Lesson 8: More About Gender and Verbs
Vocabulary
| Translation | Hebrew |
| to give birth | יָלַד |
| to go out | יָצָא |
| to go | הָלַךְ |
| to know | יָדַע |
| to sit, to dwell | יָשַׁב |
Conjugation
Singular
| Translation | Hebrew |
| I kill, I am killing, I do kill (m.) | אֲנִי קוֹטֵל |
| I kill, I am killing, I do kill (f.) | אֲנִי קוֹטֶלֶת |
| you kill, you are killing, you do kill (m.) | אַתָּה קוֹטֵל |
| you kill, you are killing, you do kill (f.) | אַתְּ קוֹטֶלֶת |
| he kills, he is killing, he does kill | הוּא קוֹטֵל |
| he kills, she is killing, she does kill | הִיא קוֹטֶלֶת |
| Translation | Hebrew |
| we kill, we are killing, we do kill (m.) | אֲנַחְנוּ קוֹטְלִים |
| we kill, we are killing, we do kill (f.) | אֲנַחְנוּ קוֹטְלוֹת |
| you kill, you are killing, you do kill (m.) | אַתֶּם קוֹטְלִים |
| you kill, you are killing, you do kill (f.) | אַתֵּן קוֹטְלוֹת |
| they kill, they are killing, they do kill (m.) | הֵם קוֹטְלִים |
| they kill, they are killing, they do kill (f.) | הֵן קוֹטְלוֹת |
The Participle
As Mansoor points out, there is no present tense in Biblical Hebrew, though the participle will sometimes convey that sense. The above paradigm gives you some of the possible ways of converting the participle into equivalent English. Actual context will help you decide which is the best translation at any given point.
Further Information on Gender
Most nouns that end in either ָה - or ת- are feminine. Additionally, nouns that indicate females are obviously feminine, even if they do not end in he or tav, for example אֵם, mother.
There are some additional words, that although they do not appear feminine, are:
A. Nouns that denote parts of the body that come in pairs are usually feminine:
| Translation | Hebrew |
| hand | יָד |
| foot | רֶגֶל |
| eye | עַיִן |
| ear | אֹזֶן |
B. The following body parts, though they do not come in pairs, nevertheless are feminine:
| Translation | Hebrew |
| finger | אֶצְבַּע |
| tooth | שֵׁן |
| rib | צֵלָע |
| bone | עֶצֶם |
| tongue | לָשֹׁון |
| belly | בֶּטֶן |
C. Most body parts (see above for exceptions) that do not come in pairs, are masculine:
| Translation | Hebrew |
| mouth | פֶּה |
| head | רֹאשׁ |
| nose | אַף |
| back | גַּב |
The word for breast שַׁד is masculine, even though it is a body part that comes in pairs.
Reading
Please read pages 74-76 in Biblical Hebrew Step-by-Step.
Exercises
1. Memorize the Qal participle conjugation and all the vocabulary words above.
2. Do the Exercises on pages 76-78.