Download Lesson 13

A nominal predicate is a noun phrase that occurs after a
verb and modifies the subject. For example: The king is
a great warrior.
Subject: The king
Verb: is
Nominal predicate: a great warrior
One simple Hebrew sentence form places the subject and
the nominal predicate next to each other. For example:
‫משה נ ִָביא צַ ִדיק‬
ֶׁ
Literal: Moses prophet righteous.
Idiomatic: Moses is a righteous
prophet.
Sometimes the pronouns ‫( הּוא‬he) and ‫( ִהיא‬she) are used
in this type of sentence. For example:
‫משה הּוא נ ִָביא‬
ֶׁ
‫צַ ִדיק‬
‫משה נ ִָביא צַ ִדיק‬
ֶׁ
‫הּוא‬
Literal: Moses he prophet righteous. (or)
Literal: Moses prophet righteous he.
Idiomatic:
Moses,
a righteous
The use of the pronouns
‫( הּוא‬he)
and ‫יא‬he
‫ ִה‬is
(she)
places
prophet.
emphasis on a part of the
sentence and answers the
questions “who is a righteous prophet?”
Our earlier example (Moses is a righteous prophet) without
the pronoun is a simple statement of fact.
To this point, we have focused on sentences without verbs. In each
case we have added is or are to create the idiomatic English translation.
We can convert these sentences into verbal sentences by adding the
Hebrew verb ‫הָ יָה‬, which in the perfect form means was or were. For
example:
‫משה נ ִָביא צַ ִדיק‬
ֶׁ ‫הָ יָה‬
Literal: Was Moses prophet righteous.
Idiomatic: Moses was a righteous
prophet.
Below are examples of nonverbal sentences we created in previous
lessons, which now can be converted to verbal sentences with the addition
of ‫הָ יָה‬.
‫ הָ יָה הַ ז ֵַקן בַ בַ יִת‬Literal: Was the old man in the house.
Idiomatic: The old man was in the house.
‫הָ יָה נַעַ ר עַ ל־הַ ֶׁד ֶׁרְך‬
Literal: Was young man on the road.
Idiomatic: A young man was on the road.
‫הַ נָהָ ר אֵ צֶׁ ל הַ ֶׁמלֶׁ ך הָ יָה‬
Literal: Was the king near the river.
Idiomatic: The king was near the river.
We negate each of these examples with the addition of ‫ל ֹא‬. For example:
‫לׁא הָ יָה הַ ז ֵַקן בַ בַ יִת‬
Literal: Not was the old man in the house.
Idiomatic: The old man was not in the
house.
In lesson 7 we learned about ‫ יֵש‬and ‫ אֵ ין‬as expressions of
existence and nonexistence. Our example was the following:
‫יֵש ִא ָשה‬
There is a woman.
‫יֵש נ ִָשים‬
There are women.
The tense for the above examples is usually taken from context.
We could also translate the examples as “there was a woman” or
“there were women.” ‫ הָ יָה‬can be used to replace ‫ יֵש‬in the perfect
tense.
The use of the preposition ‫ ל‬creates the meaning of “becoming”
when added to a sentence that uses ‫הָ יָה‬. For example:
‫משה ְלנ ִָביא צַ ִדיק‬
ֶׁ ‫הָ יָה‬
Literal: Was Moses to prophet righteous.
Idiomatic: Moses became a righteous
prophet.
The use of the preposition ‫ כ‬can create the meaning of “like” or
“acting like.” For example:
‫הָ יָה הַ נַעַ ר לַ ִאיש כְ בֵ ן‬
Literal: Was the boy to the man like son.
Idiomatic: The boy was like a son to the man.
Past tense possession can be created with the use of ‫ ל‬and ‫הָ יָה‬
instead of the present tense ‫ ל‬and ‫יֵש‬. For example:
‫הָ יָה ִש ְפחָ ה לַ ִא ָשה‬
Literal: There was maidservant to the woman.
Idiomatic: The woman possessed (or had) a maidservant.
Finally, when a sentence has a participial predicate, such as
‫( הַ ִא ָשה מׁ ֶׁד ֶׁדת‬The woman is measuring), it is not usually
converted with ‫הָ יָה‬.
The reason for this will be better understood as we study
Hebrew narrative syntax in upcoming lessons.
Most feminine singular nouns end in ‫ ָה‬, ‫ַת‬, ‫ֶׁת‬, ‫ִית‬, or ‫ ּות‬and
plural nouns in ‫וׁת‬.
These feminine nouns show a variety of changes when made
plural. Note the differences in the following selection of
feminine nouns:
Singular
Plural
‫ַמ ְלכּות‬
‫ַמ ְלכּויֹות‬
‫עֵ ת‬
‫ִע ִתים‬
times
‫בַ ת‬
‫בָ נֹות‬
daughters
‫ֶׁדלֶׁ ת‬
‫ְדלָ תוׁת‬
kingdoms
doors