Nouns

The Hebrew language uses circumlocution (The use of unnecessarily wordy language, especially when being vague or evasive) in the expression and formation of the case of nouns.

The Nominative Case

The nominative case has no individual case ending. The best clue to this case is the position of the word in the sentence. Generally, the subject follows the verb.

The Genitive Case

The genitive case is indicated by a unique combination of words called the construct relation, which we examine in more detail below.

The Ablative Case

The ablative case is shown by the user of the preposition מִן.

The Dative Case

The dative case is shown by the preposition לְ.

The Locative Case

The locative case is shown by the preposition בְּ, with the context, and also לִפְנֵי, אֵֽצֶּל, בֵּין, אֶל־, תַּ֣חַת, עַל and others.

The Instrumental Case

The instrumental case is shown by the prepositions בְּ and עִם. The difference between the locative and the instrumental can be found in the context.

The Accusative Case

The accusative case is designated by the position of the object in a sentence. Generally, the direct object follows the subject of the verb. A direct object that is determined, e.g., “I saw the man” in contrast to “I saw a man” is generally introduced in good writing style, although not in good poetry, by אֵת.

Direction

Direction or motion towards a place is indicated by the otherwise obsolete old accusative ending ָ ה, as in הָֽהָרָה towards the mountain, הָֽהָרָה to ground.

The Genitive Case

The genitive is clearly indicated by a combination of words called the construct relation. It is the construction that corresponds to the expression “of” in English. סוֹס הָאִישׁ “the horse ‘ of ’ the man” or “the man’s horse.” The substantive סוֹס is said to be in a construct state , and the noun אִישׁ is in the absolute state.

The governing noun

Must always stand first;
never takes the article;
must be followed immediately by a noun in the absolute state.
The genitive forms a compound word since the accent has been lost from the word in the construct state. When the accent is lost, the long vowels of the open syllables, unless characteristic, are volatilized, and the long vowels of the closed syllable are shortened.
The word in the construct state cannot be indefinite while the word in the absolute state is definite. Either both states are definite, or they are both indefinite.
דָּבָר word but דְּבַר אִישׁ. The kamets under דָּ in the first consonant of the word in the construct state will volatilize to a shewa (דְּ) and the second vowel kamets (בָ) will convert to a pathah (בַ), a word of a man.
יָד “hand”, converts to יַד הַבֵּן “the hand of the son”. כֹּל “all”, becomes כָּל הָאָ֣רֶץ “(the) all of the earth”. תּוֹרָה “law” changes to תּוֹרַה יהוה a law of Yihewh.

Gender and Number

Hebrew has two genders, masculine and feminine, and three numbers, singular, plural, and dual. The dual is confined to nouns and is used in the names of objects that go in pairs (ears, eyes, feet, etc.). The following table gives the various endings of gender and number.
SingularPlural
MasculineAbsolute סוּס סוּסִים
Construct סוּס סוּסֵי
Feminine Absolute סוּסָה סוּסוֹת
Construct סוּסַת סוּסוֹת
Dual
Masculine Absolute סוּסַ֣יִם
Construct סוּסֵי
Absolute סֽוּסָתַ֣יִם
Feminine Construct סֽוּסְתֵי

Notes

The masculine singular

The masculine singular has no separate ending. סוּס horse, טוֹב good, קוֹל voice.

To form the plural of a masculine noun

To form the plural of a masculine noun ִים is usually added to the masculine singular form. סוּסִים horses, טוֹבִים the good (men).

The feminine singular

The feminine singular ending is ָה, formed from the original ending ַת. There are still times were the old ַת ending is added before the suffixes. Most words which end in ָה are feminine. שָׂרָה princess, טוֹבַה good (woman), סוּסַה mare.

The feminine plural

The feminine plural ends with וֹת
דוֹר generation (men), דוֹרוֹת generations (women), שָׂרוֹת princesses, פָּרוֹת cows (female), טוֹבוֹת good (women).

The dual ending

The dual ending is the same for the masculine and feminine אַ֣יִם (א is a placeholder, not part of the ending). יָדַ֣יִם hands (a pair of hands), אָזְנַ֣יִם ears (a pair of ears).

Irregular plurals

  1. Some masculine nouns use the feminine plural ending.
    אָבוֹת fathers, אוֹתוֹת signs, מְקוֹמוֹת places, קוֹלוֹת voices, שֵׁמוֹת names
  2. Some feminine nouns use the masculine plural endings.
    יוֹנִם ( comes from יוֹנָה) doves, מִלְּים (comes from מִלָּה) words
  3. Some nouns have two plurals, one in ִים and one in וֹת.
    דּוֹר generations, שִׁיר song, שָׁנָה year
  4. Some nouns are found only in the plural.
    שָׁמַ֣יִם heavens, מַ֣יִם waters, פָּנִים faces