Download Lesson 6

When single syllable nouns are made plural, the consonants will
either:
(1) remain unchanged
(2) double the final consonant by adding a
dagesh.
For Example:
Unchanged: ‫ סוׁס‬horse
‫ סוׁ ִסים‬horses
‫ ָּדם‬blood
‫ ָּד ִמים‬bloods
‫ עַ ם‬people
‫ עַ ִמים‬peoples
‫ חֵ ץ‬arrow
‫ ִח ִצים‬arrows
Final consonant doubled:
Geminate - when the last two consonants of a word are identical,
the word is a geminate.
Compare with Gemini (the Twins), a northern constellation.
‫( לֵבָּ ב‬heart)
Historically, many Hebrew words developed from three
consonants.
Over time, many geminate words combined duplicate consonants.
When the duplicate consonants combined, the words became
monosyllabic.
For example:
common
historical
‫עַ ם‬
‫עַ מם‬
(people)
‫חֵ ץ‬
‫חַ צץ‬
(arrow)
When a geminate noun is made plural, the missing duplicate
consonant manifests itself as a dagesh in the remaining twin
consonant.
Now Back to Monosyllabic Noun Plural Forms
(not just geminates)
The vowels of plural monosyllabic nouns will change under the following conditions.
1. If the noun is a geminate and the vowel is a tsere, the tsere is
replaced by a hireq.
For example: ‫( חֵ ץ‬singular) ‫( ִח ִצים‬plural) (arrows).
2. If the final consonant is a guttural or ‫ ר‬and the vowel is a patakh, the
vowel lengthens to a qamets. For example: ‫( הַ ר‬singular) ‫( הָּ ִרים‬plural)
(mountains)
3. If the vowel is a holem, it may change to a qibbuts. For example: ‫חֹק‬
(singular) ‫( חֻ ִקים‬plural) (statutes). However, the holem will not change
to a qibbuts if it is a defective writing for ׁ‫ו‬.
Note Some of the Rule Breakers:
‫ ִאיׁש‬man
‫ עִ יר‬city
‫ָּׁשים‬
ִִׁ ‫ אֲ נ‬men
‫ עָּ ִרים‬cities
‫ ִאשִָּׁה‬woman
‫ נ ִָּשים‬women
‫ ָאב‬father
‫ ָאבוֹת‬fathers
‫ רׁאׁש‬head
‫אׁשים‬
ִ ‫ ָּר‬heads
‫ יוׁם‬day
‫ י ִָּמים‬days
Modifications in Verbs with 2nd and 3rd Root
Gutturals
The first vowel of an active
participle is always either a
holem ׁׁ or a full holem ׁ‫ו‬.
‫כ ִֵֹׁרת‬
Masculine
Singular
no special
ending
Plural
‫ִׁים‬
Feminine
‫ ׁת‬or
‫ָּׁה‬
‫וֹת‬
The meaning of the active participle is one of continuing action or progress.
The active participle acts like an adjective and can be used attributively or
predicatively.
Remember: When an ending is added, sometimes the vowels of
propretonic or pretonic syllables will reduce…
…and when those pesky gutturals are involved, things
get really weird.
(gutturals are a pain)
When a verb has a guttural in the 2nd root position, the vowel
reduces to a composite shewa instead of a vocal shewa. For
example:
Singular
Plural
Masculine
‫ׁשֹאֵ ל‬
‫ׁשֹאֲ לִ ים‬
Feminine
‫ׁשֹאלת‬
or ‫ׁשֹאֲ ִָּׁלה‬
‫ׁשֹאֲ לוֹת‬
The holem is preserved, so you
can identify the verb as a
participle.
When a verb has a ‫ ח‬or ‫ ע‬guttural consonant in the third root position,
each of the vowels in the last two syllables change to a patakh in the
feminine singular form. For example:
Singular
Plural
Masculine
ֹ
ִַׁ ‫ׁשל‬
‫ֵח‬
‫ׁשֹלְ ִחים‬
Feminine
ֹ
‫ׁשלַחַ ת‬
or ‫ׁשֹלְ ִָּׁחה‬
‫ׁשֹלְ חוׁת‬
When a verb has an ‫ א‬in the third root position, the feminine
singular form maintains a tsere under the second root. The ‫א‬
refuses a vowel and is not pronounced. For example:
Singular
Plural
Masculine
‫מֹצֵ א‬
‫מ ְֹצ ִאים‬
Feminine
‫מׁצֵ את‬
or ‫מׁ ְצָאה‬
‫מׁ ְצאוׁת‬
The key: When the vowels make it hard to identify a participle,
look for the first syllable holem and look for gutturals that throw off
the expected vowel pattern.