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.

Masculine Noun Forms

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

Qal Suffix Conjugation Masculine Forms

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

Qal Prefix Conjugation Masculine Forms

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

Independent Personal Pronoun Masculine Forms

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

Object Pronoun Masculine Forms

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

Pronominal Suffix Masculine Forms

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