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Formal is the eightieth skill (assuming read left to right) in the language tree for Hebrew. It has two lessons and teaches a few words that are common in formal Hebrew that have not been introduced so far.

Grammar Notes[]

Formal Question Words[]

Formal registers of Hebrew use a few different question words than the more colloquial Hebrew taught in the rest of the course. They are:

English Colloquial Formal
Why למה מדוע
How איך כיצד
Where איפה היכן
From where מאיפה מאין

For questions that don't use question words, formal Hebrew can also use a -ה in front of the first word of a sentence to indicate that it is a question, like:

  • ?היעדתם = Did you know?

You may also see contractions using מה followed by a pronoun beginning with -ה (such as מה הוא being contracted to מהו).

"Please" using נא/אנא[]

These two do not replace בבקשה, as they are only used in front of imperatives or infinitives to indicate that one should do something:

  • אנא לשלם פה = Please pay here.

Inflection of אין[]

לא is not used in the present tense in formal Hebrew; instead the word אין is inflected with pronominal suffixes:

Colloquial Formal Equivalent
אני לא איני/אינני
אתה לא אינךָ
את לא אינךְ
הוא לא אינו/איננו
היא לא אינה/איננה
אנחנו לא איננו
אתם לא אינכם
אתן לא אינכן
הם לא אינם
הן לא אינן

For the variants that use the double nun in the singular, they are also used to replace "(I am/she is/he is) gone/not here/not there" but are otherwise interchangeable.

Other Considerations[]

In addition, formal Hebrew will do some of the following modifications:

  • זאת will replace את זה;
  • אשר or -ה will replace -ש for relative clauses (i.e. someone that does X);
  • כי replaces -ש when the clause following it is an indirect quotation instead of just for direct quotations (i.e. "he said that he..."); and
  • -ה will disappear from both words when using "this X/that X."

Lessons[]

Lesson 1[]

  • היכן = where (hekhan)
  • מדוע = why (madu'a)
  • כיצד = how (ketsad)
  • עתה = now (atah)
  • מאין = from where (me'ayin)
  • נא = please (na)
  • גברתי = madam, ma'am (gvirti)
  • אדוני = sir, mister (adoni)
  • מה contractions

Lesson 2[]

  • אשר = that (asher)
  • הבה = let's (haba)
  • אנא = please (ana)
  • מאשר = than (me'asher)
  • -אינ inflections
  • using -ה for questions and relative clauses
  • כי as "that" instead of "because"

References[]

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

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