2. Nouns
A Hebrew noun (שֵׁם עֶצֶם – shem etsem) has gender and number but no cases: the word does not change whether it is the subject or the object. On the other hand, the gender and number of the noun control the whole sentence: the adjective, the verb and the numeral all agree with it.
Gender
Nouns are either masculine (זָכָר – zachar) or feminine (נְקֵבָה – nekeva). There is no neuter. The gender is usually visible from the ending:
| Ending | Gender | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| no ending | masculine | סֵפֶר (sefer) – book, שֻׁלְחָן (shulchan) – table, יֶלֶד (yeled) – boy |
| ־ָה (-a) | feminine | יַלְדָּה (yalda) – girl, מוֹרָה (mora) – teacher (f), דִּירָה (dira) – flat |
| ־ֶת, ־ִית, ־וּת (-et, -it, -ut) | feminine | מַחְבֶּרֶת (machberet) – notebook, מְכוֹנִית (mechonit) – car, חֲנוּת (chanut) – shop |
Exceptions to memorise. Masculine words ending in ־ָה: לַיְלָה (laila) – night, אַבָּא (aba) – dad. Feminine words with no ending: עִיר (ir) – city, אֶרֶץ (erets) – country, דֶּרֶךְ (derech) – road, כּוֹס (kos) – glass, אֶבֶן (even) – stone. Paired body parts are feminine too: יָד – hand, רֶגֶל – leg, עַיִן – eye, אֹזֶן – ear.
Plural
The basic rule: masculine nouns take the ending ־ִים (-im), feminine nouns take ־וֹת (-ot). The feminine ending ־ָה drops off first.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| סֵפֶר (sefer) | סְפָרִים (sfarim) | book – books |
| שִׁעוּר (shi’ur) | שִׁעוּרִים (shi’urim) | lesson – lessons |
| יַלְדָּה (yalda) | יְלָדוֹת (yeladot) | girl – girls |
| מַחְבֶּרֶת (machberet) | מַחְבָּרוֹת (machbarot) | notebook – notebooks |
| מְכוֹנִית (mechonit) | מְכוֹנִיּוֹת (mechoniyot) | car – cars |
| חֲנוּת (chanut) | חֲנֻיּוֹת (chanuyot) | shop – shops |
Note that adding the ending often changes the vowels of the stem: sEfer – sfarIm, yEled – yeladIm. The stress moves to the ending.
Irregular plurals
Many common words take the “wrong” ending. The gender does not change: a table stays masculine and a year stays feminine.
| Masculine with ־וֹת | Feminine with ־ִים |
|---|---|
| שֻׁלְחָן – שֻׁלְחָנוֹת (table) | שָׁנָה – שָׁנִים (year) |
| מָקוֹם – מְקוֹמוֹת (place) | עִיר – עָרִים (city) |
| חַלּוֹן – חַלּוֹנוֹת (window) | מִלָּה – מִלִּים (word) |
| רְחוֹב – רְחוֹבוֹת (street) | אִשָּׁה – נָשִׁים (woman) |
| לַיְלָה – לֵילוֹת (night) | פַּעַם – פְּעָמִים (time, occasion) |
| כִּסֵּא – כִּסְּאוֹת (chair) | בֵּיצָה – בֵּיצִים (egg) |
| אָב – אָבוֹת (father) | דֶּרֶךְ – דְּרָכִים (road) |
| שֵׁם – שֵׁמוֹת (name) | צִפּוֹר – צִפֳּרִים (bird) |
So one says שֻׁלְחָנוֹת גְּדוֹלִים (big tables, masculine adjective) and שָׁלוֹשׁ שָׁנִים (three years, feminine numeral).
A few more words form the plural in a completely irregular way:
- אִישׁ – אֲנָשִׁים (ish – anashim) – man, person – people;
- בַּיִת – בָּתִּים (bayit – batim) – house – houses;
- בֵּן – בָּנִים, בַּת – בָּנוֹת – son – sons, daughter – daughters;
- יוֹם – יָמִים (yom – yamim) – day – days;
- אָח – אַחִים, אָחוֹת – אֲחָיוֹת – brother – brothers, sister – sisters;
- אִמָּא – אִמָּהוֹת (ima – imahot) – mother – mothers;
- רֹאשׁ – רָאשִׁים (rosh – rashim) – head – heads.
The dual
Paired objects and “two” units of time have a special ending ־ַיִם (-Ayim, stressed on the “a”):
| Singular | Dual | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| יָד (yad) | יָדַיִם (yadayim) | hand – hands |
| עַיִן (ayin) | עֵינַיִם (einayim) | eye – eyes |
| נַעַל (na’al) | נַעֲלַיִם (na’alayim) | shoe – shoes |
| – | מִשְׁקָפַיִם (mishkafayim) | glasses |
| – | מִכְנָסַיִם (michnasayim) | trousers |
| שָׁעָה (sha’a) | שְׁעָתַיִם (sha’atayim) | hour – two hours |
| יוֹם (yom) | יוֹמַיִם (yomayim) | day – two days |
| שָׁבוּעַ (shavua) | שְׁבוּעַיִם (shvu’ayim) | week – two weeks |
| חֹדֶשׁ (chodesh) | חָדְשַׁיִם (chodshayim) | month – two months |
| פַּעַם (pa’am) | פַּעֲמַיִם (pa’amayim) | once – twice |
With units of time ־ַיִם means exactly “two”: שְׁבוּעַיִם is two weeks, while plain “weeks” is שָׁבוּעוֹת. Paired body parts are feminine: יָדַיִם גְּדוֹלוֹת – big hands.
Mishkalim: guessing the meaning from the shape
Just as verbs have binyanim, nouns have patterns called mishkalim (מִשְׁקָלִים). A root is inserted into a template with a certain meaning, and once you know a few templates you understand unfamiliar words.
| Pattern | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| קַטָּל (katAl) | professions | סַפָּר – barber, טַבָּח – cook, נַהָג – driver, זַמָּר – singer |
| פּוֹעֵל (po’El) | the one who does | מוֹרֶה – teacher, רוֹפֵא – doctor, סוֹפֵר – writer, שׁוֹמֵר – guard |
| פַּעְלָן (pa’lAn) | a person with a permanent trait | שַׁקְרָן – liar, עַצְלָן – lazy person, בַּיְשָׁן – shy person, דַּבְּרָן – chatterbox |
| מַפְעֵל (maf’El) | tools | מַפְתֵּחַ – key, מַזְלֵג – fork, מַחְשֵׁב – computer, מַסְרֵק – comb |
| מִפְעָלָה (mif’alA) | places and institutions | מִסְעָדָה – restaurant, מִסְפָּרָה – hairdresser’s, מִרְפָּאָה – clinic, מִשְׁטָרָה – police |
| מִפְעָל (mif’Al) | rooms, places | מִשְׂרָד – office, מִטְבָּח – kitchen, מִדְבָּר – desert |
| פְּעִילָה (pe’ilA) | action (from pa’al verbs) | כְּתִיבָה – writing, פְּגִישָׁה – meeting, נְסִיעָה – trip |
| פִּעוּל (pi’Ul) | action (from pi’el verbs) | דִּבּוּר – speech, טִיּוּל – walk, trip, בִּקּוּר – visit |
| ־וּת (-ut) | abstract notions | יַלְדוּת – childhood, בְּרִיאוּת – health, תַּרְבּוּת – culture |
| ־וֹן (-on) | diminutives | סִפְרוֹן – booklet, כַּלְבּוֹן – puppy, מִלּוֹן – dictionary |
What to remember
- Two genders, no cases. Feminine nouns usually end in ־ָה, ־ֶת, ־ִית, ־וּת.
- Plural: ־ִים for masculine, ־וֹת for feminine. Exceptions do not change the gender of the word.
- The ending ־ַיִם is for paired objects and for “two” with units of time.
- The mishkal hints at the meaning: מִ…ָ…ָה is most likely a place, מַ…ֵ… a tool.
- The full table of endings and exceptions is 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.
