Quickly מהר - maher Slowly לאט - leat
Comparative degrees are formed by placing the words before the adjective ether or plowing.
Verbs
Verbs "to be" and "to have"
The infinitive of the Hebrew verb "to be" is להיות (lihyot). This verb has no present tense, so sentences like "I'm a tourist" (אני תייר, ani tayar) are pronounced without a verb, just like in Russian. In the past tense, the most useful forms are as follows.
I was הייתי - haiti He was הייה - haya She was הייתה - haita They were הייו - hayu
There is no Hebrew verb "to have". Instead, two particles are used: the positive יש (esh) and the negative אין (ein). These particles are placed at the beginning of the sentence, do not change by gender, person and number, are usually used with the preposition le and its forms.
I don't have time אין לי זמן - ein li zman
Basic verbs
All verbs are given in two forms: masculine and feminine singular present tense. In the present tense, the verbs do not change by person, so “I am going” and “he is going” will be the same in Hebrew.
To do עושה - wasp / עושה - wasp To want רוצה - roce / רוצה - roca Be able יכול - yahol / יכולה - echola To be due צריך - king / צריכה - tsrikha To love אוהב - ohev / אוהבת - ohevet Go הולך - holech / הולכת - holehet Go נוסע - nosea / נוסעת - nosat Take לוקח - lokeah / לוקחת - lokahat Give נותן - noten / נותנת - notenet There is אוכל - ohel / אוכל ת - ohhelet Sleep ישן - yashan / ישנה - yeshana Speak מדבר - medaber / מדברת - medaberet Understand מבין - mevin / מבינה - mevina Work עובד - oved / עובדת - ovedet See רואה - rohe / רואה - roa Watch מסתקל - mistakel / מסתקל - mistakelet Hear שמע - shomea / שמעת - shomat Know יודע - yodea / יודעת - ёdaat Read קורא - kore / קוראת - koret Search מחפש - mechapes / מחפשת - mechapeset Find מוצא - motse / מוצאת - mozet
Service words
Prepositions
There are not so many prepositions in Hebrew, but they all conjugate by faces. This means that if a preposition is used with a personal pronoun, then it takes on a different form. For example ל + אתה will be לך (leha, yours). Preposition conjugations shell identical to possessive pronouns. Another popular suggestion le is conjugated similarly, but without the initial she. One-letter prepositions be, le, mi written together with the next word. If the word following such a preposition is used with an article, then the article is not written, and the prepositions are read with an A at the end: “ba”, “la”.
The genitive preposition של is shel. Also, the “smikhut” construction is often used to convey the genitive case. The dative preposition ל - le. It also indicates the direction, answers the questions “where”, “to whom”, “from whom”. The instrumental preposition ב - be. It also indicates the location, answers the questions “where”, “in what”, “how”. Pretext accusativeאת - fl. Sometimes it goes down. From, from מ - mi. Sometimes read "me". With, together with עם - im Without בלי - bli During במשך - bemeshekh Due to בגלל - biglal
Unions
Unions she And ve, like prepositions, are written together with the next word, but do not conjugate and do not affect the article.
And ו - ve Or או - about But אבל - aval What ש - she Because כי - ki If ... then אם עז - im ... az
negatives
Verbs are preceded by the negation לא (lo). Nouns are preceded by the negation אין (ein).
Words by topic
Languages
Foreign languageשפה - safa (female) Word מילה - mila (female) Hebrew עברית - Hebrew (female) Russian רוסית - Russian (female) English אנגלית - English (female) Dictionary מילון - milon (m) Translation ת רגום- targum (m.) I speak a little bit of Hebrew אני מדבר (מדברת) קצת עברית - ani medaber (-et) kzat HebrewTime
Time זמן - zman (m.) Raz פעם - paam (f.), pl. h. - peamim Year שנה - shana (f.), pl. h. - shanim Month חודש - khodesh (m.), pl. h. - Hodashim Week שבוע - shavʹa (m.), pl. hours - Shavuot Day יום - yom (m.), pl. h. - yamim Night לילה - layla (m.) Morning בוקר - boker (m.) Minute דקה - daka (female) Moment רגע - rega (m.) Now עכשיו - akhshav Earlier לפני - lifney Later אחרי - ahari Yesterday אתמול - etmol Today היום - ha-em Tomorrow מחר - ma har Last year בשנה שעברה - be- Shana She-Avra Next year בשנה הבאה - Be-Shana Ha-Baa What time is it? מה השעה - ma ha-shaaMonths
Jewish lunar months are used only for religious purposes, usually Jews use the standard months. All month names are masculine.
January ינואר - January February פברואר - February March מרץ - Merz April אפריל - April May מאי - May June יוני - June July יולי - Jul August או גוסט - August September ספטמבר - September October אוקטובר - October November נובמבר - November December דצמבר - December
Days of the week
Hebrew often uses abbreviations for the days of the week, they are indicated in brackets. All of them, except Saturday, are formed from the word eat(day) and the ordinal number from 1 to 6, are masculine.
Sunday ים ראשון - yom-rishon (א׳) Monday ים שני - yom-sheni (ב׳) Tuesday ים שלישי - yom-shlish (ג׳) Wednesday ים רביעי - yom-reviy (ד׳) ) Thursday ים חמישי - eat- hamishi (ה׳) Friday ים ששי - yom-shishi (ו׳) Saturday שבת - Shabbat (female) (ש׳)
Money
Money כסף - kesef (m.) Shekel שקל - shekel (m., pl. shkalim), also ש׳׳ח - shah Cash מזומן - mezuman (m.) Bank בנק - bank (m.) bank cardכרטיס אשראי - kartis-ashrai (m.) ATM כספומט - kaspomat (m.) I have no money אין לי כסף - ein li kesef How much does it cost? כמה זה עולה - kama ze ole Expensive יקר - yakar Cheap זול - sol Free חנם - chinam Account חשבון - heshbon (m.) Receipt קבלה - bondage (female)Direction
Left שמולה - resin Right ימינה - yamina Straight ישר - yashar Up למעלה - le-mala Down למטה - le-mata tzomet (female) City center מרכז העיר - merkaz ha-ir ( m.) Map מפה - mapa (l.) Street רחוב - rehov (m.) Avenue שדרות - sderot (l.) Road דרך - derekh (m.) Highway, highway כביש - kvish (m.) North צפון - tzafon ( m.) South דרום - for nothing (m.) West מערב - maarav (m.) East מזרח - mizrah (m.) Far רחוק - rahok Close קרוב - carovTransport
Trilingual road sign
Driver נהג - nahag (m.) Car מכונית - mehonite (l.) Bus אוטובוס - bus (m.) Taxi מונית - monit (l.) Minibus מונית שירות - monit-sherut (l.) Train רכבת - rakevet (zh. ) Plane מטוס - matos (m.) Bicycle אופניים - ofanaim (m., pl.) On foot ברגל - ba-regel Hitchhiking טרמפ - tremp (m.) Bus station תחנה מרכזית - takhana-mercazit (f.) Bus stop תחנת אוטובוס - takhanat-otobus Railway station תחנת רכבת - takhanat-rakevet (g.) Airport נמל תעופה - nemal-teufa (m.) Ticket כרטיס - kartis (m.) Ticket office קופה - kupa (female) Stay here תעצור פה - taatsor by
Cities and countries
All the names of cities and countries in Hebrew, as well as the words "city" and "country" themselves, are feminine. Only those names of cities and countries are given, the reading of which differs in Russian and Hebrew.
City עיר - ir Jerusalem ירושלים - yerushalaim Haifa חיפה - kheifa Nazareth נצרת - Nazareth Bethlehem בית לחם - beit-lehem Dead Sea ים המלח - yam ha- melah Golan Heights רמת הגולן - ramat ha-golan Country מדינה - medina Israel מדינת ישראל - medinat - Israel, also ארץ ישראל - Eretz-Israel Israeli ישראלי - Israeli Jew יהודי - Yehudi Palestine פלסטין - Falastin West Bank יהודה ושומר ון - Yehuda Veshomron Gaza עזה - Aza Egypt מצריים - Mizraim Syria סורייה - Suriya Lebanon לבנון - Levanon Jordan ירדן - Yarden Arab ערבי - Aravi Russia רוסייה - Russia
Accommodation
Hotel בית מלון - beit malon (m.) Hostel אכסנייה - ahsania (l.) Room חדר - heder (m.)Food
Restaurant מסעדה - misada (female) Kosher כשר - kosher Meat בשר - basar (m.) Milk חלב - halav (m.) Parve פרווה - parve (m.) Beef בקר - bakar (m.) Chicken אוף - of (m .) Fish דג - dag (m.) Falafel פלאפל - falafel (m.) Shawarma שווארמה - shavarma (f.) Cheese גבינה - gwina (f.) Brynza בולגרית - bulgarit (f.) Egg ב יצה - Beyza (female) Bread לחם - lehem (m.) Potato תפוח אדמה - tapuah-adama (m.) Rice אורז - cut (m.) Noodles נודלס - nudels (m.) Glass קוס - kos (m.) Water מים - maʻim ( m. , pl.) Coffee קפה - cafe (m.) Tea תה - those (m.) Juice מיץ - mitz (m.) Wine יין - yayin (m.) Beer בירה - bira (f.) Salt מלח - melah (m.) Fruits פירות - perot (m., pl.) Vegetables ירקות - erakot (m., pl.) Mushrooms פטריות - pitriyot (f., pl.)Purchases
Supermarket סופרמרקט - supermarket (m.), sometimes - super Shopping mallקניון - canyon (m.) Shop חנות - khanut (f.) Bazaar שוק - shuk (m.)signboards
Open פתוח - Patuah Closed סגור - Sagur Entrance כניסה - Knissa Exit יציאה - Ezia Toilet שירותים - Sherutim Male גברים - Gwarim Female נשים - Our Forbidden אסור - asur No smoking אסור לעשן - asur leashenSecurity and issues
Help עזרה - ezra (female) Police משטרה - mishtara (female) Crime פשע - foot (m.) Criminal פושע - poshea (m.), also גנב - ganav (m.) Terrorist טרוריסט - terrorist ( m.) Accident תאונה - teuna (female) Theft גניבה - rot (m.) Corpse גופה - gufa (female) Passport דרכון - darkon (m.) Visa ויזה - visa (female) Embassy שגרירות - shagrirut (female) .) Doctor רופא - Rofe (M.) Hospital בית חולים - Beit Holim (M.) Ambulanceמגן דוד אדום - magen david adom (m.) sick חולה - chole (zh.r. - hola) fire אש - esh (m.) May I call you? אפשר להתקשר ממך - efshar lehitkasher mimcha (for a woman - mimeh)Local realities
Orthodox Jew דתי - dati, also מהדרין - mehadrin (m.) Synagogue בית כנסת - beit knesset (m.) Holiday חג - chag (m.) Congratulations on the holiday חג שמח - chag sameʹach Repatriation ע לייה - aliyah (female) Repatriate עולה - ole (plural - olim) Jewish settlement in the West Bank התישבות - hityashvut (female)There are 3 genders in Russian in the singular (masculine, feminine and neuter). And there is no gender in the plural.
Hebrew is completely different!
Hebrew has a masculine and feminine gender in both the singular and the plural. In the plural, the feminine form is used in the case of a "purely female company." But in a mixed group, the plural is always masculine.
Signs of the masculine gender, singular
The masculine singular in Hebrew usually has no special ending.
* food, book, window and a number of other masculine Hebrew nouns!
Signs of the masculine gender, pl.
In the masculine plural, the ending ים - "IM" is added to the words
Signs of the feminine gender, units. h.
Feminine singular can end in t - ת or a - ה
Signs of the feminine, pl. h.
In the plural, the feminine gender has the ending "OT" - ות
But there are no rules without exceptions.
Exceptions
חלון - halon - window, this is a masculine word. But in the plural it takes the "feminine" ending "OT" ות
חלונות - halonOt - windows m.r. !!!
שנה - shana - year, feminine. In the plural, the "male" ending "IM" ים is added
שנים - shanIm - years of zh.r. !!!
How to find out? Check in a dictionary. There is no other way.
Dual
In Hebrew there are nouns in the "dual" number. They represent paired items. By default, they are referred to as h.w.
By ear, the words of the dual number have the ending "AIM", which in writing looks like ים
Example:
מכנסיים - mihnasAim - pants
אוזניים - know - ears
ידיים - yadAim - hands
משקפיים - mishkafAim - glasses
שנתיים - shnatAim - two years
Agreement of gender and number of nouns and adjectives
Everything is simple here. The gender and number of the noun must match the gender and number of the adjective.
What to do with exceptions?
We do not pay attention to the "wrong" ending and agree on the gender.
חלון גדול - halOn gaDol - big window
חלונות גדולים - halonFrom whereIm - big windows
שנה טובה - SHANA TOVA - good year
שנים טובות - shanIm tovOt - good years
Words - exceptions are best learned in phrases with an adjective. The gender of an adjective is always correct.
In our lesson today, we will be going through a very important topic - the gender and number of Hebrew words. If you learn and remember this lesson well, you will be able to avoid many grammatical errors in the future.
First, let's look at some of the features:
- In Hebrew, there are only two genders - masculine and feminine, the middle gender simply does not exist.
- Unlike Russian, in Hebrew the same adjective or, even in the plural, can take both feminine and masculine.
- The difficulty of the language lies in the fact that many masculine words in Russian are feminine in Hebrew and vice versa. And since in Hebrew a lot depends on the kind of word used, many make grammatical errors.
Genus in Hebrew
As a rule, the gender of a noun is clearly determined by its form, namely, by the ending of a given word.
If the word ends in "a" stressed or has one of the endings built on the basis of the letter ת, it is feminine.
Here are the endings:
In all other cases, this word belongs to the masculine gender.
What are these other cases? This ending in any consonant, except ת, and also sometimes in ת, if it is part of the root, which, however, is quite rare. And from vowels it can be "e" ("and" - for adjectives) and very rarely "y" or "o".
So, according to the above rule, the words: אָרוֹן (“aron” - wardrobe), חֶדֶר (“kheder” - room), כִּסֵּא (“kise” - chair), גַּן (“gan” - garden), אַרְיֶה (“arie” - lion), מוֹרֶה (“more” - teacher), שֻׁלְחָן (“shulkhan” - table) - masculine.
Adjectives ending in "and": בֵּיתִ י ("beyti" - home), שֻׁלְחָנִ י ("shulkhani" - table), עִירוֹנִי ("ironi" - urban) - also masculine.
And the words: מִשְׁפָּחָ ה (“mishpacha” — family), מְדִינָ ה ("medina" - state), יָפָ ה ("yafa" - beautiful), מִרְפֶּסֶ ת (“Mirpeset” — balcony), מְחַבֶּרֶ ת (“makhberet” - notebook), סַבְלָנ וּת ("savlyanut" - patience), שֻׁלְחָנִ ית ("shulkhanit" - dining room) - feminine.
feminine exceptions
However, there are a number of exceptions to this rule. There are not too many of them, and nevertheless it is worth paying attention to them so as not to make annoying mistakes when talking. We list nouns (almost all of them are quite common), which, judging by the form, should have belonged to the masculine gender, because end in a consonant or "e", however, they are feminine, which is revealed when they agree with adjectives. They are given below in singular and plural form:
| Unit h in Hebrew | Singular pronunciation | Mn. h in Hebrew | Pronunciation pl. h. | Translation |
| פַּעַם | pam | פְּעָמִים | Paamim | Once |
| גָּדֵר | Gader | גְּדְרוֹת | Gderot | Fence |
| דֶּרֶךְ | Derekh | דְּרָכִים | Drahim | Road |
| צְפַרְדֵּעַ | Tzfardea | צְפַרְדֵּעִים | Tzfardeim | Frog |
| צִפּוֹר | Tzippor | צִפּוֹרִים | Tziporim | birdie |
| נֹפֶשׁ | Nefesh | נַפְשׁוֹת | Nafshot | Soul |
| אֵשׁ | Ash | אִשִּׁים | Ishim | Fire |
| בְּאֵר | Baer | בְּאֲרוֹת | Berot | Well |
| כִּכָּר | Kikar | כִּכָּרוֹת | Kikarot | Square |
| דְּיוֹ | Dio | דְּיוֹאוֹת | Diaot | Ink |
| עֶצֶם | Etzem | עֲצָמוֹת | Atsamot | Bone |
| שֶׁמֶשׁ | Shemesh | שְׁמָשוֹׁת | Shmashot | Sun |
| קַרְקַע | Karka | קַרְקָעוֹת | Karkaot | Soil / ground |
| אֶצְבַּע | Etzba | אֶצְבָּעוֹת | Etzbaot | Finger |
| כַּף | cafe | כָּפוֹת | Hood | palm/spoon |
| אֶרֶץ | Erets | אַרְצוֹת | Artsot | A country |
| אֶבֶן | Evan | אֳבָנִים | Avanim | Stone |
| חֶרֶב | Harev | חַרְבּוֹת | Harbot | Sword |
| רוּחַ | Ruach | רוּחוֹת | Ruhot | wind/spirit |
| עִיר | Ir | עִירִים | Irim | City |
| לָשׁוֹן | Lachon | לְשׁוֹנוֹת | Lashanot | Language |
| כּוֹס | Kos | כּוֹסוֹת | Kosot | Glass / glass |
| עֵז | Eze | עִזִּים | Izim | Goat |
| בֶּטֶן | Batten | בְּטָנִים | Batanim | Stomach |
| דֹּפֶן | Dofeng | דְּפָנוֹת | Dfanot | board/wall |
| שָׂדֶה | Sade | שָׂדוֹת | Sadot | Field |
| חָצֵר | Hatzor | חֲצְרוֹת | Hatzrot | yard |
| סַכִּין | Sakin | סַכִּינִים | Sakinim | Knife |
| תְּהוֹם | Theom | תְּהוֹמוֹת | Teomot | abyss |
| עֵת | This | עִתִּים | Itim | Period/time |
An exercise in remembering exceptions
All of the above words are feminine exceptions. What is the best way to remember the given series of words? To do this, you need to do an exercise in their agreement with adjectives, since adjectives always agree with the true gender of the word, regardless of its form. For example, in the phrase " beautiful country”, despite the fact that the word אֶרֶץ is masculine, we will say אֶרֶץ יָפָה “erets yafa”, and not אֶרֶץ יָפֶה “erets yafe”. From this combination, the gender of the word אֶרֶץ is immediately obvious to the ear.
Do the following exercise. Take the written series of words and pick up 3-4 adjectives for each of them, the most characteristic for him, and asking to be paired with him (who has enough imagination and, of course, vocabulary). When you pass several times along the entire row, you will have a fairly strong associative connection.
Here are 2-3 options as an example:
אֶרֶץ ("erets" - country); אֶרֶץ יָפָה (“erets yafa” – a beautiful country); אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה (“erets tova” — good country); אֶרֶץ רְחָבָה (“erets rehava” – a wide country); אַרְצוֹת יָפוֹת, טוֹבוֹת, רְחָבוֹת "artzot yafot, tovot, rechavot".
אֶבֶן ("even" - a stone); אֶבֶן כְּבֵדָה (“even kveda” — a heavy stone); אֶבֶן יִקָרָה (“even yakara” — precious/expensive stone); אֶבֶן יָפָה (“even yafa” — a beautiful stone); אֲבָנִם יִקָרוֹת, כְּבֵדוֹת, יָפוֹת "avanim yakarot, quedot, yaphot".
לָשׁוֹן ("lashon" - tongue in the mouth and tongue as a means of communication); לָשׁוֹן אֲרֻכָּה ("lashon aroka" - a long tongue); לָשׁוֹן חַדָּה (“lashon hada” — sharp tongue);
By the way, since the word לָשׁוֹן is feminine, like the word שָׂפָה (“safaʹ” is a language as a means of communication), the name of all spoken languages are given in the feminine gender. We say עִבְרִית ("Hebrew" - literally "Jewish"), not עִבְרִי ("Ivri" - "Jewish"). הַלָשׁוֹן הָאַנְגְּלִת ("halashon haanglit" - English language), הַלָשׁוֹן הָצַרְפָתִית (“Halashon hatzarfatit” - French) etc. This can also help to remember the gender of the word לָשׁוֹן .
Features of some words
1. The word לַיְלָה (“layla” - night). It ends in the vowel "a", and therefore it may give the impression that this word is feminine. However, as we have said, the Hebrew rule says:
In the feminine, the ending "a" is only stressed
Compare: מְדִינָה (“medina” - state) and לַיְלָה (“layla” - night). The word לַיְלָה has an unstressed ending. In addition, this word was originally masculine, but for historical reasons it migrated to feminine.
2. The word פָּנִים (“panim” — face). It is used in the feminine gender and does not have a singular form. This word is always used in the plural to designate one person or many, like the Russian word "scissors". פָּנִים יָפוֹת (“panim yafot” – beautiful face/beautiful faces, depending on the context). פָּנִים חֲדָשוֹׁת ("panim hadashot" - new face / newcomer / newcomers), פָּנִים נֶחְמָדוֹת (“panim nehmadot” — a pretty face/faces), etc.
Sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine
A number of words are used sometimes in the masculine, sometimes in the feminine, which is connected with the history of the development of Hebrew. For example: דֶּרֶךְ (“dereh” - road), לָשׁוֹן (“lashon” - language) and others can be masculine. In modern Hebrew, as a rule, the gender of these words is defined as feminine. But the word סַכִּין (“sakin” - knife) is currently used, as a rule, in the masculine gender: סַכִּין גָּדוֹל (“sakin gadol” - a large knife). The same applies to the word שָׂדֶה (“sade” - field), so these two words do not need to be practiced with feminine adjectives.
Number in Hebrew
Dual
Now let's talk about numbers. In Hebrew, oddly enough, there are not two numbers, but three, i.e. in addition to the singular and plural, which are also characteristic of the Russian language, there is also a dual in the middle between them, which denotes paired objects. In Hebrew, it is called like this - מִסְפָּר זוּגִי (“mispar zugi” is a double number). Initially, it was used mainly to refer to paired objects - paired in nature, where there are not just two objects, but some specific unit. It was most widely used in the designation of paired parts of the body.
We are speaking: יָד — יָדַיִם (“poison - yadaim” - “hand - hands”). Initially, יָדַיִם meant “two hands”, but later the word יָדַיִם also began to mean any number of hands, this also applies to other paired concepts:
עַיִן — עַיִנִים ("Ain - einaim" - "eye - eyes")
אֹזֶן — אָזְנַ יִם ("ozen - let's know" - "ear - ears")
בֶּרֶךְ — בִּרְכַּיִם (“bereh - birkaim” - “knee - knees”)
שֵׁן — שִׁנַּיִם ("sheng - shinaim" - "tooth - teeth")
Here, bewilderment may arise - why are the teeth, of which there are not two, but thirty-two, are indicated by a dual number? The fact is that each tooth has its own pair. This is not difficult to detect - the teeth on the right and left sides of the jaw are symmetrical, so they also go in dual number. קֶרֶן ("keren" - a horn on the head of an animal) - קַרְנַ יִם ("karnaim" - two horns, and more); כָּתֵף (“katef” - shoulder) - כְּתֵפַ יִם ("ktefaʹim" - shoulders); כָּנָף ("kanaf" - wing) - כְּנָפִ ים (“knafaim” - wings) and whole line less commonly used names of organs and body parts. The word צִפֳּרֶן (“tsiporen” - a nail) adjoins here - צִפֳּרֵנַיִם (“tzipornaim” - nails), as well as the word נָעַל (“naal” - shoe / shoe) - נַעֲלַ יִם ("naalʹim" - shoes/boots).
But not all paired parts of the body in Hebrew are denoted by the dual number. For example, we say: גַּבָּה (“gaba” - eyebrow) - גָּב וֹת ("gabot" - eyebrows). However, most of them have the ending "aim"
All these words ending in “aim” are feminine. They were not listed at the beginning of the general list of exceptions, since they form a rather compact group and are best remembered by their meaning, namely, as a designation for the paired body part (and also adjoining נַעֲלַיִם ). They can also be practiced according to the principle of selecting adjectives (נָעַל יָפָה ), or you can simply remember once and for all:
The paired part of the body is feminine
Double Items
In addition to paired body parts, there are objects that are double in nature, for example, מִשְׁקָפַיִם (“mishkafaim” - glasses) or מִסְפָּרַיִם (“misparaim” - scissors, מִסְפָּר is a separate cutter, “scissors”). מִכְנָסַיִם (“mikhnasaim” - trousers). The word מִכְנָס "mikhnas" is used as "trouser leg", for example, in combination גַּרְבֵּי מִכְנָס (“garbey mihnas” - tights), i.e. Literally "trouser stockings". All these designations of paired concepts (unlike paired parts of the body) are masculine, in full accordance with the form of their singular: גַּרְבַּיִם אֲרֻכִּים ("Garbaim aruhim" - long stockings), מִכְנָסַיִם טוֹבִים (“mikhnasaim tovim” - good trousers).
In addition, the dual number with the ending "aim" is also used to denote two periods of time. For example, we say יוֹמַ יִם (“yomaim” - two days), שְׁנָתַ יִם (“shnatʹim” — two years), חֳדָשִׁ ים (“hodshaim” - two months), שְׁעָתַ יִם (“shaataʻim” - two hours), but שְׁתֵּי דַּקוֹת ("shtey dakot" - two minutes), שְׁתֵּי שְׁנִיּוֹת (“shtey shnyot” - two seconds).
Plural
The plural ending for masculine nouns is ים (“them”), and for feminine nouns וֹת (“from”).
For example, we say עֵט (“et” - pen / pen) - עֵטִ ים ("this" - feathers / pens); חַיָל (“chayal” - soldier) - חַיָלִ ים ("hayalim" - soldiers); מִשְׁפָּחָה (“mishpaha” - family) - מִשְׁפָּחוֹת (“mishpahot” - families); מְדִינָה (“medina” - state) - מְדִינ וֹת (“medinot” - states). This is the rule, but there are numerous exceptions to it. First, these are masculine words that take the endings וֹת instead of ים . It's hard to point out here. general principle, how to find out by the form of a word whether it will take the ending וֹת, despite the masculine gender.
Exceptions
We can say that many words with the ending "an" / "on", especially words that came to Hebrew from the language of the times of the Tanakh, have the ending וֹת . It's famous שֻׁלְחָן — שֻׁלְחָנוֹת ("shulkhan - shulkhanot" - "table - tables"), אָרוֹן — אֲרוֹנוֹת ("aron - aronot" - "cabinet - cabinets"), חָלוֹן — חֲלוֹנוֹת ("halon - halonot" - "window - windows"). Compare: מִלּוֹן — מִלּוֹנִים ("milon - milonim" - "dictionary - dictionaries"), שָׁעוֹן — שְׁעוֹנִים (“shaon - shaonim” - “hours one and many”) - words of a later origin.
This also includes a number of words from one syllable that have the vowel "o". For example: עוֹף — עוֹפוֹת (“of - ofot” - “chicken - chickens” - masculine), pay attention to the use of the adjective with this exception: עוֹפ וֹת גְּדוֹלִים (“ofot gdolim” - big chickens) - the adjective took the masculine ending “im”.
Among the above exceptions to the gender rule, there were many with the ending "from", but there it was explained at least by the feminine gender of the word itself. And in this case, we have masculine words that take the ending "from". They have a discrepancy in agreement with adjectives in the plural. Here you have to rely on your memory, or you can work out such words in the form of combinations with adjectives, i.e. use the same trick as above to work out words with irregular gender, for example שֻׁלְחָנ וֹת גְּדוֹלִים , רַבִּים , יָפִים , טוֹבִים (“shulkhanot gdolim, rabim, yafim, tovim” - tables are large, numerous, beautiful, good), etc. This allows you to quickly learn the inconsistency in the genus.
A much less common group of exceptions are feminine words with the ending "a", which, however, have the ending "him" in the plural. These are words like: מִלָּה — מִלִּים ("mila - milim" - "word - words"), שָׁנָה — שָׁנִים (“shana - shanim” - “year - years”), etc. Here it is possible to work out the same plan as indicated above: ים אֲרֻכּוֹת (“shanim aruhot” — for many years), etc.
Words that are used only in the plural
There are several words in Hebrew that are used only in the plural. Such as: חַיִים (“chaim” - life), חַיִים טוֹבִים (“chaim tovim” - good life); מַיִם (“maim” - water), מַיִם רַבִּים (“maim rabim” - many waters). Here you can translate "water" and "water", depending on the context. By analogy with the word מַיִם, the word for “liquid” in Hebrew is used in the plural: מַיִם נוֹזְלִים (“maim nozlim” - “flowing waters”). The word פָּנִים (“panim” - face) was mentioned above.
