Particularities of Hebrew prepositions

Particularities of Hebrew prepositions

Basic Form of Prepositions

• The basic form of prepositions are standalone words connected directly to nouns or pronouns.
• Some common examples include: בְּ (be), meaning ‘in’; לְ (le), ‘to’ or ‘for’; מִן (min), ‘from’.
• These words typically precede the word they modify, much like in English.

Compound Prepositions

• Sometimes, multiple words join together to form colorful, descriptive prepositions known as compound prepositions.
• For example: לִפְנֵי (lifnei) literally ‘to the face of’ is used to mean ‘before’.

Prepositions with Pronominal Suffixes

• Hebrew prepositions often take pronominal suffixes, which act like English’s object pronouns (‘me’, ‘him’, ‘us’, etc.).
• Consider בְּ (be), ‘in’. When attached to the pronominal suffix for ‘him’ (־וֹ (-o)), it becomes בּוֹ (bo), ‘in him’.
• Note that the preposition and the pronoun are not separated but form one word, unlike in English.

The Preposition לְ and the Definite Article

• When the preposition לְ (le) appears before a noun with the definite article, the two words will contract and form a word with a daggesh in the first letter of the noun.
• Thus, לְהַ (leha) ‘to the’ becomes לַ (la).
• An interesting example can be the phrase לַמֶּלֶךְ (lamelech) meaning ‘to the king’.

The Particle אֵת

• The particle אֵת (et) is special because it has no English equivalent.
• It is used to introduce a direct object, often a definite noun, pronoun or a noun with a pronominal suffix.
• So in the sentence רָאִיתִי אֶת־הַסֵּפֶר (ra’iti et-hasefer), the meaning is ‘I saw the book’, with אֵת acting as an indicator of the direct object ‘the book’.

Remember, the use of prepositions in Hebrew can be flexible and idiomatic, sometimes differing considerably from English usage. Aim to get comfortable with their use in various contexts and patterns.