Lesson 9 | Suffixes + Construct Form
[1] Pronoun Suffixes on Nouns
Hebrew will often combine the meaning of a word with a pronoun by use of pronoun suffixes. We see this functioning in two ways, depending on whether the suffix is attached to a noun, or alternatively to a verb or preposition.
My, our, your, his, her, their
When attached to a noun, a pronoun suffix conveys the meaning of possession.¹ For example, בֵּן means “son,” whereas בְּנִי means “my son.”
Me, us, you, him, her, them
On the other hand, when a pronoun suffix is attached to a verb or preposition, it functions as the object. (You’ll learn more about how this works with verbs in Hebrew II.)
שָׁלַח
847x
send (verb)
pronoun suffixes
attached to nouns and verbs
| 1cs | בְּנִי | שְׁלָחַנִי | my son / he sent me |
| 1cp | בְּנֵנוּ | שְׁלָחָנוּ | our son / he sent us |
| 2ms | בִּנְךָ | שְׁלָחֲךָ | your son [sir] / he sent you [sir] |
| 2fs | בְּנֵךְ | שְׁלָחֵךְ | your son [ma’am] / he sent you [ma’am] |
| 2mp | בִּנְכֶם | שְׁלָחֲכֶם | the son of you all / he sent you all |
| 2fp | בִּנְכֶן | שְׁלָחֲכֶן | the son of all you [ladies] / he sent all you [ladies] |
| 3ms | בְּנוֹ | שְׁלָחוֹ | his son / he sent him |
| 3fs | בְּנָהּ | שְׁלָחָהּ | her son / he sent her |
| 3mp | בִּנְהֶם | שְׁלָחָם | their son / he sent them |
| 3fp | בִּנְהֶן | שְׁלָחָן | the son of [those ladies] / he sent [those ladies] |
Note: the difference in endings for the 3rd plurals are not a difference between how pronoun suffixes attach to nouns vs. verbs, but rather two ways the suffix might look for either nouns or verbs. In addition, the 3ms suffix can be also be הוּ or נוּ, though those are less common.
Effects on noun endings
Let’s look at the effects of pronominal suffixes on feminine nouns (מִשְׁפָּחָה) and masculine plural nouns (מֶלֶךְ and בֵּן).
pronoun suffix examples
connected to feminine and plural nouns
| masculine plural + 1cp suffix | מְלָכֵינוּ | our kings |
| masculine plural + 1cs suffix | בָּנַי | my sons |
| masculine plural + 3ms suffix | בָּנָיו | his sons |
| masculine plural + 3fs suffix | בָּנֶיהָ | her sons |
| feminine singular + 1cs suffix | מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי | my family |
| feminine plural + 2mp suffix | מִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶם | your (plural) families |
When we add a suffix to a feminine or plural noun, there are a few noteworthy effects:
- A final a-class vowel + ה turns into a ת (see מִשְׁפַּחְתִּי above).
- The ם drops off the masculine plural noun ending (see the first four examples above).
- When a 1cs suffix is added to a word already ending in י, only a single י remains and the preceding vowel changes to a patach (see בָּנַי above).
- Often times a connecting י will be inserted between the feminine plural noun ending and the suffix (see מִשְׁפְּחֹתֵיכֶם above).
- When a 3s suffix is added to a masculine plural noun ending, the vowels are somewhat surprising (see בָּנָיו and בָּנֶיהָ above).