Using Prefixes With NounsThere are several letters that can be used as a prefix for a noun which will act as a preposition, conjunction or the definite article. As a simple example, adding ה (Hey) to the beginning of the word is 'the', so העץ would be 'the tree'. The following are the letters that are most commonly used as a prefix for nouns: ה The ו And ל To, For ב In, Width מ From כ Like שׁ Like Note however that the prefix for 'like' shown near the end of this list is not all that common, whereas שׁ used for 'which' is actually quite rare. Sometimes, you will see more than one prefix added to a noun. This will sometimes happen in a regular fashion whereas in other examples, the combination is created in a more complex or irregular way. As an example of a regular prefix combination, if you take וְ plus הָ, you get 'and the', a phrase which is seen in the first words of Genesis 1:2, וְהָאָרֶץ 'veha'areta', meaning 'and the land'. Similarly, בְּאֶרֶץ means 'in a land' (i.e. another regular combination) whereas you would not form 'in the land' as בְּהָאָרֶץ as you might expect. Instead, because this is an example of an irregular combination of two prefixes, you need to change the construction to form this phrase. To do this, you drop the Hey completely whilst the Sh'va vowel points also disappear. Finally, the Qamats vowel point is moved so that it is added to Bet to form the word בָּאָרֶץ which gives you the required meaning. The way that the prefix is to be combined in both regular and irregular fashion is something that you will have to learn to recognize as there is no common pattern to where and when this happens. However, if in your reading you are on the lookout for the prefixes shown earlier in this section, this is something that you should quickly master. 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 |