עבריתEXPRESS

Lesson 7: Describing Relationships in Space

and Time

The Ivrit Express series presents compact lessons in Biblical (not Modern) Hebrew grammar. It aims to reinforce (not replace) your classroom experiences.

Sometime soon, this slideshow will gain a soundtrack. It doesn’t have one yet, though.

This lesson introduces the basics of describing relationships in space and time—in grammatical terms, using prepositions.

Please note that this lesson assumes you are comfortable using subject pronouns as “equals signs.” If that’s not true, please practice a bit more with Lesson 2 in this series.

Relax, watch, and listen as you advance through the next few slides.

איש

בית

איש ובית

האיש הלך אל הבית

האיש הלך לבית

האיש הלך עד הבית

האיש הוא אצל הבית

האיש הוא על–יד הבית

האיש הוא לפני הבית

האיש הוא אחרי הבית

האיש הוא על הבית

האיש הוא בבית

האיש הלך מן–הבית

עוף

אדמה 

תולעת

העוף הוא ממעל לבית

האדמה היא תחת הבית

התולעת היא מתחת הבית

I recommend that you go through the foregoing picture slides at least three times before advancing to the grammatical discussion.

The next slide presents a diagram summarizing the most frequently-used Hebrew prepositions. Warning: the slide is pretty “busy.”

אחר

תחת- ב

- לאל

לפני

עד

על–ידאצל

על

מן

- כ עם

ממעל

מתחת

Biblical Hebrew has two kinds of prepositions: stand-alone and attached (the fancy word is “enclitic”).

The stand-alone prepositions are easy to use once you learn their meanings. You just say the preposition as a separate word right before its object.

So if I see a bird flying above a house, I can tell you, יש עוף ממעל לבית ההוא.

But notice that I had to use a ל to mark the object of the preposition. This isn’t always the case, but it’s the way ממעל works.

Over time, you’ll get to know each preposition’s preferences and requirements individually. There is no overarching rule to memorize.

A stand-alone preposition will often join up with its object (usually the very next word in the phrase) using a horizontal line called a מקף.

The מקף doesn’t change the preposition’s meaning. The phrases אל המקום and both mean “to אל–המקוםthe place.”

The combining prepositions require just a touch more attention. They join to the beginning of the word that serves as their object.

The preposition ל can mean “to, toward.”* Thus a man could go לדמשק, “to Damascus.” See how I just added ל to the front of the place name דמשק?

* It also has some other uses, like forming possessive constructions.

On the previous slide, you may have noticed that attaching a preposition can cause some spelling changes. You’ll grow accustomed to these over time, but let me point out two of them right now.

When you attach a preposition to a word that normally has a דגש in its first letter (like דמשק), that letter loses its דגש (because now it’s preceded by a vocal שוא).

The loss of דגש can change the word’s pronunciation. For example, if you go toward the city of בית–לחם (beit-le-CHEM), you are going .(l’veit-le-CHEM) לבית–לחםNotice how ב and ב make slightly different sounds.

When you attach a preposition to a word that normally has a vocal שוא under its first letter, the preposition’s vocal שוא will change to a חירק. If that first letter was a י, the י loses its and becomes part of a שוא.חירק מלא

Thus a man might go but he goes ,לדמשק.לירושלים or לפנואל

To say that a man is going to a house, you simply say איש הלך לבית. Very straightforward.

But what if you want to say that the man is going to the house, a specific house?

When you attach a preposition to a word that needs a definite article, you use the preposition’s consonant and the definite article’s vowel pattern.

Another way to think about this is that the preposition’s consonant “lies on top of” the definite article’s ה.

“The house” is הבית. When you add ל you get לבית, “to the house.” If you add ב, you get ”.in the house“ ,בבית

Finally, the preposition מן (often but not always meaning “from”) requires attention, because it can stand alone or attach to its object.

When מן stands alone, it acts just like any other stand-alone preposition. It usually joins up with the next word using a מקף.

When מן attaches to the following word, it takes the form מ, and the letter after the מ takes a דגש.

If the letter after the attached מ can’t take a because it’s a guttural) דגשor ר), the attached pronoun takes the form מ instead.

Whether מן attaches to its object or stands alone makes no difference to its meaning. Both מן–דמשק and מדמשק mean “from Damascus.”

If מן’s object has a definite article, it is far more common for מן to stand alone than to attach. If it does attach, it takes the form מ and does not replace the ה of the definite article.

Thus, “from the mountain” could be מן–ההר or מההר.

As you have seen, there is a lot to learn about prepositions! Most of it will become natural with time and practice. Review this lesson frequently to keep up your skills.

CREDITSScripted and narrated by

Dr. Chris Heard, Pepperdine University

Partially funded bya Pepperdine University

Faculty Innovation in Teaching and Learning Grant

Artwork licensed viaiStockphoto and Fotolia