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Hebrew Communications This module introduces the basic elements of communicating in Modern Hebrew, with emphasis on verbal communications. These elements will focus on sentence structure and syntax for the various types of sentences one normally encounters in the language. After these elements are described, examples of various common conversational scenarios and situations one may encounter, and related dialogues, will be introduced to illustrate verbal Hebrew communications. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 1 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules In general, the Hebrew sentence structures are similar to their English counterparts. However, there are also differences, some of which will be noted later. Most Hebrew sentences contain a subject, a verb and other elements. So that the general syntax of the Hebrew sentence is subject-verbobject, i.e., the subject precedes the predicate*. It should be noted that there is some flexibility in the syntax of the Hebrew sentence in some cases. Hebrew includes the following basic sentence structures: 1. the nominal sentence 2. the verbal sentence 3. the interrogative sentence 4. the verbal infinitive sentence 5. the conditional sentence A simple example of each is shown in the next slide. * The predicate is the part of a sentence that shows what is being said about the subject. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 2 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) The following table contains simple examples that correspond the five common Hebrew sentence structures listed in the previous slide: # ַאנְגְ לִית ַתעְ ִתיק עִ בְ ִרית .אֲ נִי בַ כִ ָּתה aNI ba’kiTAH 1. I am in the class. 4. I want to learn. aNI roTSAH lilMOD .אֲ נִי לֹומֵ ד בַ כִ ָּתה ?ִמי נ ְִרשָּ ם לַכִ ָּתה .אֲ נִי רֹוצָּ ה ִל ְלמֹד 5. If we’ll study then we’ll know. IM nilMAD AZ neiDA .ִאם ִנלְמַ ד ָּאז נֵדַ ע 2. I am learning in the class. aNI loMED ba’kiTAH 3. Who is registered for the class? MI nirSHAM la’kiTAH The most significant differences between the respective syntax of Hebrew and English sentences will be noted in the next several slides. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 3 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) It was pointed out in Slide 2 that differences exist between the Hebrew and English sentence syntax. One difference is the usage of the Hebrew verb equivalent to the English verb “to be” in the present tense. Note that in the example for the nominal sentence (#1), the Hebrew contains no explicit verb corresponding to the “am” in the English (i.e., it is implicit). In the example of the verbal sentence (#2), the simple present tense verb לֹומֵ דmeans “am learning” as shown combined with the singular masculine 1st-person pronoun (the English translation changes for the singular masculine 2nd-person and 3rd-person pronouns). Here too, the explicit present tense of the Hebrew verb equivalent to the English verb “to be” corresponding to the “am” (or to the “are” or “is” in the case of the singular masculine 2nd-person and 3rd-person pronoun cases) is absent (i.e., it is implicit). This also applies to the other conjugations in the present tense, i.e., to the singular feminine and plural masculine & feminine conjugations. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 4 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) As noted in the previous slide, one significant difference between the Hebrew and English sentence structures is that the Hebrew verb equivalent of the English verb “to be” is, in general, not explicitly used in the present tense. In other words, its use is limited to the past and future tenses, as shown in the examples below: ַאנְגְ לִית ַתעְ ִתיק The door is closed. haDElet sguRAH The door was closed. haDElet hayiTAH sguRAH The door will be closed. haDElet tihiYEH sguRAH עִ בְ ִרית .גּורה ָּ הַ דֶּ לֶּת ְס .גּורה ָּ הַ דֶּ לֶּת הָּ י ְָּתה ְס hahoRIM haYU baBAyit .גּורה ָּ הַ דֶּ לֶּת ִת ְהיֶּה ְס .הֹורים בַ בַ יִת ִ ַה .הֹורים הָּ יּו בַ בַ יִת ִ ַה The parents will be at home. hahoRIM yihiYU baBAyit .הֹורים ִי ְהיּו בַ בַ יִת ִ ַה The parents are at home. The parents were at home. Modern Hebrew for Beginners hahoRIM baBAyit Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 5 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) Another significant difference between Hebrew and English sentence syntax is the position of an adjective”. Unlike in the syntax of an English sentence, where the adjective precedes the noun (or pronoun) that it describes, in the Hebrew sentence the adjective generally follows the noun it describes. The adjective in Hebrew also takes on the gender and plurality of the noun it modifies. Also, whenever the noun is modified by the Hebrew equivalent of the definite article, the adjective also carries the definite article. On the other hand, as is the case with the English sentence syntax, in Hebrew the adverb** generally follows the verb it describes. Unlike the situation with the Hebrew adjective relative to the noun, the Hebrew adverb does not assume the attributes of the conjugated verb (i.e., tense, gender, person, and singular/plural). Examples are shown in the table on the next slide. * An adjective is a part of speech that describes a noun or pronoun. ** An adverb is a part of speech that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 6 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) In the following table, the first four entries demonstrate the syntax of the Hebrew adjectives and its properties in a simple sentence. The last two entries in the table demonstrate the syntax of the Hebrew adverb and its properties in a simple sentence. ַאנְגְ לִית ַתעְ ִתיק A big boy ate in the kitchen. YEled gaDOL aCHAL ba’mitBAH The big girl is eating in the kitchen. ha’yalDAH ha’gdoLAH oCHElet ba’mitBAH Big boys ate in the kitchen. yelaDIM gdoLIM achLU ba’mitBAH The big girls are eating in the kitchen. ha’yilaDOT ha’gdoLOT ochLOT ba’mitBAH The big boy ate fast. The big girls are eating fast. Modern Hebrew for Beginners ha’YEled ha’gaDOL aCHAL maHER ha’yilaDOT ha’gdoLOT ochLOT maHER עִ בְ ִרית .ֶּילֶּד גָּדֹול ָּאכַ ל בַ ִמ ְטבָּ ח .הַ ַילְדָּ ה הַ גְ דֹו ָּלה אֹו ֶּכלֶּת בַ ִמ ְטבָּ ח .ְיל ִָּדים גְ דֹו ִלים ָּאכְ לּו בַ ִמ ְטבָּ ח .הַ ְילָּדֹות הַ גְ דֹולֹות אֹוכְ לֹות בַ ִמ ְטבָּ ח .הַ ֶּילֶּד הַ גָּדֹול ָּא ַכל מַ הֵ ר .הַ ְי ָּלדֹות הַ גְ דֹולֹות אֹוכְ לֹות מַ הֵ ר Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 7 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) An interrogative sentence, i.e., a question, was previously listed as one of the five basic sentence structures in Hebrew. In Hebrew, questions are generally formed in two ways: • Raising the intonation at the end of an ordinary sentence (we have already encountered this in several earlier modules). For this type of question the answer is, quite often, either ( כֵןyes) or ( ל ֹאno). • Starting the sentence with an interrogative word or phrase, of which there are quite a few, depending on the nature of the question. One interrogative word in particular, ( הַ ִאםloosely translated as “Is it …?”, but this changes depending on what follows )הַ ִאם, which introduces a question, the answer to which is, quite often, either כֵןor ל ֹא. Some commonly used interrogative words and phrases are listed on the next slide. It should be noted that, in general, these either start a question or are a question by themselves. Also, as is the case in the English language, most of these terms have non-interrogative meanings when they appear in the middle of any sentence. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 8 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Interrogative words – (miLOT sheeiLAH) ִמּלֹות ְש ֵאלָּה ַאנְגְ לִית עִ בְ ִרית ַתעְ ִתיק ַאנְגְ לִית עִ בְ ִרית ַתעְ ִתיק ַאנְגְ לִית עִ בְ ִרית ַתעְ ִתיק Interrogative ha-, ha-, he- ־ prefix of 1st word ֶּ ה, הַ ־,הֲ ־ How…? EiCH ֵאיְך kaMAH (KAmah)* כַמָּ ה Why…? laMAH (LAmah)* לָּמָּ ה How many (much)…? Why…? maDU’a ַמַ דּוע To how many lechaMAH (much)…? (leCHAmah)* Who…? MI ְלכַמָּ ה Which…? What…? To which…? To what…? Which…? What…? eiZEH (EIzeh)* ֵאיזֶּה leeiZEH (leEIzeh)* ל ְֵאיזֶּה eiZO (EIzo)* ִמי How old is…? BEN kaMAH (KAmah)* בֶּ ן כַמָּ ה At which…? At what…? beeiZO (beEIzo)* To where…? leAN ֵאיזֹו בְ ֵאיזֹו In whom…? beMI בְ ִמי How old is…? BAT kaMAH (KAmah)* בַ ת כַמָּ ה To/for whom…? leMI ל ְִמי What…? MAH מַ ה\מָּ ה From where…? meiAyin מֵ ַאיִן maTAI מָּ ַתי To what…? leMAH לְמַ ה Where…? eiFOH (EIfoh)* ֵאיפֹה From what…? miMAH ִממַ ה From where…? me’eiFOH (me’EIfoh)* When…? From when…? mimaTAI ִממָּ ַתי ל ְָּאן מֵ ֵאיפֹה * The terms in parentheses show the (acceptable) pronunciations used by most speakers, whereas the terms above show the (proper) pronunciation in the formal language. More on this on the next slide. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 9 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Sentence structure and syntax rules (cont’d) The examples in the table show that some interrogative words may be prefixed with common prepositions and, thereby, form related interrogative terms. When the interrogative prefix הֶּ ־, הַ ־, הֲ ־is applied to the first word in an ordinary sentence, it turns the sentence into a question after a minor modification of the syntax. Some interrogative words may be preceded by certain elements, such as the preposition עַ ד, (AD; “to, till”), which turns the combination into an interrogative phrase of its own, e.g., ( עַ ד מָּ ַתיAD maTAI; “Till when…?”). The examples in the table also show that several different interrogative words have the same meanings. In colloquial (spoken) Hebrew, some of these terms are generally interchangeable. However, formal Hebrew makes a distinction between questions that inquire about a reason and questions that inquire about a purpose. A notable example of this is the pair לָּמָּ הand ַ – מַ דּועthese two words are used in both ways by many Hebrew speakers. However, in formal Hebrew, לָּמָּ הis restricted to questions about the purpose of an action, the answers to which usually uses the word ( כְ דֵ יkeDEI; “in order to”). Similarly, ַמַ דּוע is restricted to inquiries about reason, the answers to which usually uses the word ( כִ יKI; “because”). Selected examples of questions & answers are shown on the next two slides. Modern Hebrew for Beginners Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 10 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) Questions & Answers – (sheeiLOT u’tshuVOT) ּותשּובֹות ְ ְש ֵאלֹות ַאנְגְ לִית ַתעְ ִתיק עִ בְ ִרית ?אֹוכֵל מָּ ה ַא ָּתה What are you eating? (to a m.) MAH aTAH oCHEL (I am eating) cake. (aNI oCHEL) uGAH .(אֲ נִי אֹוכֵל) עּוגָּה To where are you going? (to a f.) leAN AT hoLEchet ?הֹו ֶּלכֶּת (I am going) to the shopping mall. (aNI hoLEchet) la’qenYON How much does this cost? (It costs) a dollar twenty. How old is your wife? She is thirty eight. How old is your husband? He is forty four. BAT KAmah ha’iSHAH shelCHA (ishteCHA) HI BAT shloSHIM u’shmoNEH BEN KAmah ha’baAL sheLACH (ba’aLECH) HU BEN arba’IM vearBA When is her birthday? maTAI YOM ha’huLEdet sheLAH In (another) two days. beOD yoMAyim Modern Hebrew for Beginners .(אֲ נִי הֹו ֶּלכֶּת) ל ֶַּקנְיֹון ?עֹולֶּה KAmah ZEH oLEH (ZEH oLEH) DOlar (ve)esRIM ל ְָּאן ַא ְת כַמָּ ה זֶּה .(זֶּה עֹולֶּה) דֹולָּר (וְ )עֶּ ְש ִרים ?)ש ְתָך ְ ( ִא בַ ת כַמָּ ה הָּ ִאשָּ ה שֶּ ּלְָך .ּושמֹונֶּה ְ לֹושים ִ ִהיא בַ ת ְש ?)עלְֵך ֲ ַשֶּ ּלְָּך (ב בֶּ ן כַמָּ ה הַ בַ עַ ל .הּוא בֶּ ן ַא ְרבָּ עִ ים וְ ַא ְרבַ ע ?שֶּ ּלָּּה Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. מָּ ַתי יֹום הַ הּולֶּדֶּ ת .בְ עֹוד יֹומַ יִם Module 11/Page 11 Hebrew Communications (cont’d) More questions & answers – (OD sheeiLOT u’tshuVOT) ּותשּובֹות ְ עֹוד ְש ֵאלֹות ַאנְגְ לִית ַתעְ ִתיק ? ַבַ גָּבִ יע ha’IM HEM zaCU ba’gaVI’a Did they win the (victory) cup? Yes. הַ ִאם הֵ ם זָּכּו .כֵן KEN How is it possible to get there from here? EICH efSHAR lehaGI’a leSHAM miPOH ?לְשָּ ם ִמפֹה ֵַאיְך ֶּאפְ שָּ ר לְהַ גִ יע .בְ ַרכֶּבֶּ ת beraKEvet By train. EIfoh hish’ARtem ET ha’yilaDIM Where did you leave the children? ?הַ ְיל ִָּדים At what time will the party start? beEIzo sha’AH tat’HIL ha’mesiBAH (The party will start) at 7:00 p.m. (ha’mesiBAH tat’HIL) beSHEva ba’Erev Why are you shouting? (to a m.) LAmah aTAH tso’EK (I am yelling) so that you will hear me. Why aren’t you working? (to a f.) (aNI tso’EK) keDEI shetishmeU oTI ?הַ ְמ ִסבָּ ה (aNI LO oVEdet) KI aNI ayeFAH בְ ֵאיזֹו שָּ עָּ ה ַת ְת ִחיל .(הַ ְמ ִסבָּ ה ַת ְת ִחיל) בְ שֶּ בַ ע בַ עֶּ ֶּרב ?צֹועֵ ק לָּמָּ ה ַא ָּתה .אֹותי ִ (אֲ נִי צֹועֵ ק) כְ דֵ י שֶּ ִת ְש ְמעּו ?עֹובֶּ דֶּ ת maDU’a AT LO oVEdet (I am not working) because I am tired. ֵאיפֹה ִה ְש ַא ְר ֶּתם ֶּאת .אֹותם) בַ בַ יִת ָּ ( ִה ְש ַא ְרנּו (hish’ARnu oTAM) baBAyit (We left them) at home. Modern Hebrew for Beginners עִ בְ ִרית מַ דּועַ ַא ְת ל ֹא .(אֲ נִי ל ֹא עֹובֶּ דֶּ ת) כִ י אֲ נִי ֲע ֵיפָּה Copyright ©2007-09 Uri Yosef for VirtualYeshiva.com All rights reserved. Module 11/Page 12