Personal pronouns כינויי גוף
Hebrew personal pronouns mark person, gender, and number. You need them most in the present tense, where the verb does not tell you who the subject is.
Use אני, אתה, את, הוא, היא, אנחנו, אתם, אתן, הם, הן; drop the pronoun in past and future only when the verb already names the person.
Singular: אני, אתה, את, הוא, היא. Plural: אנחנו, אתם, אתן, הם, הן. את is feminine singular you and is not the object marker את; pointed text writes אַתְּ versus אֶת. אתן and הן are the feminine plurals. Mixed groups take אתם and הם in the standard language.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| אֲנִי | ani | I |
| אַתָּה | ata | you (ms) |
| אַתְּ | at | you (fs) |
| הוּא | hu | he |
| הִיא | hi | she |
| אֲנַחְנוּ | anakhnu | we |
| אַתֶּם | atem | you (mp / mixed) |
| אַתֶּן | aten | you (fp) |
| הֵם | hem | they (mp / mixed) |
| הֵן | hen | they (fp) |
כותב only says a masculine singular person is writing. אני כותב, אתה כותב, and הוא כותב share a verb form, so the pronoun (or a name) carries the person. Feminine singular כותבת still needs אני, את, or היא. Do not drop אני in the present the way Spanish drops yo.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| אני כותב | ani kotev | I write / I am writing (male speaker). | |
| את כותבת | at kotevet | You write (female). | |
| הם גרים בתל אביב | hem garim be-tel aviv | They live in Tel Aviv. |
כתבתי already means I wrote; אכתוב already means I will write. Speakers add אני for contrast or emphasis: אני כתבתי, לא הוא. Beginners can keep the pronoun everywhere until the conjugations are automatic. Names replace third-person pronouns whenever the referent is in the sentence.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| כתבתי מכתב | katavti mikhtav | I wrote a letter. | |
| אני כתבתי, לא היא | ani katavti, lo hi | I wrote it, not her. |
In the present, אני תלמיד needs no am. Third person often inserts הוא or היא as a copula between two nouns: דן הוא מורה. זה also works as a copula for identifying a thing. Past and future then use היה and יהיה, which are real verbs.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| אני תלמיד | ani talmid | I am a student. | |
| דן הוא מורה | dan hu more | Dan is a teacher. |
Exceptions
אתן and הן in speech
Many speakers use אתם and הם even when every person is female, especially in mixed or hurried talk. Feminine plural forms are still required in careful writing and are fully alive for other speakers. Understand both; produce אתן / הן when you know the group is female and the setting is standard.
אנו
אנו is a formal or written twin of אנחנו. You will see it in notices and news. Spoken Israeli Hebrew uses אנחנו.
Common mistakes
אתה כותבת → אתה כותב
אתה is masculine; the present verb must be masculine singular.
כותב מכתב → אני כותב מכתב
Present tense does not mark person; keep אני (or another subject).
את כותב → את כותבת
את is feminine you; the verb is כותבת.
Go on to
Possession with shel
The everyday way to say my, your, or Dan’s in modern Hebrew is של plus a noun or a pronoun ending. הספר שלי is the phrase you want in class and on the street.
A1 · 8 minPresent tense
The Hebrew present is a four-form participle: one each for masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural. It covers I am writing and I write, and it does not mark person.
A1 · 12 minyesh and ein
יש says something is there or that someone has it; אין says the opposite. Hebrew has no verb have in the present, so יש לי זמן is how you say I have time.
A1 · 10 min