Hebrew word parts — how prefixes, roots and suffixes build a Hebrew word
Hebrew glues its little words onto its big ones. Where English says and in your house in four words, Hebrew says וּבְבֵיתְךָ in one: u- (and) + ve- (in) + beit (house) + -cha (your). Learn the handful of prefixes and suffixes below and a page of Hebrew stops being a wall of unfamiliar words — most of them are familiar roots wearing a prefix or a suffix.
The seven prefixes
One letter each, attached to the front of a noun (or a verb, in the case of vav). Their vowel changes with the word that follows, but the letter is the clue.
| Prefix | Letter | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| וְ | vav | and / but | וְהָאָרֶץ |
| הַ | heh | the — or, at the start of a question, a question mark | הַשָּׁמַיִם |
| בְּ | bet | in / with / by | בְּרֵאשִׁית |
| כְּ | kaf | like / as / about | כְּמוֹךָ |
| לְ | lamed | to / for / belonging to | לְעוֹלָם |
| מִ | mem | from / out of (a shortened מִן) | מִמִּצְרַיִם |
| שֶׁ | shin | who / which / that (later Hebrew) | שֶׁהַכֹּל |
The verb prefixes
On an imperfect ("will") verb, the opening letter tells you who is acting — the same four letters spell the mnemonic אֵיתָן eitan.
| Prefix | Letter | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| יִ | yod | 'he / it will…' (imperfect, 3rd person) | יִמְלֹךְ |
| תִּ | tav | 'she will…' or 'you will…' (imperfect) | תִּשְׁמֹר |
| אֶ | alef | 'I will…' (imperfect, 1st person) | אֶקְרָא |
| נִ | nun | 'we will…' (imperfect, 1st plural) | נַעֲשֶׂה |
The suffixes
Endings carry possession (my, your, his), number (-im, -ot) and, on verbs, the person who did the action.
| Suffix | Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ־ִי | my — or, on a verb, a plural-construct joint | אֱלֹהַי |
| ־ְךָ | your (singular, masculine) | לְבָבְךָ |
| ־ֵךְ | your (singular, feminine) | יְשִׂמֵךְ |
| ־וֹ | his — or, on a verb, 'they did' | שְׁמוֹ |
| ־ָהּ | her — or the feminine ending, or "toward" | בַּעְלָהּ |
| ־ֵנוּ | our — or, on a verb, 'we did' | אֱלֹהֵינוּ |
| ־כֶם | your (plural, masculine) | עֲלֵיכֶם |
| ־הֶם | their (masculine) | לָהֶם |
| ־ִים | masculine plural | דְּבָרִים |
| ־וֹת | feminine plural | מִצְווֹת |
| ־תִּי | 'I did' (perfect verb, 1st person) | שָׁמַרְתִּי |
| ־תָּ | 'you did' (perfect verb, 2nd person) | בָחַרְתָּ |
Worked examples
The root in the middle
Strip the prefixes and suffixes away and what is left is the root — usually three consonants — that carries the core meaning. מלך m-l-k gives melech (king), malchut (kingdom), malach (he reigned), hamlich (he crowned). The Hebrew roots pages follow those families; the Hebrew verbs pages show what the verb patterns do to a root.