lesson 64



tapouzim

The next few lessons will all focus on the plural forms of our 20 verbs. The plural forms are really easy with totally regular endings. To get started we need the personal pronouns, so here we go:


we already know:

anee   = I
ata     = you (masc.)
at       = you (fem.)
hou    = he
hee     = she

and here comes the plural

anachnou = we
atem         = you (masc.)* 
aten          = you (fem.)*
hem          = they (masc.)
hen           = they (fem.)

* as in you guys. Since English makes no distinction between 2nd person singular and plural this is always a little ambiguous.

and of course the adjective has to be in accordance with the pronoun:

anachnou yafim      we are beautiful
atem gdolim            you are tall
aten gdolot              you are tall
hem chachamim     they are intelligent
hen chachamot       they are intelligent

and to find out more about pronouns and what they are all about watch this extraordinary TED talk 

 

'The Secret Life of Pronouns'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PGsQwAu3PzU

lehavin =  to understand

Before we go back to the present tense of verb conjugation (this time in the plural) I would like to do one more verb in the past tense because it is something one really needs on a day to day basis:

so how do you say I got it or more grammatically correct I understood in Hebrew? We did the verb lehavin a while ago. I understand = anee mevin (masc.) and anee mevinah (fem.).

the past tense plural

anee hevanti

atah hevanta
at hevant

hou hevin
hee hevinah

and here some examples:

hevanti   =   I understood
hevanti otcha   = I understood you (masc.)
anee lo hevanti   = I did not understand
anee lo hevanti oto   = I did not understand him

hevanta ?   = did you (masc.) understand ?
hevanta oti ?   = did you (masc.) understand me?
hevant ?   = did you (fem.) understand ?
hevant otah ?   = did you (fem.) understand her?

hou lo hevin   = he did not understand
hou hevin otcha   = he understood you (masc.)
hee hevinah   = she understood
hee hevinah otach   = she understood you (fem.)