Language/Hebrew/Grammar/Personal-pronouns-and-the-present-tense

Personal Pronouns and the Present Tense in Hebrew

שָׁלוֹם Hebrew Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson you will learn how to use the personal pronouns at the present tense in Hebrew.

Happy learning!

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There is no real present time in Hebrew.

The present, defined as the period between the end of the past and the beginning of the future, is only a perpetual moment.

Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Nouns, Verbs, Ordinal Numbers & Personal pronouns.

Personal pronouns

The Hebrew personal pronouns are given as suffixes for the so-called completed time, and as prefixes for the so-called unfinished time.

"Whole" personal pronouns are used to make the appearance of the present.

	נְקֵבָה Female	זָכָר Male
I	אֲנִי
You	אַתְ	אַתָה
He / She	הִיא	הוּא
We	אֲנַחְנוּ
You	אַתֶן	אַתֶם
They	הֵן	הֵם

Vocabulary

• pupil תַלְמִיד ז
• letter מִכְתָב ז
• pencil עִפָּרוֹן ז
• book סֵפֶר ז
• Bread לֶחֶם ז
• Hebrew (adverbial) עִבְרִית

Grammar

Prepositions with and in Hebrew are expressed by the same letter בּ placed in front of the name.

• a letter מִכְתָב
• In a letter בְּמִכְתָב
• in a beautiful letter בְּמִכְתָב יָפֶה
• a big book סֵפֶר גָּדוֹל
• in a big book בְּסֵפֶר גָּדוֹל

One can also translate with a letter, with a beautiful letter, with a large book, depending on the context.

When the name is defined, the ה is deleted and its vowel goes under the בּ

• the letter / הַמִכְתָב
• in the letter / בַּמִכְתָב

The qualifying adjective normally takes the definite article

• the beautiful letter / הַמִכְתָב הַיָפֶה
• in (or with) the beautiful letter / בַּמִכְתָב הַיָפֶה
• the big book / הַסֵפֶר הַגָּדוֹל
• in (or with) the big book / בַּסֵפֶר הַגָּדוֹל

In front of names and adjectives beginning with one of the letters ע, א or ר, the definite article takes the vowel ָ

• with the pencil / בָּעִפָּרוֹן

The present tense

In a Hebrew dictionary, the verb is indicated by its root (שֹׁרֶשׁ), usually composed of three letters.

Let's look at how the verbs that we define as: סָסַס

• Write / כָּתַב
• Eat / אָכַל

	Female נְקֵבָה	Male זָכָר
Singular יָחִד	כּוֹתֶבֶת	כּוֹתֵב
Plural רַבִּים	כּוֹתְבוֹת	כּוֹתְבִים

• the student (f.) writes a letter הַתַלְמִידָה כּוֹתֶבֶת מִכְתָב

• students (m.) write letters הַתַלְמִידִים כּוֹתְבִים מִכְתָבִים

The participles

The present participle (פּוֹעֵל)

It expresses an action made by the subject, without indication of the beginning and the end: it is an action in the making.

When we say, in Hebrew: אֲנִי אוֹכֵל (I eat), it means in fact: I am eating.

It will be noted that English proceeds in the same way with this difference that he uses the auxilière to be, non-existent in Hebrew: I am eating.

• Rachel writes with a pencil רָחֵל כּוֹתֶבֶת בְּעִפָּרוֹן

• Joseph eats bread יוֹסֵף אוֹכֵל לֶחֶם

The past participle (פָּעוּל)

It expresses an action suffered by the subject.

You will note the position of the letter ו which moves to the left (reading direction), when the action is completed.

	Female נְקֵבָה	Male זָכָר
Singular יָחִד	כְּתוּבָה	כָּתוּב
Plural רַבִּים	כְּתוּבוֹת	כְּתוּבִים

• This book is written in Hebrew הַסֵפֶר הַזֶה כָּתוּב בְּעִבְרִית

There are seven verbal forms in Hebrew. The one we have examined is the simple form (קַל, also called פָּעַל.

The other six forms derive from the first form, and make it possible to specify the manner in which the action was accomplished or undergone.

Note that not all verbs necessarily combine with the seven forms.

Sources

http://acisf.free.fr/hebreua4.html

Other Lessons

• Questions
• Conditional Mood
• Plurals
• Future Tense
• Adjectives
• Nouns
• Personal pronouns
• Negation
• Verb to Have
• Pronouns