What are their main differences? Why is it difficult for Russian speakers to master Hebrew?
The first problem is Jewish alphabet. According to the drawing he does not resemble the Latin or Cyrillic alphabet.
In Hebrew they write from right to left, in Russian - 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 letters of the Hebrew alphabet have two pronunciations.
Table 1. One letter - two sounds in Hebrew
Some sounds can be represented by different letters.
2. Table 2. One sound - two letters in Hebrew
To indicate vowels in Hebrew, a set of symbols is used - vowels. Most Hebrew texts are written without vowels, and for correct reading You need a certain skill and knowledge of grammar.
Hebrew does not have uppercase (capital) or lowercase letters., but some letters have a special shape ( סופית soffit- “final”) when they come at the end of a word.
| כ (HAF) | ך (HAF SOFIT) |
| מ (MEM) | ם (MEME SOFIT) |
| נ (NUN) | I (NUN SOFIT) |
| פ (DRINK) | ף (DRINK SOFIT) |
| צ (TsADI) | ץ (TsADI SOFIT) |
3. Final letters in Hebrew
Grammatical differences between Russian and Hebrew
Hebrew has definite article, it is not in Russian.
IN Hebrew there is a so-called סמיחות smikhUt(“conjugate combination of nouns”). One of them serves as a definition of the other.
עיתון ערב itOn Erev(NEWSPAPER + EVENING) – “Evening newspaper”
שיורי בית shiurey bayt(LESSONS + HOME) – “Homework”
בית אבן Beth Even(HOUSE + STONE) - "Stone House"
In Russian, a noun and an adjective are used for this purpose.
Sometimes the meaning of smichut is not reduced to the sum of the meanings of nouns.
בעל עגלה baAl agala(Master + CART) – not just “Master of the cart”, but “Carrier”
בית ספר Beit sEfair(HOUSE + BOOK) – not “House of Books”, but “School”.
Even if it's a dance or driving school.
IN Hebrew no neuter, but There are masculine and feminine genders in both singular and 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 gender is used, if it is a group of men, the masculine gender is used. If the group is mixed, then it is 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 words are masculine in Hebrew and have a feminine gender and vice versa.
large restaurant (M) – מיסרה גרולה misada gdola(AND)
small fork (F) – מזלג קטן mazeleg katan(M)
A small group of Russian words singular in Hebrew it is used only in the plural.
hot WATER (F) – מימ חמים maim hami Mmm)
easy LIFE (F), UNITS) – חיי ם קלים haim kalim(MM)
IN Hebrew has singular, plural and dual. The ending of the dual number ("- AIM") have some units of time with the value "two", objects with paired parts and paired body parts. In the masculine plural, the ending “-” is used. THEM", female - " - FROM»
חודשיים ,יומיים hodshAim, yomAim– “two months”, “two weeks”
מכנסיים, אופניים mikhnasAim, ofanAim– “pants”, “bicycle”
ידיים, אוזניים yadAim, mean- “hands”, “ears”
In modern Russian there are only singular and plural numbers.
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 order of words 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 gender.
two(M) chair, but two(F) beds
The remaining numerals have no gender.
five chairs and five beds.
IN in Hebrew all numerals have 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 that indicate 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?
Both languages do not have a strict word order in a sentence.(except noun and adjective in Hebrew).
Affirmative and interrogative sentences are constructed in the same way, the word order is the same.
“יש לו ספר” Yesh lo sefer– "He has a book"
“יש לו ספר?” Yesh 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, you need to change the word order. This is not the case in either Russian or Hebrew.
Unlike many European languages, both Russian and Hebrew have the construction “I have...” – « לי.. יש (are you eating...).
In other languages, the same meaning is conveyed by the construction “I have” - “I have...”(in English), “Ich habe...”(in German).
Both Russian and Hebrew have double negatives.
…אף אחד לו רוצה (Af ehAd lo rotsE...)- "Nobody wants…".
In English - Nobody wants… (literally – “Nobody wants...”)
The grammar of modern Hebrew shows the influence of Slavic languages.
Perhaps the reason is that at the end of the 19th 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 teach 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 significant differences in the pronunciation of sounds and different systems writing.
In Hebrew there is a significant difference between the official and spoken languages, evident even in the simplest sentences. Many textbooks and manuals set out the academic standard of the language, but the words from this phrasebook are simpler, more street-read.
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 shin/syn), read from right to left and top to bottom. There are no capital letters. The pages in Hebrew books must be turned reverse side. Each letter has its own name. In the list, the letters are shown in dictionary order.
א (aleph) is not read ב (bet) like Russians B or INג (gimel) as Russian Gד (dalet) as Russian Dה (hey) like English h, at the end of the word ו (vav) is not read like Russian IN, ABOUT or Uז (zain) like Russian Zח (het) like Russian Xט (tet) like Russian Tי (yud) like Russians Y, AND or Eכ (kaf) like Russians TO or Xל (lamed) like Russian LHמ (meme) like Russian Mנ (nun) like Russian Nס (samekh) like Russian WITHע (ain) is not read פ (pei) like Russians P or Fצ (tsadi) like Russian Cק (kuf) like Russian TOר (resh) as in “burr” Rש (shin/sin) like Russians Sh or WITHת (tav) like Russian T
Soffits
The letters kaf, mem, nun, pei, tzadi also have terminal variants - the so-called spotlights. They are used if the given letter is the last in the word. The soffits look like this:
כ = ך ,מ = ם ,נ = ן ,פ = ף ,צ = ץ
The use of spotlights is mandatory. There is only one case when a regular 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 (which is unknown), 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 - hard ( 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. Israelis themselves sometimes confuse these two options and will have no problem understanding you if you confuse them. With the letter ש the situation is different, since they are actually two different letters - shin and sin, which are written the same 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 the dots are not placed, and the letters merge. There are no rules to help determine what is in front of us - Sh or WITH- does not exist, the words just need to be remembered, and here the Israelis forgive confusion much less often.
The third difficulty is letters that are read the same but 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 scary.
The fourth difficulty is vowels, which in most cases are not written at all. Regarding vowels there are following rules. Vowel U always written with the letter ו. Vowel ABOUT in most cases it is also written with the letter ו. Vowel AND usually not written when it is in the first syllable, in other cases it is written after the letter י. Vowel E usually not written, in rare cases it is indicated by the letter י. Vowel A usually not written unless the word ends with it.
The letter ה at the end of a word is unreadable, but indicates that the word ends with a vowel. In 99% of cases it is the vowel A or E, with A being much more common. If there is a letter ע or ח at the end of a word, then the last vowel in the word will necessarily be A, in the case of a final ח, the word ends with -Oh.
In some cases, vowels can be written using so-called vowels - dots and dashes that appear above or below the previous consonant. The vocalization system is very complex and is not usually used, so we do not describe it here. The Israelis themselves understand which vowel should be pronounced based on the context and general feeling language, but a foreigner will not be able to correctly read a Hebrew text without knowing the language itself, but will understand an approximate reading, on the basis of which he will be able to “guess” the word if he has encountered it before.
In addition, the letters י,ו and ה can also represent consonants. The following rules apply 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 like ABOUT or U. If in the middle of a word ו means IN, then this is indicated by the combination וו. The letter ה is very difficult. At the end of the word, as already indicated, 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 follows European punctuation, with the exception of the apostrophe, which is slanted 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. This sign is also used when writing numbers in Hebrew numerals.
Grammatical categories
There are no cases in Hebrew, nouns are not declined.
Rhoda
Every noun in Hebrew has a masculine or feminine gender. Words general kind, as in Russian, not in Hebrew, that is, it is impossible, for example, to say “writer” about a woman - 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 many exceptions when words in the plural either take endings of a “foreign” gender or change their stem. For example the word gadol(big) in the plural sounds gdolim.
Deposits
Hebrew is very a complex system pledges, or so-called binyans. Each verbal root has seven voices, conveying different shades sense. As a rule, you just need to remember the verb along with the voice in which it is found.
Tenses and conjugations
There are three tenses - past, present and future. In the present tense, verbs change according to gender and number, but are not conjugated according to 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, since 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 it stands in front of. The article does not change according to gender and number.
Pairing
When two nouns are combined with each other, the first of them is put in the so-called conjugated form or smichut. Singular feminine words ending in -A(ה-) change the ending to -AT(ת-). Plural masculine words ending in -THEM(ים-) change the ending to -HEY(י-). In other forms the words usually do not change, but there are exceptions. The second word of Smichut does not change. The article in smikhut always comes before the second word. The gender and number of the Smichut is determined by the gender and number of its first word.
Construction of a sentence
The word order in a Hebrew sentence is partially free. It is usually close to Russian, but there is one important difference: adjectives always come after nouns. For example, Kelev Gadol- “big dog.” IN interrogative sentences The order of words is the same as in narrative ones, 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 shlomkha (to a woman - ma shlomekh) Everything is fine הכל בסדר - ha-kol beseder Goodbye להתראות - le-hitraot, sometimes also shalom My name is… קוראים לי - korym li Yes כן - ken No לא - lo Okay בסדר - conversationder Thank you תודה - toda Thank you very much תודה רבה - toda raba Please בבקשה - bevakasha Sorry סל יחה - slikha May I? … אפשר - efsharPersonal pronouns
There are no polite forms of address in Hebrew, but strangers address on "you".
I am אני - ani You are אתה - ata (appeal to a man); את - at (appeal to a woman) He הוא - hu She היא - h and 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 shel. They are always placed after the noun they refer to, with an article placed before the noun: “my passport” = הדרכון שלי (ha-darkon sheli). They do not change by gender and number.
My שלי - go Your שלך - read shelha, if the item belongs to a man, shelah- if the woman was His (“his”) שלו - shelo Her (“her”) שלה - shela Our שלנו - shelanu Vash שלכם - shelachem Their (“their”) שלהם - shelahem
Other pronouns
Index fingers
Here פה - according to There שם - sham This זה - ze, zh.r. - זאת - zotInterrogatives and relatives
Interrogative and relative pronouns sound the same, as in Russian.
What מה - ma Who מי - mi Where איפה - eifo Where לאן - lean From where מאיפה - me-eifo When מתי - matai How much כמה - kama How איך - eykh Why למה - lama
Negative and uncertain
Indefinite pronouns (someone, something, etc.) are formed from relative pronouns and particles -shehu (-שהו): Misha, waving etc.
Nobody אף אחד - af ehad Nothing כלום - klum, also שום דבר - noise davar Nowhere שום מקום - noise makom 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 smikhut forms of numerals that are also formed incorrectly.
The Israelis themselves often say numbers incorrectly - they omit the plural of the noun, and always pronounce the numeral in the feminine gender. So, ten shekels according to the rules will be asara scalem, and in conversation - Socialist Revolutionary Shekel. The exception is the unit, which is usually spoken in the masculine gender.
In addition to ordinary numbers, there are special Hebrew numbers that are outwardly indistinguishable from letters. They are used rarely - mainly to indicate the months and years of the Hebrew calendar.
0 אפס - ephesus 1 אחד - ehad 2 שתיים - shtaim 3 שלוש - shalosh 4 ארבע - arba 5 חמש - hamesh 6 שש - shesh 7 שבע - sheva 8 ש מונה - 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 ששע שרה - 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 - quiet 100 מאה - mea 200 מתיים - matayim 300 שלוש מאות - shlosh-meot 1000 אלף - eleph Percent אחוז - akhuz Half חצי - hetzi 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 Big גדול - gadol / גדולה - gdola Small קטן - katan / קטנה - ktana Complex, heavy קשה - porridge / קשה - porridge Light קל - kahl / קל ה - kala Much הרבה - harbe Little קצת - ktsat Very מאוד - method More יותר - Yoter Less פחות - plowing Usually בדרך כלל - be-derech klal Rarely, sometimes לפעמים - liphaim Fast מהר - maher Slow לאט - leat
Comparatives are formed by placing words in front of the adjective Yoter or plowing.
Verbs
Verbs "to be" and "to have"
The infinitive of the Hebrew verb “to be” is להיות (lihyot). This verb does not have a present tense, so sentences like “I am a tourist” (אני תייר, ani tayar) are pronounced without a verb, as in Russian. In the past tense, the most useful forms are as follows.
I was הייתי - haiti He was הייה - hai She was הייתה - haita They were הייו - hai
There is no verb “to have” in Hebrew. Instead, two particles are used: positive יש (esh) and negative אין (ein). These particles are placed at the beginning of a sentence, do not change according to gender, person or number, and are usually used with a 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, verbs do not change persons, so “I am going” and “he is going” will be the same in Hebrew.
To do עושה - ose / עושה - wasp To want רוצה - rotse / רוצה - rotsa To be able יכול - yachol / יכולה - echola To be due צריך - kings / צריכה - tsrikha Love it אוהב - ohev / אוהבת - ohevet Go הולך - holekh / הולכת - holekhet Go נוסע - nosea / נוסעת - nosaat Take לוקח - lokeah / לוקחת - lokahat Give נותן - noten / נותנת - notenet There is אוכל - ohel / א וכלת - oheleth Sleep ישן - yashan / ישנה - eshanah Speak מדבר - medaber / מדברת - medaberet Understand מבין - mevin / מבינה - mevina Work עובד - oved / עובדת - oved See רואה - rohe / רואה - roa See מסתקל - mitakel / מסתקל - mitake years old Hear שמע - shomeʹa / שמעת - shomaʁat Know יודע - yodeʁa / יודעת - yodʁat Read קורא - kore / קוראת - koret Search מחפש - mehapes / מחפשת - mechapéset Find מוצא - motse / מוצאת - motset
Function words
Prepositions
There are not many prepositions in Hebrew, but they are all conjugated by persons. This means that if a preposition is used with a personal pronoun, it takes on a different form. For example, ל + אתה will be לך (lecha, yours). Preposition conjugations shel identical to possessive pronouns. Another popular excuse le conjugates similarly, but without the initial she. Single 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 A at the end: “ba”, “la”.
The genitive preposition של is shel. Also, the construction “smichut” is often used to convey the genitive case. The dative preposition ל - le. It also indicates direction and answers the questions “where”, “to whom”, “with whom”. The preposition of the instrumental case ב - be. It also denotes location and answers the questions “where”, “in what”, “how”. Pretext accusative caseאת - fl. Sometimes it goes down. From, from מ - mi. Sometimes it's read "meh". 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 are not conjugated 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 (f.) Word מילה - mila (f.) Hebrew עברית - Hebrew (f.) Russian רוסית - Rusit (f.) English אנגלית - English (f.) Dictionary מילון - milon (m.) Translation of תרגום - targum (m.) I speak Hebrew a little bitTime
Time זמן - zman (m.) Time פעם - paam (f.), pl. h. - peamim Year שנה - shana (f.), pl. h. - shanim Month חודש - hódesh (m.), pl. h. - hodashim Week שבוע - shavua (m.), pl. h. - Shavuot Day יום - yom (m.), pl. hours - yamim Night לילה - layla (m.) Morning בוקר - boqer (m.) Midday צהריים - tsohoraim (m., plural) Evening ערב - erev (m.) Hour שעה - shaa (f.) Minute דקה - daka (f.) Moment רגע - rega (m.) Now עכשיו - akhshav Previously לפני - lifney Later אחרי - acharei Yesterday אתמול - etmol Today היום - ha-yom Tomorrow מחר - mahar 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 used for religious purposes only, Jews usually use 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 - July 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 parentheses. All of them, except Saturday, are formed from the word eat(day) and ordinal numbers from 1 to 6, are masculine.
Sunday ים ראשון - yom-rishon (א׳) Monday ים שני - yom-sheni (ב׳) Tuesday ים שלישי - yom-shlishi (ג׳) Wednesday ים רביעי - yom-revii (ד׳ ) Thursday ים חמישי - yom- hamishi (ה׳) Friday ים ששי - yom-shishi (ו׳) Saturday שבת - Shabbat (f.) (ש׳)
Money
Money כסף - kesef (m.) Shekel שקל - shekel (m., plural shallim), also ש׳׳ח - shah Cash מזומן - mezuman (m.) Bank בנק - bank (m.) Bank cardכרטיס אשראי - kartis-ashray (m.) ATM כספומט - kaspomat (m.) I have no money אין לי כסף - ein li kesef How much does it cost? ???Direction
Left שמולה - resin Right ימינה - yamina Straight ישר - yashar Up למעלה - le-mala Down למטה - le-mata Turn פנייה - pniya (f.) Crossroads צומ ת - tsómet (f.) City center מרכז העיר - merkaz ha-ir ( m.) Map מפה - mapa (f.) Street רחוב - rekhov (m.) Avenue שדרות - sderot (f.) Road דרך - derekh (m.) Highway, highway כביש - kvish (m.) North צפון - tsafon ( m.) South דרום - free (m.) West מערב - maarav (m.) East מזרח - mizrach (m.) Far רחוק - rahok Close קרוב - karovTransport
Trilingual road sign
Driver נהג - nahag (m.) Car מכונית - mekhonite (f.) Bus אוטובוס - otobus (m.) Taxi מונית - monit (f.) Minibus מונית שירות - monit-sherut (f.) ) Train רכבת - rocket (f. ) Airplane מטוס - matos (m.) Bicycle אופניים - ofanaim (m., plural) On foot ברגל - ba-regel Hitchhiking טרמפ - trem (m.) Bus station תחנה מרכזית - tahana-merkazit (f.) Bus stop תחנת אוטובוס - tahanat-otobus Railway station תחנת רכבת - tahanat-rakevet (f.) Airport נמל תעופה - nemal-teufa (m.) Ticket כרטיס - kartis (m.) Ticket office קו פה - kupa (f.) Stop here תעצור פה - taatsor po
Cities and countries
All names of cities and countries in Hebrew, like the words “city” and “country” themselves, are feminine. Only those names of cities and countries are given whose reading differs in Russian and Hebrew.
City עיר - ir Jerusalem ירושלים - Yerushalayim Haifa חיפה - Heifa Nazareth נצרת - Nazareth Bethlehem בית לחם - Beit Lechem 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 Yisrael Israeli ישראלי - Israelite Jew יהודי - Yehudi Palestine פלסטין - Falastin West Bank יהודה ושו מרון - ehuda ve-shomron Gaza עזה - aza Egypt מצריים - Mizraim Syria סורייה - suriya Lebanon לבנון - Levanon Jordan ירדן - Yarden Arab ערבי - Aravi Russia רוסייה - Russia Russian רוסי - Russia USSR ברית המועצות - Brit Ha-Moatzot
Overnight
Hotel בית מלון - Beit Malon (m.) Hostel אכסנייה - Akhsaniya (f.) Room חדר - cheder (m.)Food
Restaurant מסעדה - misada (f.) 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 (w.) Cheese גבינה - gvina (w.) Bryndza בולגרית - bulgarit (w.) Egg ביצה - beytsa (f.) Bread לחם - lechem (m.) Potatoes תפוח אדמה - tapuah-adama (m.) Rice אורז - cut (m.) Noodles נודלס - noodles (m.) Glass קוס - kos (m.) Water מים - mayim (m. , plural) Coffee קפה - cafe (m.) Tea תה - those (m.) Juice מיץ - mits (m.) Wine יין - yain (m.) Beer בירה - bira (f.) Salt מלח - melah (m.) Fruits פירות - perot (m., plural) Vegetables ירקות - erakot (m., plural) Mushrooms פטריות - pitriyot (f., plural)Purchases
Supermarket סופרמרקט - supermarket (m.), sometimes - super Shopping mallקניון - canyon (m.) Shop חנות - khanut (f.) Bazaar שוק - shuk (m.)Signs
Open פתוח - patuʁah Closed סגור - sagur Entrance כניסה - knisa Exit יציאה - ezia Toilet שירותים - sherutim Male גברים - gvarim Female נשים - for ours prohibited אסור - asur Smoking is prohibited אסור לעשן - asur leashenSecurity and problems
Help עזרה - ezra (f.) Police משטרה - mishtara (f.) Crime פשע - pesha (m.) Criminal פושע - poshea (m.), also גנב - ganav (m.) Terrorist טרוריסט - terrorist ( m.) Accident תאונה - teuna (f.) Theft גניבה - rot (m.) Corpse גופה - gufa (f.) Passport דרכון - darkon (m.) Visa ויזה - visa (f.) Embassy שגרירות - shagrirut (f.) .) Doctor רופא - Rofe (m.) Hospital בית חולים - Beit Cholim (m.) Ambulanceמגן דוד אדום - magen david adom (m.) Sick חולה - khole (f. - khola) Fire אש - esh (m.) Can I call from you? אפשר להתקשר ממך - efshar lehitkasher mimcha (to a woman - mimech)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 - hag Sameh Repatriation עלייה - aliyah (female) Repatriate עולה - ole (plural - olim) Jewish settlement in the West Bank התישבות - hityashvut (f.)In Russian there are 3 genders in the singular (masculine, feminine and neuter). And there is no gender in the plural.
In Hebrew it’s completely different!
Hebrew has masculine and feminine genders, both singular and plural. The feminine plural form is used in the case of an “all-female company.” But in a mixed group, the plural is always masculine.
Signs of the masculine gender, units
The masculine singular in Hebrew usually does not have a special ending.
* food, book, window and a number of other nouns in Hebrew in the masculine gender!
Signs of the masculine gender, plural.
In the masculine plural, the ending ים is added to the words - “IM”
Signs of the feminine gender, units. h.
The feminine gender in the singular can end in t - ת or a - ה
Signs of the feminine gender, plural. h.
The feminine plural 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 “masculine” ending “IM” is added ים
שנים - shanIm - years of birth. !!!
How to find out? Check it in the dictionary. There is no other way.
Dual
In Hebrew there are nouns in "dual" number. They represent paired objects. By default they are classified as plural. h.m.r.
By ear, the words of the dual number have the ending "AIM", which in writing looks like ים
Example:
מכנסיים - mikhnasAim - trousers
אוזניים - means - 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 don’t pay attention to the “wrong” ending and agree on the gender.
חלון גדול - HalOn Gadol - big window
חלונות גדולים - halonOt gdolim - big windows
שנה טובה - shana tova - good year
שנים טובות - shanIm tovOt - good years
It is better to learn exception words in phrases with an adjective. The gender of an adjective is always correct.
In our lesson today we will cover 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 mistakes in the future.
First, let's look at some features:
- There are only two genders in Hebrew - masculine and feminine; the neuter gender simply does not exist.
- Unlike Russian, in Hebrew the same adjective or, even in the plural, can take both feminine and masculine gender.
- The difficulty of the language lies in the fact that many words are masculine in Russian and have a feminine gender in Hebrew and vice versa. And since in the Hebrew language a lot depends on the type of word used, many make grammatical errors.
Gender in Hebrew
As a rule, the gender of a noun is clearly determined by its form, namely, what the ending of the word is.
If a word ends in stressed “a” or has one of the endings based on the letter ת, it is feminine.
These are the endings:
In all other cases, this word belongs to the masculine gender.
What are all these other cases? This is the ending on any consonant except ת, and also sometimes on ת, if it is part of the root, which, however, is quite rare. And among vowels it can be “e” (“i” - for adjectives) and very rarely “u” or “o”.
So, according to the above rule, the words: אָרוֹן (“aron” - closet), חֶדֶר (“kheder” - room), כִּסֵּא (“kise” - chair), גַּן (“gan” - garden), אַרְיֶה (“ariye” - lion), מוֹרֶה (“more” - teacher), שֻׁלְחָן (“shulhan” - table) - masculine.
Adjectives ending in “and”: בֵּיתִ י (“beyti” - home), שֻׁלְחָנִ י (“shulkhani” - dining room), 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 yet it is worth paying attention to them so as not to make annoying mistakes when speaking. Let's list the nouns (almost all of them are quite common), which, judging by their form, should belong to the masculine gender, because end in a consonant or “e”, however, they are feminine, which is revealed when they agree with adjectives. Below they are given in singular and plural form:
| Unit h. in Hebrew | Pronunciation singular | Mn. h. in Hebrew | Pronunciation plural h. | Translation |
| פַּעַם | Pam | פְּעָמִים | Paamim | Once |
| גָּדֵר | Gader | גְּדְרוֹת | Gderot | Fence |
| דֶּרֶךְ | Dareh | דְּרָכִים | Drahim | Road |
| צְפַרְדֵּעַ | Tzfardea | צְפַרְדֵּעִים | Tzfardeim | Frog |
| צִפּוֹר | Tzipor | צִפּוֹרִים | Tziporim | Birdie |
| נֹפֶשׁ | Nefesh | נַפְשׁוֹת | Nefeshot | Soul |
| אֵשׁ | Ash | אִשִּׁים | Ishim | Fire |
| בְּאֵר | Bare | בְּאֲרוֹת | Barot | Well |
| כִּכָּר | Kikar | כִּכָּרוֹת | Kikarot | Square |
| דְּיוֹ | Dio | דְּיוֹאוֹת | Diaot | Ink |
| עֶצֶם | Etsem | עֲצָמוֹת | Atzamot | Bone |
| שֶׁמֶשׁ | Shemesh | שְׁמָשוֹׁת | Shmashot | Sun |
| קַרְקַע | Karka | קַרְקָעוֹת | Karkaoth | Soil/soil |
| אֶצְבַּע | Etsba | אֶצְבָּעוֹת | Etzbaot | Finger |
| כַּף | cafe | כָּפוֹת | Hood | Palm/spoon |
| אֶרֶץ | Eretz | אַרְצוֹת | Artsot | A country |
| אֶבֶן | Even | אֳבָנִים | Avanim | Stone |
| חֶרֶב | Harev | חַרְבּוֹת | Harbot | Sword |
| רוּחַ | Ruʹach | רוּחוֹת | Ruhot | Wind/spirit |
| עִיר | Ir | עִירִים | Irim | City |
| לָשׁוֹן | Lashon | לְשׁוֹנוֹת | Lashonath | Language |
| כּוֹס | Kos | כּוֹסוֹת | Kosot | Glass/glass |
| עֵז | Eze | עִזִּים | Izim | Goat |
| בֶּטֶן | Beten | בְּטָנִים | Betanim | Stomach |
| דֹּפֶן | Dofeng | דְּפָנוֹת | Dfanot | Side/wall |
| שָׂדֶה | Sade | שָׂדוֹת | Sadot | Field |
| חָצֵר | Hazor | חֲצְרוֹת | Hatzrot | Yard |
| סַכִּין | Sakin | סַכִּינִים | Sakinim | Knife |
| תְּהוֹם | Teom | תְּהוֹמוֹת | Teomot | Abyss/chasm |
| עֵת | This | עִתִּים | Itim | Period/time |
An exercise in remembering exceptions
All of the above words are exceptions of the feminine gender. What is the best way to remember the given series of words? To do this, you need to do an exercise to agree 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 a written series of words and select for each of them 3-4 adjectives that are most characteristic of it, and just begging to be paired with it (who has enough imagination and, of course, vocabulary). When you go through the entire series several times, you will develop a fairly strong associative connection.
Let's give 2-3 options as an example:
אֶרֶץ (“erets” - country); אֶרֶץ יָפָה (“Eretz Yafa” - beautiful country); אֶרֶץ טוֹבָה (“erets tova” — good country); אֶרֶץ רְחָבָה (“Eretz Rehava” - wide country); אַרְצוֹת יָפוֹת, טוֹבוֹת, רְחָבוֹת “Artzot Yafot, Tovot, Rehavot.”
אֶבֶן (“even” - stone); אֶבֶן כְּבֵדָה (“even kveda” - heavy stone); אֶבֶן יִקָרָה (“even yakara” - precious/expensive stone); אֶבֶן יָפָה (“even yafa” - 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 (“safa” - language as a means of communication), the name of all spoken languages are given in the feminine gender. We say עִבְרִית ("Hebrew" - literally "Jewish"), and 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 with the vowel "a", and therefore may give the impression that it is a feminine word. However, as we have already said, the Hebrew rule states:
In the feminine gender, 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 became 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 denote one person or many, similar to the Russian word for “scissors.” פָּנִים יָפוֹת (“panim yafot” - beautiful face/beautiful faces, depending on the context). פָּנִים חֲדָשוֹׁת (“panim hadashot” - new face/newcomer/newcomers), פָּנִים נֶחְמָדוֹת (“panim nekhmadot” - pretty face/faces), etc.
Sometimes male and sometimes female
A number of words are sometimes used in the masculine, sometimes in the feminine, which is associated with the history of the development of Hebrew. For example: דֶּרֶךְ (“derekh” - 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” - large knife). The same applies to the word שָׂדֶה (“sadeʁ” - 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 number in the middle between them, which denotes paired objects. In Hebrew it is called that way - מִסְפָּר זוּגִי (“mispar zugi” - paired number). Initially, it was used mainly to designate paired objects - paired in nature, where there are not just two objects, but some specific unit. It was most widely used to designate paired body parts.
We are speaking: יָד — יָדַיִם ("yad - 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 - we know" - "ear - ears")
בֶּרֶךְ — בִּרְכַּיִם (“bereh - birkaim” - “knee - knees”)
שֵׁן — שִׁנַּיִם (“shen – shinaim” – “tooth – teeth”)
Here you may be puzzled - why are the teeth, of which there are not two, but thirty-two, 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 come in dual numbers. קֶרֶן (“keren” - horn on the head of an animal) - קַרְנַ יִם (“karnaim” - two horns or more); כָּתֵף (“katef” - shoulder) - כְּתֵפַ יִם (“ktefaim” - 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 designated using a dual number. So 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 because they form a fairly compact group and are best remembered by their meaning, namely as a designation of a paired body part (as well as the adjacent נַעֲלַיִם). They can also be practiced according to the principle of selecting adjectives (נָעַל יָפָה), or you can simply remember them once and for all:
Paired body part is feminine
Double items
In addition to paired parts of the body, there are objects that are double in nature, for example מִשְׁקָפַיִם (“mishkafaim” - glasses) or מִסְפָּרַיִם (“misparaʁim” - scissors, מִסְפָּר - a separate cutter, “scissors”). מִכְנָסַיִם (“mikhnasaim” - trousers). The word מִכְנָס “mikhnas” is used as “trouser leg”, for example, in combination גַּרְבֵּי מִכְנָס (“garbey mikhnas” - tights), i.e. literally “trouser stockings.” All these designations of paired concepts (as opposed to paired body parts) are masculine, in full accordance with their singular form: גַּרְבַּיִם אֲרֻכִּים (“garbaim aruhim” - long stockings), מִכְנָסַיִם טוֹבִים (“mikhnasaim tovim” - good trousers).
In addition, the dual number with the ending “aіm” is also used to designate two periods of time. For example, we say יוֹמַ יִם (“yomaim” - two days), שְׁנָתַ יִם (“shnataim” - two years), חֳדָשִׁ ים (“hodshaim” - two months), שְׁעָתַ יִם (“shaataim” - two hours), but שְׁתֵּי דַּקוֹת (“shtey dakot” - two minutes), שְׁתֵּי שְׁנִיּוֹת (“shtey shnyot” - two seconds).
Plural
The plural ending for masculine nouns is ים (“by him”), and for feminine nouns וֹת (“from”).
For example, we say עֵט (“this” - pen/pen) - עֵטִ ים (“this” - feathers/pens); חַיָל (“khayal” - soldier) - חַיָלִ ים (“khayalim” - soldiers); מִשְׁפָּחָה (“mishpacha” - family) - מִשְׁפָּחוֹת (“mishpahot” - families); מְדִינָה (“medina” - state) - מְדִינ וֹת (“medinot” - states). This is the rule, but there are numerous exceptions to it. Firstly, 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 shape of a word whether it will take the ending וֹת, despite the masculine gender.
Exceptions
It can be said that many words ending in "an"/"on", especially words that came into Hebrew from the language of the Tanakh, have the ending וֹת. These are 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” - “one and many hours”) are words of later origin.
This also includes a number of words from one syllable that have the vowel "o". For example: עוֹף — עוֹפוֹת (“of - ofot” - “hen - hens” - 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 could be 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 show discrepancies in agreement with plural adjectives. Here you have to rely on your memory, or you can practice such words in the form of combinations with adjectives, i.e. use the same technique that was indicated above to practice 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 makes it possible to quickly assimilate inconsistency in gender.
A much less common group of exceptions are feminine words ending in “a”, which, however, have a plural ending “im”. 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: שָׁנָה אֲרֻכָּה (“shana arukha” - long year) - שָׁנִ ים אֲרֻכּוֹת (“Shanim arukhot” - many years), etc.
Words 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 (“haim tovim” - good life); מַיִם (“mayim” - water), מַיִם רַבִּים (“mayim rabim” - many waters). Here you can translate “water” and “waters”, depending on the context. By analogy with the word מַיִם, the word “liquid” in Hebrew is used in the plural: מַיִם נוֹזְלִים (“mayim nozlim” - “flowing waters”). The word פָּנִים (“panim” - face) was discussed above.
