4. Adjectives
An adjective (שֵׁם תֹּאַר – shem to’ar) describes a thing and always adapts to it: it repeats the noun’s gender, number and article. Two more differences from English: the adjective stands after the noun, and degrees of comparison are made with separate words.
Four forms
Every adjective has four forms: masculine and feminine, singular and plural. The endings are the same as for nouns.
| Meaning | m. sg. | f. sg. | m. pl. | f. pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| big | גָּדוֹל (gadol) | גְּדוֹלָה (gdola) | גְּדוֹלִים (gdolim) | גְּדוֹלוֹת (gdolot) |
| small | קָטָן (katan) | קְטַנָּה (ktana) | קְטַנִּים (ktanim) | קְטַנּוֹת (ktanot) |
| good | טוֹב (tov) | טוֹבָה (tova) | טוֹבִים (tovim) | טוֹבוֹת (tovot) |
| new | חָדָשׁ (chadash) | חֲדָשָׁה (chadasha) | חֲדָשִׁים (chadashim) | חֲדָשׁוֹת (chadashot) |
| old (of things) | יָשָׁן (yashan) | יְשָׁנָה (yeshana) | יְשָׁנִים (yeshanim) | יְשָׁנוֹת (yeshanot) |
| beautiful | יָפֶה (yafe) | יָפָה (yafa) | יָפִים (yafim) | יָפוֹת (yafot) |
| difficult | קָשֶׁה (kashe) | קָשָׁה (kasha) | קָשִׁים (kashim) | קָשׁוֹת (kashot) |
| interesting | מְעַנְיֵן (me’anyen) | מְעַנְיֶנֶת (me’anyenet) | מְעַנְיְנִים (me’anyenim) | מְעַנְיְנוֹת (me’anyenot) |
| Israeli | יִשְׂרְאֵלִי (yisre’eli) | יִשְׂרְאֵלִית (yisre’elit) | יִשְׂרְאֵלִיִּים (yisre’eliyim) | יִשְׂרְאֵלִיּוֹת (yisre’eliyot) |
Three types of endings:
- ordinary adjectives: feminine in ־ָה (gadol – gdola); the vowel of the stem is often shortened;
- adjectives ending in ־ֶה (yafe, kashe, רָזֶה – thin): the feminine ends in ־ָה with no ת: yafa, not “yafet”;
- adjectives ending in ־ִי (nationalities, “related to”): feminine in ־ִית: רוּסִי – רוּסִית, בֵּיתִי – בֵּיתִית (homemade). Participles and adjectives beginning with מְ… take ־ֶת: me’anyen – me’anyenet.
Agreement
The adjective agrees with the noun in gender and number, and with the real gender of the word rather than its ending: שֻׁלְחָנוֹת גְּדוֹלִים – big tables (table is masculine), נָשִׁים יָפוֹת – beautiful women, עִיר גְּדוֹלָה – a big city (city is feminine).
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| יֶלֶד קָטָן | yeled katan | a small boy |
| יַלְדָּה קְטַנָּה | yalda ktana | a small girl |
| בָּתִּים יְשָׁנִים | batim yeshanim | old houses |
| מְכוֹנִיּוֹת חֲדָשׁוֹת | mechoniyot chadashot | new cars |
| עֵינַיִם יָפוֹת | einayim yafot | beautiful eyes (eye is feminine) |
Position and the article
The adjective comes after the noun: literally “boy small”, “house old”. If the noun has the article, the article is repeated before the adjective:
- בַּיִת גָּדוֹל (bayit gadol) – a big house;
- הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל (ha-bayit ha-gadol) – the big house;
- הַבַּיִת גָּדוֹל (ha-bayit gadol) – The house is big (a whole sentence).
The last pair is the most important thing in this chapter. The second article turns two words into a phrase; leaving it out turns them into a sentence. Several adjectives follow one another, usually joined by וְ: עִיר גְּדוֹלָה וְיָפָה – a big and beautiful city.
“Very”, “a little”, “too”
מְאוֹד (me’od) – “very” comes after the adjective: טוֹב מְאוֹד – very good, בַּיִת גָּדוֹל מְאוֹד – a very big house. קְצָת (ktsat) – “a little” and יוֹתֵר מִדַּי (yoter midai) – “too” come before it: קְצָת קָשֶׁה – a little hard, יוֹתֵר מִדַּי יָקָר – too expensive.
The comparative
Forms like “bigger, prettier” do not exist. Instead, יוֹתֵר (yoter) – “more” or פָּחוֹת (pachot) – “less” is placed before the adjective, and “than” is the preposition מִ:
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| הַסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה יוֹתֵר מְעַנְיֵן | ha-sefer ha-ze yoter me’anyen | This book is more interesting |
| הוּא יוֹתֵר גָּבוֹהַּ מִמֶּנִּי | hu yoter gavoha mimeni | He is taller than me |
| תֵּל אָבִיב יוֹתֵר חַמָּה מִירוּשָׁלַיִם | Tel Aviv yoter chama mirushalayim | Tel Aviv is hotter than Jerusalem |
| זֶה פָּחוֹת יָקָר | ze pachot yakar | This is less expensive |
In speech יוֹתֵר is often placed after the adjective: גָּדוֹל יוֹתֵר. Both orders are correct. “As… as” is כְּמוֹ (kmo): הוּא גָּבוֹהַּ כְּמוֹ אַבָּא שֶׁלּוֹ – He is as tall as his father.
The superlative
“The most” is הֲכִי (hachi) before the adjective. The noun usually takes the article: הַיּוֹם הֲכִי חַם (ha-yom hachi cham) – the hottest day, הַמִּסְעָדָה הֲכִי טוֹבָה בָּעִיר – the best restaurant in town, הִיא הַיַּלְדָּה הֲכִי חֲכָמָה בַּכִּתָּה – She is the smartest girl in the class. The literary form is the adjective with the article + בְּיוֹתֵר: הַגָּדוֹל בְּיוֹתֵר – the biggest.
Colours
Colours are ordinary adjectives and agree with the noun. In the basic colours the vowel “o” turns into “u” in the feminine and plural forms:
| Meaning | m. sg. | f. sg. | m. pl. | f. pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | אָדֹם (adom) | אֲדֻמָּה (aduma) | אֲדֻמִּים (adumim) | אֲדֻמּוֹת (adumot) |
| blue | כָּחֹל (kachol) | כְּחֻלָּה (kchula) | כְּחֻלִּים (kchulim) | כְּחֻלּוֹת (kchulot) |
| green | יָרֹק (yarok) | יְרֻקָּה (yeruka) | יְרֻקִּים (yerukim) | יְרֻקּוֹת (yerukot) |
| yellow | צָהֹב (tsahov) | צְהֻבָּה (tsehuba) | צְהֻבִּים (tsehubim) | צְהֻבּוֹת (tsehubot) |
| black | שָׁחֹר (shachor) | שְׁחֹרָה (shchora) | שְׁחֹרִים (shchorim) | שְׁחֹרוֹת (shchorot) |
| white | לָבָן (lavan) | לְבָנָה (levana) | לְבָנִים (levanim) | לְבָנוֹת (levanot) |
The question about colour: בְּאֵיזֶה צֶבַע? (be-eize tseva) – what colour? Shades go after the colour: כָּחֹל כֵּהֶה – dark blue, יָרֹק בָּהִיר – light green.
What to remember
- The adjective follows the noun and repeats its gender, number and article.
- הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל is a phrase, הַבַּיִת גָּדוֹל is a sentence.
- Comparative: יוֹתֵר … מִ; superlative: הֲכִי.
- Full tables of adjectives and colours are in the Tables section.
Practise this in the app. In Shoresh every textbook topic comes with trainers: verb conjugation, tenses, binyanim, the imperative and choosing the right word in a sentence.
