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There are several prefixes in the Hebrew language which are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. In Hebrew, the letters that form those prefixes are called "formative letters" (Hebrew: אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּשׁ, Otiyot HaShimush). Eleven of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are considered Otiyot HaShimush. These letters are Aleph (א), Bet (ב), He (ה), Vav (ו), Yud (י), Kaf (כ), Lamed (ל), Mem (מ), Nun (נ), Shin (ש), and Tav (ת). A mnemonic to remember these letters is איתן משה וכלב (Eitan, Moshe, v'Kalev), which translates to "Ethan, Moses, and Caleb."
Prefixes in Hebrew serve multiple purposes. A prefix can serve as a conjunction, preposition, definite article, or interrogative. Prefixes are also used when conjugating verbs in the future tense and for various other purposes.
Conjunctions
| Prefix | Meaning | Comments | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| ו (Vav) | and | Vav-conjunctive (cf. Vav-consecutive) can make the "v" sound (/v/) or the "u" sound (/u/). If it is used with other prefixes, this is always the first prefix. In front of ב, פ and מ waw (ו) is read as "u" sound. |
Inseparable prepositions
| Prefix | Meaning | Comments | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| ל (Lamed) | to, for, onto | The Inseparable Prepositions are pointed:
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| ב (Bet) | in, on, with, by |
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| כ (Kaf) | as, like |
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Other prepositions
| Prefix | Meaning | Comments | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| מ (Mem) | from/of/out of |
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Definite article
| Prefix | Meaning | Comments | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| ה (He) | the | Before ordinary letters (i.e. excluding gutturals and ר) it is הַ followed by a Dagesh Chazak. |
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| Before the weaker gutturals א and ע, as well as ר, it is הָ. |
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| Before the harsh gutturals ה and ח it is הַ. |
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| Before an unaccented הָ and עָ and always before חָ it is הֶ. |
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| Before an accented הָ and עָ it is הָ. |
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Interrogative
| Prefix | Meaning | Comments | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| ה (He) | ...? | Used to indicate a question. Can usually be distinguished from the definite article because it is vowelized with a chataf patach |
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Conjugation of verbs
| Prefix | Meaning | Comment | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| א (Alef) | I will | When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates first person, singular, future tense. I will. |
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| י (Yud) | He/They will | When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates third person, future tense. (Number and gender depend on suffixes.) He will or They will. |
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| נ (Nun) | We will | When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates first person, plural, future tense. We will. |
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| ת (Tav) | She/You/They will | When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates one of the following:
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Other uses
| Prefix | Meaning | Comments | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| שׁ (Shin) | that, which, who, whom |
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| ו (Vav) | changes past tense to future tense and vice versa | Used mostly in Biblical Hebrew as vav-consecutive (compare vav-conjunctive). Pronounced "va" when changing future tense to past tense. Usually pronounced "v'" or "u" when changing past tense to future tense. |
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European languages had a large stock of prefixes for technical terminology mostly taken from Greek and Latin. While Hebrew traditionally did not use this kind of prefixes, professionals in the Yishuv who started to teach and work in Hebrew were used to this terminology, and incorporated most of these prefixes into Hebrew. Meanwhile, people working on revitalising the language coined some Hebrew parallels, so today those foreign and Hebrew prefixes are used interchangeably.
![[icon]](#/media/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (February 2019) |
| Prefix | Origin | Hebrew | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ex- אֶקְס־ |
Latin | - | former |
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| un-/non- אַנ־/נוֹנ־ |
English/ Latin | אִי־ i[11] אָל־ al |
negation |
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| in-/il-/im-/ir- | Latin | אִי־ i | not, opposite of |
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| a- אָ־ |
Greek | - | lacking in, lack of |
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| prae- פְּרֵ־ |
Latin | טְרוֹם־ trom קְדַם־ qdam |
before |
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| post- פּוֹסְט־ |
Latin | אַחַרְ־ aḥar בָּתַר־ batar |
after |
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| pro- פְּרוֹ־ |
Greek | - | for, on the side of |
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| inter- אִינְטֶר־ |
Latin | בֵּין־ ben | between, among |
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| intra- אִינְטְרָ־ |
Latin | תּוֹךְ־ tokh פְּנִים־ pnim |
inside |
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| para- פָּרָ־ |
Greek | - | beside, beyond |
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| homo- הוֹמוֹ־ |
Greek | - | same |
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| hetero- הֵטֵרוֹ־ (often shortened hetro) |
Greek | - | different |
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| di-/bi- בּי־ |
Greek/Latin | דּוּ־ du | two |
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| geo- גֵּאוֹ־ |
Greek | - | relating to the earth or its surface |
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| retro- רֶטְרוֹ־ |
Latin | - | backwards |
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| semi- סֶמִי־ |
Latin | דְמוּי־ dmui- חַצִי־ ḥatsi- |
half, similar to- |
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| hemi- הֶמִי־ |
Greek | חֲצִי־ ḥatsi- | half |
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| electro- אֶלֶקְטְרוֹ־ |
Greek | - | electric, electricity |
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| anti- אַנְטִי־ |
Greek | - | opposite |
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| infra- אִינְפְרָה־ |
Latin | תַּת־ tat | below, beneath |
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| mono- מוֹנוֹ־ |
Greek | חַד־ chad | one, sole, only |
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| uni- אוּנִי־ |
Latin | חַד־ chad | one, whole |
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| poly- פּוֹלִי־ |
Greek | רַב־ rav | many |
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| multi- מוּלְטִי־ |
Latin | רַב־ rav | many |
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| tele- טֶלֶ־ |
Greek | - | at a distance |
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| super- סוּפֶּר־ |
Latin | עַל־ al | over, above, more than, better |
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| hyper- הִיפֶּר־ (soft i) |
Greek | - | extra specially, over, high |
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| tri- טְרִי־ (soft i) |
Greek | תְּלַת tlat | three |
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| re- רֶ־ |
Latin | - | again, back |
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| sub- סַאבּ־ |
Latin | תַּת־ tat | under, lower than, less than |
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| extra- אֶקְסְטְרָ־ |
Latin | חוּץ־ chutz | outside |
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| neo- נֵאוֹ־ |
Greek | - | new |
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| proto- | Greek | אָב־ av קְדַם־ qedam |
first, original, father |
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| socio- סוֹצְיוֹ־ sots'io |
French | - | society, social, sociological |
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| hydro- הִידְרוֹ־ |
Greek | - | relating to water, or using water |
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| hypo- הִיפּוֹ־ |
Greek | - | under or below something, low |
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| iso- אִיזוֹ־/אִיסוֹ־ izo/iso |
Greek | - | equal |
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| meta- מֶטָ־ |
Greek | - | after, along with, beyond, among |
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| mega- מֶגָ־ |
Greek | - | very large, million |
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| micro- מִיקְרוֹ־ |
Greek | - | minute size, 1/1,000,000 |
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| trans- טְרַנְס־ |
Latin | - | across |
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| idio- אִידְיוֹ־ |
Greek | - | individual, personal, unique |
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| pyro- פִּירוֹ־ |
Greek | - | fire |
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| re- | שִׁ־ she | again |
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| auto- אוֹטוֹ־ |
Greek | - | self |
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