Duolingo Wiki
Advertisement
Duolingo Wiki

Basics is the fifth skill (assuming read left to right) in the Hebrew language tree. It has two lessons and teaches plurals and verb conjugation in Hebrew.

Grammar Notes[]

To Be[]

As you've possibly noticed by now, Hebrew does not have a form for "to be" - there actually are ways to do this, but they are confined to very specific circumstances. Instead, just give the pronoun.

Pronoun Overview[]

Speaking of pronouns, by the end of this skill you will have all of the Hebrew subject pronouns. They are listed below:

English Hebrew
I אני
you (masc. sing.) אתה
you (fem. sing.) את
he הוא
she היא
we אנחנו
you (masc. pl. or mixture) אתם
you (fem. pl.) אתן
they (masc. or mixture) הם
they (fem.) הן

Plurals[]

Plurals in Hebrew have the ending ים- . There are also a few irregular plurals to watch out for.

Verb Conjugation[]

As mentioned previously, Hebrew verbs in the present tense conjugate according to number and gender, so there are four forms to a verb.

Basic Conjugation[]

This is used for almost all verbs:

Masculine Feminine
Singular - ת-
Plural ים- ות-

Two-Letter Conjugation[]

If the masculine singular verb form has only two letters, then it conjugates slightly differently:

Masculine Feminine
Singular - ה-
Plural ים- ות-

The Magic ה[]

If the letter ה comes at the end of the masculine singular form then the conjugation is a little different. The masculine and feminine forms will be spelled the same (unless nikkud are used), but will be pronounced differently:

Masculine Feminine
Singular ה- ה-
Plural ים- ות-

Lessons[]

Lesson 1[]

  • נשים = women
  • אנחנו = we
  • ילדים = boys, children
  • רואים = see (masc. pl.)
  • רואות = see (fem. pl.)

Lesson 2[]

  • הם = they (masc.)
  • הן = they (fem.)
  • אתן = you (fem. pl.)
  • אתם = you (masc. pl.)

References[]

Duolingo Lesson: www.duolingo.com/skill/he/Basics

Advertisement