The Hebrew Verb Subject

As highlighted in the previous section, the subject of the verb can be indicated by using a proper name (i.e. Job). Alternatively, if the sentence were 'she drank the tea', the subject would be 'she' because she is the one taking the action denoted by the verb.

Rather than including a pronoun to highlight the subject of the verb, it is instead indicated by the way the verb itself is conjugated in Hebrew.

For example, using the basic verb 'qatsar' ('to cut'), the following conjugations point to the subject:

• = 'qat-sar-ti' = 'I cut'
• = 'qat-sar-ta' = 'You cut';
• = 'qats-ru' = 'They cut';
• = 'qats-rah' = 'She cut'.

To extend this example, if you were to read

קצרתי עץ (= 'qatsarti ets')

It would mean 'I cut a tree'. If however it was

קצרה עץ (= 'qatsarah ets')

You have 'She cut a tree'.

In these examples, you can see that the verb indicates whether the sentence is in the first, second or third person, the number of subjects (i.e. whether it is singular or plural) and the gender.

For instance, the change of verb in the second example indicates that the subject is in the third person, that it is singular and of a feminine gender (i.e. she'). If however the sentence were 'qatsru ets', the verb usage would identify the subject as being masculine, in the third person and plural - 'they' (masculine').

One other thing to note is that in Hebrew, the subject of the verb comes after the subject, whereas in English, it is the other way round.

Introduction to Reading Hebrew
The first basics
The Hebrew AlephBet
The Letters of the AlephBet
Aleph
Bet (Beyt)
Gimmel
Dalet
Hey
Vav
Zayin
Chet
Tet
Yod
Kaf
Lamed
Mem
Nun
Samekh
Ayin
Pey (Fey)
Tsade (Tsadik)
Qof
Resh
Shin
Tav
The Significance of the Alephbet
The Basics of Hebrew Verbs
The Hebrew Verb Subject
The Hebrew Verb Object
Hebrew Verb Tenses
Hebrew Verb Voices and Moods
Hebrew Verb Participles
The Infinite Verb Version
Hebrew Nouns
Hebrew Noun Constructs
Using Prefixes With Nouns
Hebrew Pronouns
Hebrew Plural Nouns
Hebrew Adjectives
Identifying Hebrew Questions
Adverbs, Prepositions and Conjunctions
Hebrew Reading Conclusion