Pronouns and suffixes
You will see how Hebrew attaches "my, your, his, our" and "me, you" to the end of a word, read the person of a suffix from the panel's labels, and recognise the separate pronouns אֲנִי, אַתָּה and הוּא.
"My" and "your" on the end of a word
Deuteronomy 6:4 opens the confession that Israel recites daily.
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
Deuteronomy 6:4
"Our God" is one Hebrew word, ('eloheinu). English puts "our" in front; Hebrew attaches it to the end. A piece attached like this is a suffix. For a word like this the 원어 panel shows "suffix, personal" plus the person, gender and number. Here the person is first. The label "either gender" appears because the first person does not distinguish masculine from feminine.
A suffix mostly rides on three kinds of words. On a noun it means "my, your, his" (possession). On a verb it means "me, you, him" (the object). On a preposition it means "to me, with you". The persons are first (I, we), second (you) and third (he, she, they), each singular or plural. That is the whole system, and once you know it you can read a pronoun that is hiding inside a single word.
The common suffixes
Just recognise these; there is no need to memorise them. The table shows the forms on nouns, with the possessive meaning.
| Suffix | Meaning | Real word |
|---|---|---|
| -ִי | my | |
| -ְךָ (feminine -ֵךְ) | your | |
| -וֹ | his | |
| -ָהּ | her | |
| -ֵנוּ | our | |
| -ָם / -ֶם (-הֶם) | their |
Psalm 23 gives us several.
He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
Psalm 23:3
(nafshi) is "my soul", with the first-person suffix -ִי. (shemo) is "his name", with the third-person suffix -וֹ, which is among the commonest endings in the Old Testament (more than 1,500 times). One more thing to notice: a noun that carries a possessive suffix is in the construct form from the last lesson, so the panel shows "construct" and "suffix" together. In effect the noun is leaning on its "my" or "his".
Deuteronomy 6:5 has three second-person suffixes in a row.
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5
('eloheikha) is "your God", (levavekha) "your heart", and (nafshekha) "your soul". Each ends in -ְךָ. When you hear that sound, think "your". The panel reads "suffix, personal, second, masculine, singular".
On verbs and prepositions
The same endings attach to verbs and prepositions. In Psalm 23:3 (yancheni) is "he guides me": the final -נִי is the object "me". It occurs more than 900 times. A preposition works the same way: in Psalm 23:4 ('imadi) means "with me".
In Genesis 12:1 God says to Abram (lekha), "to you", a preposition with the suffix -ךָ. The same ending closes the verb ('ar'ekka), "I will show you". The lexicon files words such as לְךָ and בּוֹ under the suffix itself (, ); the panel also tags them "definite", which is the database's quirk, and you can ignore it: read "to you". The suffix ךָּ occurs over 700 times. The suffix for "me" is , and the one for "us" is , found about 270 times in words like אֱלֹהֵינוּ.
Two more to know. In Genesis 3:6 the woman gives fruit (le'ishah), "to her husband", with feminine -ָהּ. A plural "their" appears in (sheneihem), "the two of them" (Genesis 2:25). And at the end of Genesis 1:27 ('otam) is the object marker אֵת carrying a suffix: "them", as in "He created them".
Standing-alone pronouns
A suffix cannot stand on its own, but Hebrew also has free pronouns, which the panel labels "pronoun, personal". Three are very common.
('anokhi) and ('ani) both mean "I". אָנֹכִי appears about 360 times and אֲנִי about 870. The first word of Exodus 20:2, "I am the LORD your God", is אָנֹכִי, and Exodus 6:2 begins with אֲנִי יְהוָה. ('attah) is "you" (masculine singular), the "You" of "You are with me" in Psalm 23:4, about 740 times. (hu') is "he" or "it" and is found about 1,880 times; "she" is usually הִיא (hi'). In Genesis 15:2 Abram uses it of Eliezer.
A free pronoun beside a verb often adds emphasis, but for now it is enough to recognise "I, you, he".
Summary
Hebrew attaches "my, your, his, our" to the end of a word. On nouns the suffix means "my/your/his"; on verbs, "me/you/him"; on prepositions, "to/with me/you". The panel shows suffix, personal, person, gender and number, so read the labels. Remember also the free pronouns אֲנִי and אָנֹכִי (I), אַתָּה (you), הוּא (he).
Words in this lesson
- aniI874 times in the OT
- anokhiI359 times in the OT
- attahyou(m.s.)743 times in the OT
- huhe/she/it1,878 times in the OT
- nime908 times in the OT
- kayou727 times in the OT
- ohim1,550 times in the OT
- nuus272 times in the OT
Practice
- Practice 1 of 16
In , what is the person of the suffix?
- Practice 2 of 16
What does mean?
- Practice 3 of 16
What is the -וֹ on ?
- Practice 4 of 16
What does the ending -נִי do in ?
- Practice 5 of 16
What is the -ָהּ on ?
- Practice 6 of 16
What is ?
- Practice 7 of 16
Who is in Psalm 23:4?
- Practice 8 of 16
What do you expect to see on a noun that has a possessive suffix such as ?
Word practice
- Practice 9 of 16
אֲנִי (ani) — What does it mean?
- Practice 10 of 16
אָֽנֹכִ֫י (anokhi) — What does it mean?
- Practice 11 of 16
אַתָּ֫ה (attah) — What does it mean?
- Practice 12 of 16
הוּא (hu) — What does it mean?
- Practice 13 of 16
נִי (ni) — What does it mean?
- Practice 14 of 16
ךָּ (ka) — What does it mean?
- Practice 15 of 16
וֹ (o) — What does it mean?
- Practice 16 of 16
נוּ (nu) — What does it mean?
Original text and grammar: STEPBible (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0). Pronunciation: Erasmian Greek, academic Hebrew. The listen button uses the device’s modern Greek/Hebrew voice. Scripture quotations: BSB.