Adjective agreement התאם התואר
A Hebrew adjective sits after its noun and copies three things: gender, number, and definiteness. Learn one adjective as a four-form set, not as a single English-style word.
Place the adjective after the noun and match gender, number, and the presence or absence of ה.
The adjective follows the noun: ילד גדול, not גדול ילד. That order holds for attributive adjectives inside a noun phrase. Predicative adjectives after a pause or a copula still agree in gender and number: הילד גדול. English speakers have to unlearn the adjective-first habit.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| בית לבן | bayit lavan | a white house | |
| דירה לבנה | dira levana | a white apartment |
Most adjectives have masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural. גדול, גדולה, גדולים, גדולות is the model. טוב, טובה, טובים, טובות is the same skeleton. Store the feminine singular; the plurals then follow the noun-plural endings ים and ות.
| ms | fs | mp | fp |
|---|---|---|---|
| גדול | גדולה | גדולים | גדולות |
| טוב | טובה | טובים | טובות |
| קטן | קטנה | קטנים | קטנות |
| חדש | חדשה | חדשים | חדשות |
הילד הגדול is the big boy; ילד גדול is a big boy. If the noun has ה, the adjective has ה. If the noun is a name or has a possessive, the adjective still takes ה: דן הגדול is odd as a set phrase, but הספר שלי החדש is a real pattern. Mismatch is immediately audible.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| הילד הקטן | ha-yeled ha-katan | the small boy | |
| הילדה הקטנה | ha-yalda ha-ktana | the small girl | |
| הספרים החדשים | ha-sfarim ha-khadashim | the new books |
When the adjective is the predicate, Hebrew often uses a zero copula in the present: הספר חדש. Do not add ה to that predicate adjective. הספר החדש is a noun phrase, the new book; הספר חדש is a sentence, the book is new. The article is doing different work in the two strings.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| הספר חדש | ha-sefer khadash | The book is new. | |
| הספר החדש על השולחן | ha-sefer ha-khadash al ha-shulkhan | The new book is on the table. |
Exceptions
Adjectives with a slightly different feminine
יפה is יָפֶה in the masculine and יָפָה in the feminine; unvowelled spelling stays יפה for both. רע / רעה is regular in writing. A few adjectives such as אחר / אחרת take ת in the feminine singular. Pointed text is the only place the יפה pair is visible.
| ילד יפה | yeled yafe | a handsome / beautiful boy |
| ילדה יפה | yalda yafa | a beautiful girl |
Invariable foreign adjectives
Some borrowed adjectives stay still, especially in casual speech, but textbook Hebrew still agrees them when a native pair exists. When you do not know, agree. Color words and size words in the core vocabulary all inflect.
Common mistakes
גדול בית → בית גדול
The adjective comes after the noun.
הילדה גדול → הילדה גדולה
Feminine noun, feminine adjective.
הספרים חדש → הספרים חדשים
Plural noun, plural adjective; as a sentence the predicate is חדשים without a second ה.
Go on to
This and that
Hebrew points with זה for a masculine thing, זאת or זו for a feminine thing, and אלה for more than one. The same words also work as a copula: זה ספר means this is a book.
A1 · 8 minComparatives
Hebrew does not inflect adjectives into “-er” forms. You build a comparative with יוֹתֵר and mi, a superlative with הַכִּי in speech or בְּיוֹתֵר in writing, and equality with כְּמוֹ.
A2 · 11 minSmichut, the construct state
Hebrew often chains two nouns so the first is “of” the second: בֵּית סֵפֶר, עוֹרֵךְ דִּין, כּוֹס קָפֶה. That chain is smichut, and the first noun frequently changes shape.
A2 · 13 min