Prepositions & Clitics

Definite Article ה

The base form of a noun is indefinite and there's no indefinite article in Hebrew. To make a noun definite, we need to add a definite article prefix before the noun.

The basic form of the definite article is a הַ (Hey with Patah) followed by the first consonant of the noun, written as a Dagesh Forte in the first consonant. e.g. דָּבָר (davar, word) → הַדָּבָר (haddavar, the word)

Guttural letters (א, ה, ח, ע, ר) cannot take a Dagesh Forte. When the definite article is added to a word beginning with a guttural, the vowel under the Hey changes to compensate for the missing Dagesh.

Case 1: If a noun begins with a guttural letter א / ע/ ר, the Patah under the Hey of the article lengthens to a Qamets (ָ ).
e.g. אָדָם (adam, man) → הָאָדָם (ha'adam, the man)
e.g. עִיר (ir, city) → הָעִיר (ha'ir, the city)
Case 2: Before the guttural letters Hey (ה) or Chet (ח), the vowel under the article remains a Patah (ַ ), and there is no Dagesh Forte.
e.g. הַר (har, mountain) → הַהַר (hahar, the mountain)
e.g. חֶרֶב (ḥerev, sword) → הַחֶרֶב (haḥerev, the sword)
Case 3: If the first letter of the noun is a guttural beginning with a Qamets (ָ ), the article changes to הֶ (Hey with Segol)
e.g. חָכָם (ḥakham, wise) → הֶחָכָם (heḥakham, the wise one).

Proper nouns are always definite by definition and do not need a definite article.

Conjunctive ו

When nouns are coordinated, the conjunction ו is added before every noun except the first one. The basic form of the Conjunctive Vav is וְ (Vav with Sheva), which does not cause vowel changes when added to a noun.

However, its form changes depending on the initial letter of the word it prefixes.

Case 1: When prefixed to words beginning with bilabial consonants Bet (ב), Mem (מ), or Pey (פ), or beginning with any consonant with a Sheva (ְ ) (except Yod, see Case 4), the Vav takes the form of a Shureq (וּ). If the initial letter of the word is a Begedkephat letter (ב, ג, ד, כ, פ, ת) and would normally have a dagesh lene, that dagesh is lost because it's now preceded by a vowel sound.
e.g. וּבָנִים (uvanim, and sons), וּמֶלֶךְ (umelekh, and king), וּפֶרֶץ (uperetz, and breach)
e.g. before Sheva: וּשְׁמוּאֵל (ushmuel, and Samuel)
Case 2: When prefixed to a guttural letter (א, ה, ח, ע, ר) that has a reduced (hatef) vowel, the Vav will take the corresponding unreduced vowel as its own vowel. This is because having two vocal shevas in a row (the hatef vowel is a type of vocal sheva) is forbidden in Hebrew.
e.g. וֶאֱמֶת (ve'emet, and truth) - The Hatef Segol (ֱ ) of Aleph transfers its corresponding unreduced form (Segol, ֶ ) to the Vav.
e.g. וָחֳלִי (vacholi, and sickness) - The Hatef Qamets (ֳ ) of Chet transfers its unreduced Qamets (ָ ) to the Vav.
Exception. וֵאלֹהִים (velohim, and God) - When the Vav is added to אֱלֹהִים, the Hatef Segol of the Aleph transfers its corresponding unreduced form (Segol) to the Vav, but the Aleph becomes quiescent. The Vav then lengthens from a Segol to a Tsere (ֵ ) to compensate.
Case 3: In the case of single-syllable words (and some segolate nouns), the vowel under the Conjunctive Vav is a Qamets (ָ ).
e.g. וָכֹל (vakol, and all), וָעָם (va'am, and people)
Case 4: When a word begins with a Yod with a Sheva (יְ), the Conjunctive Vav combines to form a Hireq Yod vowel.
e.g. אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם (eretz tzion virushalayim, live in Zion and Jerusalem)

Inseparable Prepositions

There are three inseparable prepositions that attach themselves as prefixes on words. When prefixed on a noun, they are normally accompanied by a vocal sheva.

בְּ (be) - in, on, by, with, when, against
כְּ (ke) - like, as, according to, about (time)
לְ (le) - to, for, into, belonging to, at (a specific place / time point)

Their forms change depending on the initial letter of the word it prefixes.

Case 1: If the word begins with a sheva, the sheva of the prep becomes a hireq.
e.g. רְקִיעַ (reqia) + בְּ (be) → בִּרְקִ֫יעַ (birqia, in the expanse)
e.g. דְּבָרִים (devarim) + לְ (le) → לִדְבָרִים (lidvarim, for words)
Case 2: If the word begins with a half vowel (hatef-patah, hatef-seghol, or hatef qamets), the sheva of the prep takes the matching full vowel.
e.g. אֲשֶׁר (asher) + כְּ (ke) → כַּאֲשֶׂר (ka'asher, according as, as, when)
e.g. אֲנָשִׁים (anashim) + בְּ (be) → בַּאֲנְשִׁים (ba'anashim, among men)
Case 3: If a word begins with a definite article, the ה is replaced by the consonant of the inseparable prep, and the vowel of the definite article is retained under the prep.
e.g. הַדָּבָר (haddavar, the word) + לְ (le) → לַדָּבָר (ladavar, for the word)
e.g. הָאִישׁ (ha'ish, the man) + כְּ (ke) → כָּאִישׁ (ka'ish, like the man)

Separable Prepositions

Common separable prepositions include:

אֶל (el) - to
עַד (ad) - until
עַל (al) - on
עִם (im) - with
אַחֲרֵי (aḥarei) - after, behind
בֵּין (bein) - between
בְּתוֹךְ (betoch) - in the midst
לִפְנֵי (lifnei) - before
תַּחַת (taḥat) - under, instead of
אֶת (et) - with. This prep should not be confused with the direct object marker אֶת, which is untranslated. Context will differentiate these two identical forms.

Prepositions Both Separable and Inseparable

מִן (min) - from

Case 1: When מִן (min, from) comes with a noun that has a definite article, it is usually attached with a hyphen and functions as a normal separable preposition.
e.g. מִן־הָאָ֫רֶץ (min-ha'aretz, from the land)
e.g. מִן־הַמָּקוֹם (min-hammaqom, from the place)
Case 2: When מִן (min) precedes a noun without a definite article, the nun נ assimilates, causing the initial consonant in the following word to double with a dagesh forte.
e.g. מֶלֶךְ (melech) + מִן (min) → מִמֶּ֫לֶךְ (mimmelech, from a king)
e.g. יוֹם (yom) + מִן (min) → מִיּוֹם (miyyom, from a day)
Case 3: When מִן (min) precedes a noun that begins with a guttural (which cannot be doubled), the נ still assimilates, but the hireq (ִ ) of מִן compensates by lengthening to a tsere (ֵ ).
e.g. עִיר (ir) + מִן (min) → מֵעִיר (me'ir, from a city)
e.g. אִישׁ (ish) + מִן (min) → מֵאִישׁ (me'ish, from a man)

כְּ extended form

The inseparable preposition כְּ also has a separable or extended form, כְּמוֹ (kemo). Pronominal suffixes are typically attached to this extended form.

Person	Hebrew Form	Transliteration	English Meaning
1CS	כָּמ֫וֹנִי	kamoní	like me
2MS	כָּמ֫וֹךָ	kamócha	like you [m.]
2FS	כָּמ֫וֹךְ	kamókh	like you [f.]
3MS	כָּמ֫וֹהוּ	kamóhu	like him
3FS	כָּמ֫וֹהָ	kamóha	like her
1CP	כָּמ֫וֹנוּ	kamónu	like us
2MP	כָּכֶם	kachem	like you [m.pl.]
2FP	כָּכֶן	kachen	like you [f.pl.]
3MP	כָּהֵם	kahem	like them [m.]
3FP	כָּהֵן / כָּהֵ֫נָּה	kahen / kahenná	like them [f.]