The Hebrew Noun – Lesson 12
Vocabulary
סוּס†– horse
In Hebrew, there are only two genders: masculine and feminine. There is no neuter gender. Some nouns have both masculine and feminine versions – the above noun for “horse” is an example of this. In the masculine it refers to a stallion, but in the feminine it refers to a mare.
In grammar, “number” refers to whether a word is singular or plural. English has two numbers (singular and plural), but Hebrew has three. They are the same as English, except that a dual number is available to use for pairs of things. Note that the dual cannot be used with just any noun, but only nouns that naturally come in pairs, such as “foot” or “hand”.
This is the difference between singular and plural among masculine nouns:
סוּס†horse סוּסִים†horses
The singular is simply the normal vocabulary form of the word given at the beginning of the lesson. The plural adds יִם†to the end of the word.
This is how to change the number of a feminine noun:
סוּסָה†mare סוּסוֺת†mares
It is typical for feminine nouns to end in הָ†(exceptions are not uncommon). The original ending was תַ†, which is sometimes used instead. The feminine plural ending is וֺת†.
The dual is formed by adding an ending to the singular form of the noun. The dual ending is the same regardless of gender.
סוּסַיִם†pair of horses סוּסָתַיִ†ם†pair of mares
The dual ending is יִַם†. In the case of סוּס†, the feminine ends in a he (ה), which changes to a taw.
There are essentially four different endings in this lesson: the masculine plural, the feminine singular, the feminine plural, and the dual. However, Hebrew nouns of one gender sometimes use the endings of the other gender. There are also some nouns that are always plural, such as מַיִם
and אֶלוֺהִים†.
Note that מַיִם†and שמַיִם†are not dual, but plural. In the singular they are
מַי†and שָמַי†, and the plural ending, when added, gives the illusion of a dual ending.
יוֹ†מָ֑יִם†ה†מלְ†כה†מק֣וֹם†וסֻסִָ֑ים†וּ†מַֽלְ†כת†ה†ש†מַ֖יִם
הכֹּ†הן†ה†מַֽיִם†וְ†י†דַ֖יִם†דְ†בר†ו†המְ†לכִים†עי†ניִם