3. The Definite Article, Fused Prepositions and אֶת

Hebrew has only one article, the definite הַ (ha-). There is no indefinite article: סֵפֶר is both “book” and “a book”. The article is attached to the word, and it brings two rules with it that you need for any simple sentence: fusing with prepositions, and the particle אֶת before a direct object.

How the article works

The article הַ is glued to the beginning of the noun and makes it definite, that is, known to the listener. It corresponds to English “the”.

When the article is needed:

• the thing has already been mentioned or is obvious from the situation: קָנִיתִי סֵפֶר. הַסֵּפֶר מְעַנְיֵן – I bought a book. The book is interesting;
• the thing is unique: הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ – the sun, הַיָּם – the sea;
• generalisations: הַיְּלָדִים אוֹהֲבִים גְּלִידָה – children love ice cream;
• after demonstratives: הַסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה – this book (both words take the article, see chapter 5).

The article is not used with names of people, cities and countries (דָּוִד, תֵּל אָבִיב, יִשְׂרָאֵל), nor before a noun with a possessive ending (סִפְרִי – my book). It is, however, part of some geographical names: הַגָּלִיל – the Galilee, הַנֶּגֶב – the Negev, הַכִּנֶּרֶת – the Kinneret.

Article and adjective: if the noun is definite, the adjective after it takes its own article: הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל – the big house. Without the second article the meaning changes: הַבַּיִת גָּדוֹל – The house is big (a complete sentence).

The vowel of the article

Normally the article is read ha-, and the next letter gets a dagesh (a dot): הַסֵּפֶר. Before the guttural letters א ה ח ע ר, which cannot take a dagesh, the vowel sometimes changes to a long “a” or to he-: הָאִישׁ (ha-ish) – the man, הָעִיר (ha-ir) – the city, הֶחָבֵר (he-chaver) – the friend. The difference is barely audible, and in unpointed writing it does not exist at all.

The prepositions בְּ, לְ, כְּ, מִ

The four most common prepositions are single letters written together with the next word:

Preposition + article

The prepositions בְּ, לְ and כְּ fuse with the article: the letter ה disappears and its vowel “a” moves onto the preposition. The result is בַּ (ba-), לַ (la-), כַּ (ka-). The preposition מִ does not fuse: מֵהַ (me-ha-).

In unpointed text בבית reads both “be-vayit” and “ba-bayit”; only the context tells you whether it is definite. Saying בְּ הַבַּיִת as two words is impossible.

In sentences:

• אֲנִי בַּבַּיִת (ani ba-bayit) – I am at home.
• הוּא הוֹלֵךְ לַסּוּפֶּר (hu holech la-super) – He is going to the supermarket.
• הִיא יָצְאָה מֵהַמִּשְׂרָד (hi yats’a me-ha-misrad) – She left the office.
• הַיְּלָדִים בַּגַּן (ha-yeladim ba-gan) – The children are at the kindergarten.

Small changes of the prepositions

• Before a letter with a shva, בְּ, לְ, כְּ are read “bi-, li-, ki-”: בִּמְקוֹם (bimkom) – instead of, לִמְכֹּר (limkor) – to sell, בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם (birushalayim) – in Jerusalem.
• מִ before a guttural letter (א ה ח ע ר) becomes מֵ (me-): מֵרוּסְיָה (me-rusya) – from Russia, מֵאֵיפֹה (me-eifo) – from where.
• The conjunction וְ (ve-, “and”) before the letters ב ו מ פ and before a shva is formally read “u-”: אֲנִי וּמִיכָאֵל (ani u-Michael). In conversation people often just say “ve-”.

The particle אֶת

This rule surprises every beginner. If the direct object (whom? what?) is definite, the particle אֶת (et) must stand in front of it. It has no translation.

An object counts as definite if it has the article, if it is a proper name (אֶת דָּוִד, אֶת תֵּל אָבִיב), a noun with a possessive ending, or a smichut with the article (אֶת בֵּית הַסֵּפֶר – the school). Names of languages (עִבְרִית) have no article, so no אֶת is needed before them.

With pronouns אֶת merges into one word: אוֹתִי (oti) – me, אוֹתְךָ (otcha) – you, אוֹתוֹ (oto) – him. The full table is in chapter 7 and in the Tables section. Example: אֲנִי אוֹהֵב אוֹתָךְ (ani ohev otach) – I love you (said to a woman).

The question “whom? what?” is built with אֶת as well: אֶת מִי אַתָּה רוֹאֶה? – Whom do you see? אֶת מָה אַתְּ רוֹצָה? – What (exactly) do you want?

What to remember

• One article, הַ, attached to the word; there is no indefinite article.
• An adjective after a definite noun takes the article too: הַבַּיִת הַגָּדוֹל.
• בְּ + הַ = בַּ, לְ + הַ = לַ, מִ + הַ = מֵהַ.
• A definite direct object always takes אֶת: אֶת הַסֵּפֶר, אֶת דָּוִד, אוֹתִי.