Nouns and adjectives · 49/60
The article הַ with prepositions
בְּ + הַ = בַּ, לְ + הַ = לַ, מִ + הַ = מֵהַ
The one-letter prepositions בְּ, לְ, כְּ merge with the article: the ה disappears and its “a” vowel moves onto the preposition. Without vowel points this is invisible — בבית reads both “be-bayit” (in a house) and “ba-bayit” (in the house). The preposition מִ does not merge, but its vowel changes to מֵ.
| Preposition | + article | Without article | With article |
|---|---|---|---|
| בְּbein, at | בַּba | בְּבַיִתbevayitin a house | בַּבַּיִתbabayitin the house, at home |
| לְleto | לַla | לְמִסְעָדָהlemis'adato a restaurant | לַמִּסְעָדָהlamis'adato the restaurant |
| כְּkeas, like | כַּka | כְּמוֹרֶהkemoreas a teacher | כַּמּוֹרֶהkamorelike the teacher |
| מִmifrom | מֵהַmeha | מִבַּיִתmibayitfrom a house | מֵהַבַּיִתmehabayitfrom the house |
| שֶׁלshelof | שֶׁל הַshel hano merge | שֶׁל יֶלֶדshel yeledof a child | שֶׁל הַיֶּלֶדshel hayeledof the child |
| עַלalon, about | עַל הַal hano merge | עַל שֻׁלְחָןal shulchanon a table | עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָןal hashulchanon the table |
| Rule | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| בְּ, לְ, כְּ before a letter with shva → בִּ, לִ, כִּ | בִּמְקוֹם, לִמְכֹּרbimkom, limkor | instead of; to sell |
| before יְ → בִּי, לִי (the yod loses its shva) | בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם, לִיהוּדִיםbirushalayim, lihudim | in Jerusalem; to Jews |
| מִ before a guttural (א, ה, ח, ע, ר) → מֵ | מֵעִיר, מֵרוּסְיָה, מֵאֵיפֹהme'ir, merusya, me'eifo | from a city; from Russia; from where |
| מִ before other letters doubles them (dagesh) | מִתֵּל אָבִיב, מִבַּיִתmitel aviv, mibayit | from Tel Aviv; from a house |
| וְ “and” before ב, ו, מ, פ and before shva → וּ | אֲנִי וּמִיכָאֵל, וּבְנֵיani umicha'el, uvnei | me and Michael |
In casual speech these details are often smoothed over (“ve-Michael”), but in pointed texts and on exams they are required.
Practise it in the app. Shoresh has conjugation, tense and binyan trainers, and the dictionary shows the forms of any word.
