Suffixes in Hebrew

There are several suffixes in Hebrew which are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. Suffixes are used in the Hebrew language to form plurals of nouns and adjectives, in verb conjugation of grammatical tense, and to indicate possession and direct objects. They are also used for the construct noun form. The letters which form these suffixes (excluding plurals) are called "formative letters" (Hebrew: אוֹתִיּוֹת הַשִּׁמּוּשׁ, Otiyot HaShimush).

Gender and number

Due to noun-adjective agreement rules, these apply to nouns and to adjectival modifiers. In some cases, a masculine plural noun will have a feminine plural suffix and vice versa, but the adjectival modifiers are always the same.

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ָה   (Kamatz and He)	feminine singular	סוּסָה susa (mare) סוּסָה טוֹבָה susa tova (good mare)
ִים   (Chirik, Yud and Mem)	masculine plural	סוּסִים susim (horses) סוּסִים טוֹבִים susim tovim (good horses)
וֹת (Cholam and Tav)	feminine plural	סוּסוֹת susot (mares) סוּסוֹת טוֹבוֹת susot tovot (good mares)
ַיִם   (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Mem)	masculine and feminine noun dual form	יָדַיִם yadayim (two hands)

Construct State

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ַת   (Patach and Tav)	Changes a singular feminine noun to the construct form. of	תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה Torat Moshe (Torah of Moses)
ֵי   (Tzere and Yud)	Changes a plural masculine noun to the construct form. of	סִפְרֵי קְדוּשָׁה Sifre k'dushah (Books of holiness)

Pronominal Suffixes

Singular nouns

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ִי   (Chirik and Yud)	First person, singular possessive. My	סוּסִי susi (my horse) תּוֹרָתִי torati (my law)
ְךָ   (Shva and Final Chaf with Kamatz)	Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your	סוּסְךָ suscha (your horse) תּוֹרָתְךָ toratcha (your law)
ֵךְ   (Tzere and Final Chaf with Shva)	Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your	סוּסֵךְ susech (your horse) תּוֹרָתֵךְ toratech (your law)
וֹ ( Cholam male)	Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His	סוּסוֹ suso (his horse) תּוֹרָתוֹ torato (his law)
ָהּ   (Kamatz and He with Mappiq)	Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her	סוּסָהּ susah (her horse) תּוֹרָתָהּ toratah (her law)
ֵנוּ   (Tzere and Nun with Shuruk)	First person, plural possessive. Our	סוּסֵנוּ susenu (our horse) תּוֹרָתֵנוּ toratenu (our law)
ְכֶם   (Shva, Chaf with Segol and Final Mem)	Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your	סוּסְכֶם suschem (your horse) תּוֹרַתְכֶם toratchem (your law)
ְכֶן   (Shva, Chaf with Segol and Final Nun)	Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your	סוּסְכֶן suschen (your horse) תּוֹרַתְכֶן toratchen (your law)
ָם   (Kamatz and Final Mem)	Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their	סוּסָם susam (their horse) תּוֹרָתָם toratam (their law)
ָן   (Kamatz and Final Nun)	Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their	סוּסָן susan (their horse) תּוֹרָתָן toratan (their law)

Plural nouns

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ַי   (Patach and Yud)	First person, singular possessive. My	סוּסַי susai (my horses) תּוֹרוֹתַי torotai (my laws)
ֶיךָ   (Segol, Yud and Final Chaf with Kamatz)	Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your	סוּסֶיךָ susecha (your horses) תּוֹרוֹתֶיךָ torotecha (your laws)
ַיִךְ   (Patach, Yud with Chirik and Final Chaf with Shva)	Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your	סוּסַיִךְ susayich (your horses) תּוֹרוֹתַיִךְ torotayich (your laws)
ָיו   (Kamatz, Yud and Vav)	Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His	סוּסָיו susav (his horses) תּוֹרוֹתָיו torotav (his laws)
ֶיהָ   (Segol, Yud and He with Kamatz)	Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her	סוּסֶיהָ suseha (her horses) תּוֹרוֹתֶיהָ toroteha (her laws)
ֵינוּ   (Tzere, Yud and Nun with Shuruk)	First person, plural possessive. Our	סוּסֵינוּ suseinu (our horses) תּוֹרוֹתֵינוּ toroteinu (our laws)
ֵיכֶם   (Tzere, Yud, Chaf with Segol and Final Mem)	Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your	סוּסֵיכֶם suseichem (your horses) תּוֹרוֹתֵיכֶם toroteichem (your laws)
ֵיכֶן   (Tzere, Yud, Chaf with Segol and Final Nun)	Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your	סוּסֵיכֶן suseichen (your horses) תּוֹרוֹתְכֶן torateichen (your laws)
ֵיהֶם   (Tzere, Yud, He with Segol) and Final Mem)	Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their	סוּסֵיהֶם suseihem (their horses) תּוֹרוֹתֵיהֶם torateihem (their laws)
ֵיהֶן   (Kamatz and Final Nun)	Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their	סוּסֵיהֶן suseihen (their horses) תּוֹרוֹתֵיהֶן torateihen (their laws)

Conjugation of verbs

Qal Perfect

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ָה   (Kamatz and He)	Third person, feminine singular. She did	שָׁמְרָה shamra (she kept)
תָּ (Tav with Kamatz)	Second person, masculine singular. You did	שָׁמַרְתָּ shamarta (you kept)
תְּ (Tav with Sh'va)	Second person, feminine singular. You did	שָׁמַרְתְּ shamart (you kept)
תִּי (Tav with Hiriq male)	First person singular. I did	שָׁמַרְתִּי shamarti (I kept)
וּ (Shuruk)	Third person plural. They did	שָׁמְרוּ shamru (they kept)
תֶּם (Tav with Segol and Final Mem)	Second person, masculine plural. You did	שָׁמַרְתֶּם shamartem (you kept)
תֶּן (Tav with Segol and Final Nun)	Second person, feminine plural. You did	שָׁמַרְתֶּן shamarten (you kept)
נוּ (Nun with Shuruk)	First person plural. We did	שָׁמַרְנוּ shamarnu (we kept)

Imperfect

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ִי   (Chirik male)	Second person, feminine singular. You will do	תִּשְׁמְרִי tishm'ri (you will keep)
וּ (Cholam male)	Third and Second person, masculine plural. They will do, You will do	יִשְׁמְרוּ yishm'ru (they will keep) תִּשְׁמְרוּ tishm'ru (you will keep)
נָה (Nun with Kamatz and He)	Third and Second person, feminine plural. They will do, You will do	תִּשְׁמֹרְנָה tishmorna (they will keep) תִּשְׁמֹרְנָה tishmorna (you will keep)

Imperative

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
ִי   (Chirik male)	Feminine singular. do!	שִׁמְרִי shimri (keep!)
וּ (Cholam male)	Masculine plural. do!	שִׁמְרוּ shimru (keep!)
נָה (Nun with Kamatz and He)	Feminine plural. do!	שְׁמֹרְנָה shmorna (keep!)

Diminutive

Suffix	Meaning	Examples
וֹן (Cholam male and Nun)	Diminutive, sometimes masculine	סֵפֶר sefer (book) → סִפְרוֹן sifron (booklet) מַחְשֵׁב machshev (computer) → מַחְשֵׁבוֹן machshevon (calculator) מִטְבָּח mitbach (kitchen) → מִטְבָּחוֹן mitbachon (kitchenette)
ִית   (Chirik male and Tav)	Diminutive, sometimes feminine	שַׂק sak (sack) → שַׂקִית sakit (bag) כַּף kaf (spoon) → כַּפִּית kapit (teaspoon)

Loanwords

These sufixes (Hebrew: סוֹפִית sofit) often come from loanwords from English (Latin, Greek, etc...) which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms.

Suffix	Origin	Hebrew	Meaning	Examples
-graphy	Ladino	גְרַפְיָה- -grafya	field of study; writing	גֵּאוֹגְרַפְיָה geografya (hard g) geography קָלִיגְרַפְיָה caligrafya calligraphy
-ic/-ical	Biblical Hebrew/ English	ִי- i	of or pertaining to	נוֹסְטַלְגִּי nostalgi nostalgic פּוֹלִיטִי politi political מִיתִי miti mythic(al)
-ian/-an/-ish	Biblical Hebrew/ English	ִי- i	belonging to	רוּסִי rusi Russian אוּטוֹפִּי utopi utopian גֶּרְמָנִי germani (hard g) German בְּרִיטִי briti British פּוֹלִיטִיקַאי politikai politician קוֹמִיקַאי komikai comedian
-ar	English	ָרִי- ari	pertaining to	מוֹלֶקוּלָרִי molekulari molecular לִינֵאָרִי lineari linear קַוִּי kavi (means: line-pertaining to) linear
-ism	English	יזְם- -izm	movement; discriminatory belief	לִיבֶּרָלִיזְם liberalizm liberalism סֶקְסִיזְם seksizm sexism
-kinesis	Greek	קִינֶזִיס- -kinezis	movement, motion	טֶלֶקִינֶזִיס telekinezis telekinesis פְּסִיכוֹקִינֶזִיס psikhokinezis psychokinesis
-logy (and -ology)	Ladino	לוֹגְיָה- -logya	branch of learning	בִּיוֹלוֹגְיָה biyologya (hard g) biology טְרִילוֹגְיָה trilogya trilogy
-mania	Greek	מַנְיָה- -manya	obsession	פִּירוֹמַנְיָה piromanya (means: pyro-mania) pyromania קְלֶפְּטוֹמַנְיָה kleptomanya (means: klepto-mania) kleptomania
-maniac	English	מָן- -man	person with obsession	פִּירוֹמָן piroman (means: pyro-maniac) pyromaniac קְלֶפְּטוֹמָן kleptoman (means: klepto-maniac) kleptomaniac
-oid	English	וֹאִיד- -oid	similar, but not the same	אַנְדְּרוֹאִיד android android הוּמָנוֹאִיד humanoid humanoid
-onym	English	וֹנִים- -onim	name	אֶפּוֹנִים eponim eponym הֶטְרוֹנִים hetronim heteronym
-scope	English	סְקוֹפּ- -skop	instrument for viewing	טֶלֶסְקוֹפּ teleskop telescope מיקרוסקופ mikroskop microscope
-esque	French	ֶסְקָה- -eska	resembling	בּוּרְלֶסְקָה burleska burlesque הוּמוֹרֶסְקָה humoreska humoresque גְּרוֹטֶסְקִי groteski grotesque
-y	Ladino	יָה- -ya	having the quality of	קוֹמֶדְיָה komedya comedy הִיסְטוֹרְיָה historya history פִילוֹסוֹפְיָה filosofya philosophy
-meter	English	מֶטֶר- -meter	measuring device; units of measure	בָּרוֹמֶטֶר barometer barometer קִילוֹמֶטֶר kilometer kilometer
-nik	Yiddish/Russian	נִיק- nik	one connected with	מוֹשַׁבְנִיק moshavnik moshav member/resident נוּדְנִיק nudnik bothersome person

See also

• Affix
• Hebrew grammar
• Hebrew verb conjugation
• Prefixes in Hebrew
• Preposition
• Suffix

References

External links

• Hebrew Language: Root Words