Introduction to Hebrew Grammar

Before we get to the specifics of Hebrew grammar, let's go over a few basic rules regarding how the Hebrew language is set up:


1. The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters. Vowels are primarily depicted as a series of dots either above or below the letters. Unlike English, the Hebrew language is read from left to right.

2. The sentence structure in Hebrew is similar to that of English. Many (but not all) Hebrew sentences have a subject as well as a verb. But, there are some key differences. For example, the verb "to be" does not have a present tense form, resulting in a number of special present-tense structures.

3. The Hebrew verb (פועל) works in a similar way to the English verb, but it's construction is distinct. Every Hebrew verb consists of a shoresh (or a root), a three or four consonant stem that is classified into one of seven binyanim (בניינים constructions)

4. The Hebrew noun (שם עצם shem etzem) is inflected for number and state.

5. In Hebrew, adjectives follow the noun it modifies and agree in gender, number, and definiteness with the noun.

6. Like English, Hebrew uses prepositions extensively, but how these prepositions appear differ greatly from English. Many of the most common prepositions in Hebrew are prefixes rather than separate words, and some, like direct object modifier את et, have no equivalent in English.