Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Interactive Learning Module

Pronouns

1. Introduction

  • Definition – A pronoun is a word that stands in the place of a noun. Pronouns can be grouped into several categories:
  • Personal Pronouns – These include subject pronouns (I, you, he, she etc.), object pronouns (me, you, him, her etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, your, his, her etc.) Like the nouns they replace, these pronouns all have gender (being masculine or feminine), number (being singular or plural), and person (being either first (I, we), second (you) or third (s/he, they) person).
  • Demonstrative Pronouns – Demonstratives are words like "this", "that", "these", and "those" which replace a noun by answering the question "which". One uses the singular "this" and plural "these" when speaking of something nearby, and "that" and "those" when speaking of something more distant. In Hebrew, demonstrative pronouns have distinct forms not only for the singular and plural (as does English), but also for gender.
  • Interrogative Pronouns – These pronouns are used to ask a question, such as "who", "what" or "which". In Hebrew, these are not differentiated for gender, number, or case (i.e. they have the same form whether they serve as a subject or an object).English interrogatives, too, do not have gender and number, but the words "who/m" are differentiated for case. "Who" is used when speaking of a subject and "whom" for an object.
  • Relative Pronouns – These are words like "who," "which," and "that" which connect two clauses of a sentence so as to provide more information about the noun or pronoun that precedes them. [For example, see usage of the word "who" in the sentence: "The mother comforted the boy who had fallen."] In Biblical Hebrew relative pronouns are not affected by number, gender, or case.
  • This module will explore personal pronouns, looking at both their form and function. A second module will delve into the other types of pronouns.

2. Subject Pronouns

  • As mentioned, personal pronouns can be either subjective (I, he, she), objective (me, him, her) or, alternatively, show possession (mine, his, hers). In Biblical Hebrew, only the subject pronouns stand independently as individual words, while the other personal pronouns take the form of suffixes added to either nouns or prepositions. As such, subject pronouns are sometimes also called "independent pronouns".
  • Terms – These independent pronouns are impacted by number (singular vs. plural), gender (masculine vs. feminine) and person (1st, 2nd or 3rd), leading to the following forms:
    • אֲנִי / אָנֹכִי (I)
    • אַתָּה (you, m.s.) and אַתְּ (you, f.s.)The dagesh in the taf of the second person forms is a dagesh chazak, marking the doubling of a letter. See Gesenius that it is possible that the original forms of these words had a "נ" before the "ת", as found in the second person pronouns of cognate languages. [In Aramaic, "you" is "אנת", in Syriac it is "אַנת" and "אַנתי", and in Arabic "ántā"]. The "נ" was assimilated into the "ת" and is marked by the dagesh.
    • הוּא (he) and הִוא / הִיא (she)
    • אֲנַחְנוּ (we)
    • אַתֶּם (you, m.p.) and אַתֵּן / אַתֵּנָה (you, f.p.)
    • הֵם / הֵמָּה (they, m.p.) and הֵנָּה (they, f.p.)
    • Click here for a chart.
  • Gender differentiation – Note that the first person pronouns (אֲנִי / אָנֹכִי and אֲנַחְנוּ, I and we) are exceptional in that they are not differentiated by gender and the same forms are used for both the masculine and feminine; all the other pronouns are differentiated.See Gesenius that it is common in many languages that 1st person pronouns are not differentiated by gender, because the person who is present and speaking needs no further indication. In the 2nd person, there is slightly more need for distinction as the person is simply being addressed, and thus some languages, like Hebrew, differentiate, while others, like English, do not. In the 3rd person, where the subject is absent, the most distinction is necessary. Thus both Hebrew and English account for gender in third person forms (though English distinguishes only in singular (between "he" and "she") but not in plural where "they" is used for both genders).
  • Alternative forms – As seen in the chart, several of the pronouns take more than one form:
    • "I" – Both "אֲנִי" and "אָנֹכִי" can express "I". Though both are very common, in later books of Tanakh there is a clear preference for "אֲנִי" and by Second Temple times, it seems that "אָנֹכִי" is only rarely used. [Compare usage of "אֲנִי" here with usage of "אָנֹכִי" here.]
    • "You" – The feminine, plural pronoun "you" appears as both "אַתֵּנָה" and "אַתֵּן", with the longer form being more prevalent. However, since the two forms only appear five times altogether, this might not be significant.
    • "She" – In Torah, the third person feminine singular appears consistently as "הִוא" (with only a handful of exceptions where we find הִיא); elsewhere it appears always as "הִיא".
    • "They" – There are two forms to express the masculine "they". The term "הֵם" is more dominant, but "הֵמָּה" also appears very frequently.
  • Rare variants – Several of the pronouns appear with quite rare variants, not noted above, as follows:
    • The first person plural "אֲנַחְנוּ" has two rare variations: אֲנוּ, appearing once (in the written but not read form of the word),Some words in Tanakh are written one way but pronounced in a different way. and נַחְנוּ" appearing five times.
    • In a handful of places, the word "אַתּ" takes the alternative form of "אתי"‎,See Gesenius that this might have been the ancient form of the word, matching the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic. The form is also attested to in some archaic second person feminine verbal conjugations, such as the written form "וירדתי" and "ושכבתי" in Ruth 3:3-4. appearing only as a "written" but not as a "read" form.Here, though written אתי, the pronoun is read as: "אַתּ"
    • There is also a variation of "אתה", where it is written (but not read) without the final "ה"‎.This form appears five times (see here and here)..

3. Subject Pronouns: Usage

  • Subject-predicate sentences – Often, the independent pronoun functions as the subject in a subject-predicate sentence,Subject-predicate sentences are comprised (in English) of a subject, state of being verb, and a predicate. Examples include: "He is the king" and: "You are pretty". as in the following: "אַתָּה הָאִישׁ" ("You are the man") or: "חָזָק הוּא" ("He is strong").
    • In English, such pronouns connect to the noun or adjective with a state-of-being verb, but in Hebrew the verb is only implied.
    • In these subject-predicate sentences, there is agreement in number and gender between the pronoun and noun or adjective, but there need not be agreement in definitiveness.The noun and pronoun in the example given above, "אַתָּה הָאִישׁ", agree in number (both are singular), gender (both are masculine) and definitiveness (both are definite, for pronouns are definite by definition). In the sentence "חָזָק הוּא", the pronoun and adjective agree in number and gender but not in definitiveness.
    • The pronoun might either precede or follow the noun or adjective.Thus, one can find both "שׁוֹלֵחַ אֲנִי אוֹתְךָ" and "אֲנִי שׁוֹלֵחַ אוֹתְךָ" (both meaning: "I am sending you"). So too, one can find both "צַדִּיק אַתָּה" and "וְאַתָּה צַדִּיק" (both meaning: "You are righteous"). However, when the predicate is a noun, the pronoun is more likely to precede it, while when the predicate is an adjective, the pronoun is more likely to follow it.
  • Verbal sentences with participles – Pronouns may also be attached to a participle to make verbal sentences, such as: "אַתֶּם אֹכְלִים" ("You are eating") and "וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב" ("He was dwelling").
    • Here, too, state-of-being verbs are simply implied and there is agreement in number and gender between the pronoun and participle. The pronoun normally precedes the participle, though it might appear after as well.See, for example, "כִּי הוֹלֵךְ הוּא" in Bemidbar 22:22.
  • Other verbal sentences – Unlike in English, however, other verbal sentences do not require a pronoun, as the pronoun can be identified from the various inflections of the verb. For example, the "ו" suffix on the verb "עָמְדוּ" connotes that "they" stood, and the "י" prefix of "יַעֲמֹד" implies that "he" will stand, so no additional pronoun is necessary.
    • At times, one will nonetheless find both a verb and pronoun; often in such cases the doubling is emphatic (if only slightly so).
    • For example, Bereshit 15:15, reads "וְאַתָּה תָּבוֹא אֶל אֲבֹתֶיךָ בְּשָׁלוֹם". The pronoun is likely included to emphasize the contrast between the exile and servitude that Hashem decreed on Avrahams' descendants in the preceding verses with the peaceful end destined to Avraham. The verse might be translated as, "But, as for you, you will..."
  • Exercises – Translate the following and check yourself by clicking on the link and checking the English there:

4. Object Pronouns

  • Personal pronouns can function not only as the subject of a clause but also as the direct object of a verb. In English, the pronouns "me", "him", "her", "us" etc. are object pronouns, as in the sentence: "Mother saw him".
  • Pronomial suffixes – In Hebrew, object pronouns are not independent words but are rather marked by suffixes appended directly to the direct object marker "את"‎.For discussion of the direct object marker, see the Noun module. A definite noun is one which refers to a specified or previously identified person, place, or object, usually marked by the word "the" in English and by a ה' הידיעה in Hebrew. In Hebrew, definite direct objects are normally preceded by the word "את". Since pronouns are all definite, when serving as a direct object, they are thus appended to the word "את" or to the verb itself. These suffixes indicate number, gender, and person and are known as pronomial suffixes.Pronomial relates to the word "pronoun".
  • Appended to "את" – When these suffixesThis paradigm of suffixes is very similar to that used when attaching pronomial suffixes to prepositions to indicate their object (as seen in the unit on prepositions) or to singular nouns to show possession (as seen in the next few slides). are attached to the direct object marker, the various forms are: אוֹתִי, אוֹתְךָ, אוֹתָךְ, אוֹתוֹ, אוֹתָהּ, אוֹתָנוּ, אֶתְכֶם, אֶתְכֶן, אֹתָם, אֹתָן. [Note that there is a mappik in the "ה" of the second person, singular feminine form "אוֹתָהּ" and the unique vocalization of the "א" in the second person plural forms.] See here for the list in table form.It is important to distinguish between the pronomial suffixes used for the direct object marker, "את" and the preposition "את", meaning "with". Compare the two pardigms here.
  • Appended to the verb – When attached directly to the verb, suffixes are attached to the inflected form of the verb. As we have not yet learned how to conjugate verbs, details will be elaborated upon in the modules on verbs.
  • Exercise – Translate the following and check yourself by clicking on the link and checking the English there:

5. Possessive Pronouns

  • In English, possession is marked by placing a possessive pronoun in front of a noun (my book, his car, her house).
  • In Biblical Hebrew, in contrast, one adds pronomial suffixes to the noun. For example, קוֹל + ִי = קוֹלִי (my voice).
  • Two paradigms – There are two paradigms for these pronomial suffixes, one used for singular nouns (which are often referred to as Type I suffixes) and another used for plural nouns (often called Type II suffixes). Click here to see a table showing Type I suffixes and here for one showing Type II suffixes.
  • Notes on the chart:
    • Stress – In the Type I paradigm, inflected here for the word "קול", the first person plural forms have penultimate stress (marked in red). In the Type II paradigm, inflected here for the word סוסים, the second person singular forms, third person, feminine, singular forms, and first person plural forms all have penultimate stress.As the placement of the stress in a word often affects vocalization, the pointing of the nouns stems of different inflections will often vary depending on where the stress is.
    • "Heavy" and "Light" Suffixes – While most of the suffixes open with a vowel and have but one consonant, the second person plural suffixes (כֶם/כֶן) in the Type I paradigm and both the second and third person plural forms (כֶם, כֶן, הֶם, הֶן) in the Type II paradigm have two consonants. The former are known as "light suffixes" and the latter as "heavy suffixes". [The two groups often have different vocalization of the noun stems.]
    • Mappik – Note that the third person feminine singular has a mappik in the final "ה", indicating that it is serving as a consonant and not a vowel.

6. Form: Changes to the Noun Stem

  • Though the possessive pronomial suffixes remain fairly constant irrespective of the noun to which they are attached, the noun stems themselves often change when inflected.
  • By now, many of the changes should be somewhat expected, as they are similar to the changes we have seen in plural or construct state forms.
    • Vocalization changes – Some of the changes affect vocalization and are the result of the shift in stress from the noun stem to the suffix. This often causes propretonic or pretonic reduction of vowels in open, unstressed syllables,See the second unit on vowels that when a long kamatz or a tzere find themselves in an open syllable two positions before the stress (a propretonic syllable), they reduce to a sheva or, if under a guttural, to a chataf. Sometimes, a tzere found in an open syllable even just one stop before the stress (in a pretonic position) will similarly reduce. or the reduction of a long vowel to a short vowel in a closed unstressed syllable.See the second unit on vowels that unstressed closed syllables prefer short vowels. In addition, where a certain inflection would otherwise call for two consecutive shevas the "Rule of Sheva" will apply.See the module on vowels that Biblical Hebrew does not tolerate two consecutive vocal shevas, so that in inflections which would normally call for this, the first sheva reduces to a chirik and the second acts like a silent sheva.
      • Example: Many disyllabic nouns undergo the first change. Thus, for example, when adding a pronomial suffix to the word "מָקוֹם", the kamatz undergoes propretonic reduction, becoming a sheva to form: מְקוֹמִי, מְקוֹמְךָ etc.
      • Example: Many of the second person plural forms in the Type I paradigm undergo the second change. These suffixes uniquely open with a consonant, leaving the final syllable of the noun stem closed and unstressed. As such, when possible, the vowel of that syllable is shortened, with an original kamatz reducing to a patach. The inflection of the noun stem will, thus, often be identical to the construct form. For example, when the suffix "כם" is appended to "כּוֹכָב" it becomes "כּוֹכַבְכֶם"
    • Consonantal changes – Others changes affect the consonants and might relate to the partial dropping of feminine or plural markers and the like.
    • We will see many examples of the various changes in the coming slides.

7. Vocalization Changes to the Noun Stem

  • This and the coming slides will review some of the changes made to the noun stem when suffixes are added to singular nouns, with this slide focusing on monosyllabic nouns:
  • With Unchangeable Long Vowels – When inflecting monosyllabic nouns such as סוּס, קוֹל, and עִיר there is no change to the nouns stem. As these words all contain unchangeable long vowels, it is expected that they will not reduce. Thus, "קול" is inflected as follows:
    • קוֹלִי, קוֹלְךָ, קוֹלֵךְ, קוֹלוֹ, קוֹלָהּ, קֹלֵנוּ, קוֹלְכֶם, קוֹלְכֶן, קוֹלָם, קוֹלָן
  • Monosyllabic GeminatesSee the second module on nouns that "geminate" means "doubled" or "twin". Geminate nouns are monosyllabic nouns that have a hidden doubled root letter which might appear in a related noun or verbal root, but not in the two-lettered monosyllabic noun. For example, "חק" is related to the root "חקק", but missing the second "ק". – When adding pronomial suffixes to geminates such as חַג, חֵץ, חֹק, עַם, the noun stems follow the same changes made when inflected for pluralization:See the discussion in the noun module.
    • A dagesh is added to the the second consonant to mark the missing third root letter. Thus, "עם" is inflected as follows:
      • עַמִּי, עַמְּךָ, עַמֵּךְ, עַמּוֹ, עַמָּהּ, עַמֵּנוּ, עַמְּכֶם, עַמְּכֶן, עַמָּם, עַמָּן
    • If that letter is a guttural which cannot take a dagesh (as in פַּר below) the initial vowel is lengthened to a kamatz to compensate. [The kamatz will reduce back to a patach when found in a closed, unstressed syllable (see פַּרְכֶם), but not when found in a propretonic position].See the plural form שָׂרֵיכֶם which maintains the kamatz despite being two syllables before the accent.
      • פָּרִי, פָּרְךָ, פָּרֵךְ, פָּרוֹ, פָּרָָהּ, פָּרֵנוּ, פַּרְכֶם, פַּרְכֶן, פָּרָם, פָּרָן.
    • If the noun originally had a long vowel under its initial letter (as in אֵם below), it is reduced.Since these vowels now find themselves in a closed, unstressed syllable (due to the dagesh), they now take a short vowel. A tzere will reduce to a chirik and a cholam to a kubbutz.
      • אִמִּי, אִמְּךָ, אִמֵּךְ, אִמּוֹ, אִמָּהּ, אִמֵֵּנוּ, אִמְּכֶם, אִמְּכֶן, אִמָּם, אִמָּן

8. Vocalization Changes II

  • This slide continues to explore changes made to the noun stem when suffixes are added to singular nouns, focusing on nouns with either a long kamatz or tzere.
  • Nouns with a long kamatz – When inflected, the kamatz will often undergo propretonic reduction in open, unstressed syllables and reduce to a patach in closed stressed syllables. Thus:
    • Disyllabic nouns with an initial kamatz (like the word "מָקוֹם") will undergo propretonic reduction as follows:
      • מְקוֹמְךָ, מְקוֹמֵךְ, מְקוֹמוֹ, מְקוֹמָהּ, מְקוֹמֵנוּ, מְקוֹמְכֶם, מְקוֹמְכֶן, מְקוֹמָם, מְקוֹמָן
    • When a kamatz is found in the final syllable of the noun (like in the word "כּוֹכָב"), it will reduce to a patach in the second person plural forms (i.e before "heavy suffixes"), as seen below
      • כּוֹכָבִי, כּוֹכָבְךָ, כּוֹכָבֵךְ, כּוֹכָבוֹ, כּוֹכָבָָהּ, כּוֹכַבְכֶם, כּוֹכַבְכֶן, כּוֹכָבָָם, כּוֹכָבָָן
    • Sometimes, there is an unusual reduction, and instead of reducing to a patach, the kamatz reduces to a different short vowel.
      • Thus, the second person plural of "יָד" is "יֶדְכֶם" and of "דָּם" is "דִּמְכֶם".
    • Many words have a double kamatz (like the word "דָּבָר") and will experience both types of reduction.
      • דְּבָרִי, דְּבָרְךָ, דְּבָרֵךְ, דְּבָרוֹ, דְּבָרָָהּ, דְּבָרֵנוּ, דְּבַרְכֶם, דְּבַרְכֶן, דְּבָרָם, דְּבָרָן
  • Nouns with a tzere – The tzere, too, often experiences vowel reduction:
    • Disyllabic nouns with an initial tzere (such as לֵבָב) will undergo propretonic reduction:
      • לְבָבִי, לְבָבְךָ, לְבָבֵךְ, לְבָבוֹ, לְבָבָהּ, לְבָבֵנוּ, לְבַבְכֶם, לְבַבְכֶן, לְבָבָם, לְבָבָן‎Note that in the third person plural forms, there is a double change, both reduction of the initial tzere and reduction of the kamatz.
    • When a tzere is in the final syllable of the noun stem, reduction is much more variable.
      • Several such nouns, including participles (verbs acting as a noun, like "אוֹיֵב") undergo pretonic reduction. Where relevant, the "Rule of Sheva" will also apply.As such in the second person masculine and second person plural forms below, where one would otherwise expect two shevas, the first instead changes to a chirik.
        • אֹיְבִי, אֹיִבְךָ, אֹיְבֵךְ, אֹיְבוֹ, אֹיְבָָהּ, אֹיְבֵנוּ, אֹיִבְכֶם, אֹיִבְכֶן, אֹיְבָם, אֹיְבָן
      • Nouns of the pattern "יָתֵד" (vocalized with a kamatz followed by a tzere) or "כְּאֵב" (vocalized with a sheva followed by a tzere) do not undergo pretonic reduction.This is because, otherwise, there would be two consecutive shevas. Since the kamatz in the first pattern undergoes propretonic reduction, had the tzere also reduced, there would have been two shevas in a row. As many of these nouns never appear in the Biblical text with second person plural suffixes, it is hard to know with certainty how they behave there; it is likely, however, that they take their construct state forms, with some shortening to a patach and others not reducing at all:
        • a) חֲצֵרִי, חֲצֵרְךָ... (?)חֲצַרְכֶם b) כְּאֵבִי, כְּאֵבְךָ... (?)כְּאֵבְכֶם
      • Many monosyllabic nouns with a tzere (such as עֵד, גֵּר, נֵר, עֵץ) similarly do not undergo pretonic reduction when inflected. Here, too, due to lack of occurrences of second person plural forms, it is hard to know for certain how they behave when in such closed syllables, but based on their construct forms, they do not reduce at all:
        • נֵרִי, נֵרְךָ... (?)נֵרְכֶם
      • Two exceptions are the nouns "שֵׁם" and "בֵּן", which inflect as follows:
        • שְׁמִי, שִׁמְךָ, שְׁמֵךְ, שְׁמוֹ, שְׁמָהּ, שְׁמֵנוּ, שִׁמְכֶם, שִׁמְכֶם, שְׁמָם, שְׁמָן‎Note that the "Rule of Sheva" is applied in the second person masculine and plural forms.

9. Review Exercise

  • Exercise 1 – Write each of the following in Biblical Hebrew and check yourself by clicking on the link and finding the word in the verse: [Click here to remind yourself of the Type I suffixes.]
  • Exercise 2 – What is the difference in meaning between עֵצָה and עֵצָהּThe fomer means "advice", the latter means:"her tree"?
  • Advanced Exercise – See the phrase "כִּרְתוּ עֵצָהֿ" in Yirmeyahu 6:6. From the context, what does the word "עֵצָהֿ" mean? How would you have expected it to be pointed? [Note the rafeh mark on top of the heh which highlights the lack of a mappik.] See Rashi; how does he explain the word and its vocalization?As the word "עצה" cannot mean "advice" given the context, but it does not have a mappik as expected if it were to mean "her trees", Rashi suggests that the word is a collective form, meaning "[many] trees", just like "דגה" is a collective form for "fish". Thus, the phrase does not mean: "cuts its trees", but: "cut the trees".

10. Consonantal Changes

  • This slide will explore some examples of consonantal changes made to certain singular noun stems when Type I pronomial suffixes are added:
  • Feminine nouns ending in kamatz-heh – This ending is replaced by kamatz tafSee the noun module on the construct state forms regarding the reasoning for this. before light suffixes, and by the reduced patach taf before heavy suffixes. Other vowels in the noun stem reduce according to the rules learned above.
    • Thus: a) תּוֹרָה inflects to תּוֹרָתִי before light suffixes and to תּוֹרַתְכֶם etc. before heavy suffixes b) עֵצָה inflects to עֲצָתִי and עֲצַתְכֶם‎Note how the tzere also underwent propretonic reduction. c) אֲדָמָה inflects to אַדְמָתִי and אַדְמַתְכֶם‎Here, there is both propretonic reduction of the initial kamatz and implementation of the "Rule of Sheva", with the chataf lengthening to a patach.
  • Nouns ending in segol heh
    • In most of the inflections, these nouns drop the segol heh ending before adding the regular pronomial suffixes. In third person singular, though, they take a distinct suffix: ֵהוּ.
      • Thus: a) שָׂדֶה becomes שָׂדִי etc. but in the third person: שָׂדֵהוּ b) מַטֶּה becomes מַטִּי etc. but in the third person: מַטֵּהוּ
    • Alongside the above forms, several words take distinct suffixes for some of the other inflections as well. Many of these look like Type II suffixes used for plural nouns, yet context suggests that the nouns are singular:
    • The nouns אח, אב and פה – These nouns have a unique inflection, all taking their construct state forms (which exceptionally end with a "י") before a variant set of suffixes, as follows:Note that there are two forms of the third person singular.
      • אָבִי, אָבִיךָ, אָבִיךְ, אָבִיו/ אָבִיהוּ, אָבִיהָ אָבִינוּ, אֲבִיכֶם, אֲבִיכֶן, אֲבִיהֶם, אֲבִיהֶן‎Note the propretonic reduction in the second and third person plural forms. The word "אח" follows the same pattern.
      • פִּי, פִּיךָ, פִּיךְ, פִּיו/ פִּיהוּ, פִּיהָ, פִּינוּ, פִּיכֶם, פִּיכֶן, פִּיהֶם, פִּיהֶן

11. Segolates

  • SegolatesSegolates are nouns which, in their singular form, have penultimate stress. They are often pointed with two segols, a tzere-segol, or a cholam-segol; hence the name. take a unique form when pronomial suffixes are added, with the noun stem reverting to what is assumed to be their original monosyllabic forms, as follows:
    • Words patterned like מֶלֶךְ – The first letter of the stem takes either a patach or chirik. For example: a) מַלְכִּי, מַלְכְּךָ... מַלְכְּכֶם or: b) קִבְרִי, קִבְרְךָ... קִבְרְכֶם
    • Words patterned like סֵפֶר – The first letter of the stem takes a chirik (or if a guttural, a segol). For example: a) סִפְרִי, סִפְרְךָ... סִפְרְכֶם b) עֶדְרִי, עֶדְרְךָ... עֶדְרְכֶם
    • Words patterned like שֹׁרֶשׁ – The first letter of the stem takes a kamatz katan. For example: שׇׁרְשִׁי, שׇׁרְשְׁךָ... שׇׁרְשְׁכֶם
  • Guttural Segolates – Segolates which have gutturals in the second or third root letters inflect similarly, but in forms where there would have been two consecutive shevas, the chataf lengthens, following the "Rule of Sheva":
    • Words patterned like נַעַר – a) נַעֲרִי, נַעַרְךָ... נַעַרְכֶם
    • Words patterned like תֹּאַר – a) תׇּאֳרִי, תׇּאָרְךָ... תׇּאָרְכֶם
    • Words patterned like זֶבַח – a) זִבְחִי, זִבְחֲךָ... זִבְחֲכֶם or: b) זַרְעִי, זַרְעֲךָ... זַרְעֲכֶם
  • Finally, segolates of the pattern בַּיִת and מָוֶת take their construct state forms before suffixes are added, as follows:
    • a) בֵּיתִי, בֵּיתְךָ... בֵּיתְכֶם b) מוֹתִי, מוֹתְךָ,... מוֹתְכֶם

12. Review Exercise

13. Plural Nouns with Pronomial Suffixes

  • As mentioned, plural nouns take a a different set of suffixes, following the Type II paradigm.
  • Nouns eמding in "ים" – In most of the inflections, these nouמs take their plural form, but replace the plural ending with the pronomial suffix. However, before heavy suffixes (second and third person, plural forms), where the stress has moved to the last syllable, the noun stem contracts, taking the construct plural form of the noun, as seen in the paradigm. Several examples follow (with the plural and construct forms written first, followed by the nouns with a selection of light and heavy suffixes):
    • A full inflection (see a table here)
      • דְּבָרִים (דִּבְרֵי) – דְּבָרַי, דְּבָרֶיךָ, דְּבָרַיִךְ, דְּבָרָיו, דְּבָרֶיהָ, דְּבָרֵינוּ, דִּבְרֵיכֶם, דִּבְרֵיכֶן דִּבְרֵיהֶם, דִּבְרֵיהֶן
    • Nouns with unchangeable vowels
      • סוּסִים (סוּסֵי) – סוּסַי, סוּסֶיךָ... סוּסֵיכֶם
    • Geminates
      • חִצִּים (חִצֵּי) – חִצַּי, חִצֶּיךָ... חִצֵּיכֶם
      • חֻקִּים (חֻקֵּי) – חֻקַּי, חֻקֶּיךָ... חֻקֵּיכֶם
    • Nouns with kamatz
      • בָּנִים (בְּנֵי) – בָּנַי, בָּנֶיךָ... בְּנֵיכֶם
      • מִשְׁפָּטִים (מִשְׁפְּטֵי) – מִשְׁפָּטַי, מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ... מִשְׁפְּטֵיכֶם
    • Nouns with tzere
      • אוֹיְבִים (אֹיְבֵי) – אוֹיְבַי, אוֹיְבֶיךָ... אֹיְבֵיכֶם
      • זְקֵנִים (זִקְנֵי) – זְקֵנַי, זְקֵנֶיךָ... זִקְנֵיכֶם
    • Segolates
      • מְלָכִים (מַלְכֵי) – מְּלָכַי, מְלָכֶיךָ... מַלְכֵיכֶם
      • נְעָרִים (נַעֲרֵי) – נְעָרַי, נְעָרֶיךָ... נַעֲרֵיכֶם
  • Nouns eמding in "ות" – These nouns add the same suffixes, but directly to the plural form, without replacement. Vowels reduce as expected so that the noun stem becomes identical to the construct plural for all the inflections (with the extra tzere-yud at the end for the heavy inflections). Note that some words also take an alternative suffix for the third person plural, so, for instance, one can find "אֲבֹתָם" alongside "אֲבוֹתֵיהֶם". Examples follow (with the plural and construct forms written first, followed by the nouns with a selection of light and heavy suffixes):
    • A full inflection (see a table here)
      • אָבוֹת (אֲבוֹת) – אֲבוֹתַי, אֲבוֹתֶיךָ, אֲבֹתַיִךְ, אֲבוֹתָיו, אֲבֹתֶיהָ, אֲבֹתֵינוּ, אֲבֹתֵיכֶם, אֲבֹתֵיכֶן, אֲבוֹתֵיהֶם / אֲבֹתָם, אֲבוֹתֵיהֶן
        • Other examples
        • מִצְוֹת (מִצְוֹת) – מִצְוֺתַי, מִצְוֺתֶיךָ...מִצְוֺתֵיכֶם
        • בְּרָכוֹת (בִּרְכוֹת) – בִּרְכוֹתַי, בִּרְכוֹתֶיךָ... בִּרְכוֹתֵיכֶם
        • בָּנוֹת (בְּנֹת) – בְּנֹתַי, בְּנֹתֶיךָ... בְּנֹתֵיכֶם
        • נְפָשׁוֹת (נַפְשֹׁת) – נַפְשׁוֹתַי, נַפְשׁתֶיךָ... נַפְשֹׁתֵיהֶם / נַפְשׁוֹתָם

14. Review Exercise

15. For Further Study