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PricingAboutSupportPrepositions with Suffixes מילות יחס עם כינויים
A Hebrew preposition cannot sit in front of אני or אתה. The pronoun melts into the preposition: לי, בך, ממנו, איתי, עליה, and each preposition has its own little table.
Never use a subject pronoun after a preposition; use the fused forms לי, לך, לו, לנו and their cousins on be-, me-, את, עם, על, and אל.
לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, לכם, לכן, להם, להן is the set you need for to / for. לך is lekha or lakh according to the addressee. This is also the set that builds יש לי and אין לי. Once ל is automatic, the other prepositions feel like variations of the same person row.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English |
|---|---|---|
| לִי | li | to / for me |
| לְךָ | lekha | to / for you (ms) |
| לָךְ | lakh | to / for you (fs) |
| לוֹ | lo | to / for him |
| לָהּ | lah | to / for her |
| לָנוּ | lanu | to / for us |
| לָכֶם | lakhem | to / for you (mp) |
| לָכֶן | lakhen | to / for you (fp) |
| לָהֶם | lahem | to / for them (mp) |
| לָהֶן | lahen | to / for them (fp) |
ב becomes בי, בך, בו, בה, בנו, בכם, בכן, בהם, בהן. על becomes עלי, עליך, עליו, עליה, עלינו, עליכם, עליכן, עליהם, עליהן. אל (to, toward) follows the על shape: אלי, אליך, אליו. Direction toward a person almost always wants אל plus a suffix, not ל plus a name-shaped pronoun.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| תאמיני בי | ta'amini bi | Believe in me (fs). | |
| תסתכלי עליי | tistakli alai | Look at me (fs). | |
| בוא אליי | bo elai | Come to me. |
מן does not give *מאני. The forms are ממני, ממך, ממנו, ממנה, מאיתנו (or ממנו), מכם, מכן, מהם, מהן. עם in speech is איתי, איתך, איתו, איתה, איתנו, איתכם, איתכן, איתם, איתן; writing also has אתי. Learn ממני and איתי as whole words.
| Person | מן | עם |
|---|---|---|
| me | ממני | איתי |
| you (ms) | ממך | איתך |
| you (fs) | ממך | איתך |
| him | ממנו | איתו |
| her | ממנה | איתה |
| us | מאיתנו | איתנו |
| you (mp) | מכם | איתכם |
| you (fp) | מכן | איתכן |
| them (mp) | מהם | איתם |
| them (fp) | מהן | איתן |
Direct-object את plus a pronoun is אותי, אותך, אותו, אותה, אותנו, אתכם, אתכן, אותם, אותן. That set belongs with this lesson even though את is not a location preposition. ראיתי אותך is I saw you, never ראיתי את אתה.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| ראיתי אותך | ra'iti otkha | I saw you (ms). | |
| הוא אוהב אותה | hu ohev ota | He loves her. | |
| תזמיני אותנו | tazmini otanu | Invite us (fs). |
Exceptions
ממנו Is Both From Him and From Us
Unvowelled ממנו can mean from him or from us. Traditional pointing sometimes writes מִמֶּנּוּ for from him and מִמֶּנוּ for from us, but the letters stay easy to mix up. In speech, מאיתנו is the clear way to say from us.
עליי with Extra Yod
First-person עלי and אלי are often written עליי and אליי in ktiv male so you do not read them as עלי. The extra yod is spelling, not a second suffix. Both עלי and עליי appear in the wild.
Common Mistakes
ל אני → לי
The preposition and the pronoun fuse; לי is the only grammatical form.
עם אתה → איתך
עם plus you is איתך, not the subject pronoun אתה.
ראיתי את היא → ראיתי אותה
Object את plus she is אותה.
Go on to
Et, the Object Marker
Hebrew marks a definite direct object with את. You say ראיתי ספר but ראיתי את הספר, and you say ראיתי אותך when the object is a pronoun.
A1 · 10 minPossessive Suffixes
Hebrew can glue the owner onto the noun: ביתי, ספרו, שמם. The pattern is older and tighter than של, and modern speech keeps it for some words while preferring של for the rest.
A2 · 14 minDirection and Location
Location sits mainly on three prefixes (be in/at, le to, mi from), plus a small set of free prepositions such as עַל, תַּחַת, לְיַד, בֵּין, and מוּל. A handful of frozen forms still carry a directional ־ָה: הַבַּיְתָה, יָמִינָה, שְׂמֹאלָה.
A1 · 12 minPrevious and Next
Frequently Asked Questions
What level is "Prepositions with Suffixes"?
Prepositions with Suffixes is A2 in baba's grammar order, and takes about 14 minutes to work through.
What's the short rule for prepositions with suffixes?
Never use a subject pronoun after a preposition; use the fused forms לי, לך, לו, לנו and their cousins on be-, me-, את, עם, על, and אל.