Comprehensive study of Hebrew Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Hebrew personal pronouns function similarly to their English counterparts. They replace names and take the place of subjects in sentences.
Hebrew has separate pronouns for masculine and feminine as well as for singular and plural.
Examples: אני (‘ani) means “I,” אתה (‘attah) means “you” (masculine singular), and את (‘at) means “you” (feminine singular).
Unlike English, there are also different pronouns for “they” based on gender: הם (hem) means “they” (masculine), and הן (hen) means “they” (feminine).

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns, or pointing words, replace nouns and indicate specific persons or things.
In Hebrew, these pronouns are also affected by gender and number.
As an example, זה (zeh) is used to represent “this” (masculine singular) while זאת (zo’t) or זו (zo) denote “this” (feminine singular). The plural forms are אלה (‘elle) for “these” (masculine or feminine).

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions.
An important interrogative pronoun in Biblical Hebrew is מי (mi), which translates as “who”. Another is מה (mah), which generally means “what”.
Note that while מי does not change form regardless of gender or number, מה undergoes slight modifications depending on whether the noun it modifies is definite or indefinite.

Possessive Pronouns & Pronominal Suffixes

In Hebrew, possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, etc.) are generally expressed as pronominal suffixes, affixed to the noun they relate to.
For example, the word for “book” is ספר (sefer). “My book” would be ספרי (seferi), where the -י suffix represents “my”.
These pronominal suffixes vary depending on the gender, number, and type of the noun they modify.

Effective mastery of Hebrew pronouns will make your translation and interpretation of Biblical Hebrew smoother and more accurate. It’s worthwhile to spend ample time practicing the different forms in context.