Adjectives

Adjectives (שֵׁם תּוֹאַר – shem toar) in Hebrew are used to describe objects, people, and phenomena. They change according to the gender and number of the nouns they describe. In addition, Hebrew has a specific word order for sentences with adjectives, as well as special forms for comparative and superlative degrees.

Agreement of Adjectives with Nouns in Gender and Number

An adjective in Hebrew must agree with the noun in both gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

Basic Rules of Agreement:

Masculine adjectives in singular form have no special endings:

Feminine adjectives in singular form usually end in -ה (-a):

Plural adjectives take the following endings:

- Withים (-im) for masculine nouns:

- Withות (-ot) for feminine nouns:

Exceptions

Some adjectives do not follow the standard rules for forming plurals:

Word Order in Sentences with Adjectives

Unlike in English, where adjectives usually precede the noun, in Hebrew the adjective follows the noun.

Examples:

If the noun has the definite article ה (ha-), the adjective must also have it:

Hebrew	Transliteration	Translation
הילד הקטן	(ha-yeled ha-katan)	the small boy
הספר החדש	(ha-sefer ha-chadash)	the new book

When multiple adjectives are used in a sentence, they follow the noun and are listed in logical order:

Hebrew	Transliteration	Translation
עיר גדולה ומודרנית	(ir gdola u-modernit)	a big and modern city

Degrees of Comparison (השוואה, סופרלטיב)

In Hebrew, there are two degrees of comparison: comparative (השוואה – hashvaa) and superlative (סופרלטיב – superlative).

Comparative Degree (השוואה)

Unlike in English or Russian, where adjectives change form to indicate comparison (e.g., "bigger, stronger"), in Hebrew, the comparative degree is formed by adding the word יותר (yoter) – “more” before the adjective.

Formula: יותר + adjective + מ (mi) + noun.

Examples:

Hebrew	Transliteration	Translation
הספר הזה יותר מעניין מהספר ההוא	(Ha-sefer ha-ze yoter me'anyen mi-ha-sefer ha-hu.)	This book is more interesting than that book.
הוא יותר חכם ממני	(Hu yoter chacham mimeni.)	He is smarter than me.
החוף בתל אביב יותר יפה מהחוף בירושלים	(Ha-chof be-Tel Aviv yoter yafe mi-ha-chof be-Yerushalayim.)	The beach in Tel Aviv is more beautiful than the beach in Jerusalem.

Superlative Degree (סופרלטיב)

The superlative degree is expressed using the word הכי (haki) – "the most," placed before the adjective.

Formula: הכי + adjective.

Examples:

Important Notes:

In spoken Hebrew, people often say יותר טוב (yoter tov) instead of הכי טוב (haki tov), but the latter is grammatically more correct.

Conclusion

Hebrew adjectives follow clear agreement rules, always come after the noun, and form degrees of comparison using additional words. Mastering these rules will help construct descriptive phrases and compare objects and concepts correctly. The next topic will cover pronouns and their usage in Hebrew.