Gender Masculine¶
Nouns, adjectives, finite verbs, participles, pronouns, pronominal suffixes, and some particles change their form according to grammatical gender, either masculine or feminine. The masculine gender is usually indicated by the absence of any prefix or suffix. However, various prefixes and suffixes can indicate masculine gender.
Article¶
In Biblical Hebrew, nouns are classified according to gender, either masculine, feminine, or sometimes both. Grammatical modifiers (such as adjectives, active and passive participles, pronouns, pronominal suffixes) change their endings in order to agree with the gender of the term they refer to. A finite verb with masculine gender indicates a masculine subject. All references to male persons in Biblical Hebrew are masculine. However, other entities apart from people can also be classified as maculine. For example, the proper names of nations and tribes are often masculine in Biblical Hebrew. Some particles are also marked for gender in Biblical Hebrew.
Note
Some nouns appear to be masculine but are actually feminine, even some common nouns such as אֵם (mother) and אֶרֶץ (earth). These nouns are feminine even though they do NOT take feminine endings. A dictionary or lexicon will indicate the proper gender for each word.
Form¶
Masculine singular nouns and adjectives have no unique ending; they are the standard dictionary form. Masculine dual terms end in ־ַיִם (pataq-yod-hireq-final mem), as in אַפַּיִם (nostrils). Masculine plural terms usually end in ־ִים (hireq-yod-final mem), as in אֲנָשִׁים (men). There is a whole family of verbal prefixes and suffixes that indicate masculine gender for finite verbs.
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
masculine singular absolute | סוּס | sus | stallion |
masculine singular construct | סוּס | sus | stallion of |
masculine plural absolute | סוּסִים | susim | stallions |
masculine plural construct | סוּסֵי | suse | stallions of |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
second person masculine singular | קָטַלְתָּ | qatalta | you killed |
second person masculine plural | קְטַלְתֶּם | qetaltem | you killed |
third person masculine singular | קָטַל | qatal | he killed |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
second person masculine singular | תִּקְטֹל | tiqtol | you will kill |
second person masculine plural | תִּקְטְלוּ | tiqtelu | you will kill |
third person masculine singular | יִקְטֹל | yiqtol | he will kill |
third person masculine plural | יִקְטְלוּ | yiqtelu | they will kill |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
second person masculine singular | אַתָּה | ‘attah | you |
second person masculine plural | אַתֶּם | ‘attem | you |
third person masculine singular | הוּא | hu | he / it |
third person masculine plural | הֵם / הֵמָּה | hem / hemmah | they |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
second person masculine singular | אֹתְךָ | ‘othekha | you |
second person masculine plural | אֹתְכֶֶם | ‘othekhem | you |
third person masculine singular | אֹתוֹ | ‘otho | him / it |
third person masculine plural | אֶתְהֶם / אֹתָם | ‘ethhem / ‘otham | them |
Parsing | Hebrew | Transliteration | Gloss |
second person masculine singular | לְךָ / - ְךָ | lekha / -ekha | (to) you |
second person masculine plural | לָכֶם / -כֶם | lakhem / -khem | (to) you |
third person masculine singular | לוֹ / -וֹ | lo / -o | (to) him |
third person masculine plural | לָהֶם / -הֶם / - ָם | lahem / -hem / -am | (to) them |