There are several suffixes in Hebrew that are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. Suffixes are used in the Hebrew language to form plurals of nouns and adjectives, in verb conjugation of grammatical tense, and to indicate possession and direct objects. They are also used for the construct noun form.[1] The letters which form these suffixes (excluding plurals) are called "formative letters" (Hebrew:, Otiyot HaShimush).
Due to noun-adjective agreement rules, these apply to nouns and to adjectival modifiers. In some cases, a masculine plural noun will have a feminine plural suffix and vice versa, but the adjectival modifiers are always the same.
| Suffix | Meaning | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Kamatz and he) | feminine singular |
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| (Chirik, yud and final mem) | masculine plural |
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| (Cholam and tav) | feminine plural |
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| (Patach, yud with chirik and final mem) | masculine and feminine noun dual form |
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| Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| (Patach and tav) | Changes a singular feminine noun to the construct form. of | Torat Moshe (Torah of Moses) |
| (Tzere and yud) | Changes a plural masculine noun to the construct form. of | Sifre q'dusha (Books of holiness) |
| Suffix | Meaning | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Chirik and yud) | First person, singular possessive. My |
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| (Shva and final khaf with kamatz) | Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your |
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| (Tzere and final khaf with shva) | Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your |
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| (Cholam male) | Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His |
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| (Kamatz and he with mappiq) | Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her |
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| (Tzere and nun with shuruk) | First person, plural possessive. Our |
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| (Shva, khaf with segol, and final mem) | Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your |
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| (Shva, khaf with segol and final nun) | Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your |
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| (Kamatz and final mem) | Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their |
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| (Kamatz and final nun) | Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their |
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| Suffix | Meaning | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Patach and yud) | First person, singular possessive. My |
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| (Segol, yud and final khaf with kamatz) | Second person, singular, masculine possessive. Your |
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| (Patach, yud with chirik, and final khaf with shva) | Second person, singular, feminine possessive. Your |
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| (Kamatz, yud, and vav) | Third person, singular, masculine possessive. His |
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| (Segol, yud, and he with kamatz) | Third person, singular, feminine possessive. Her |
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| (Tzere, yud, and nun with shuruk) | First person, plural possessive. Our |
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| (Tzere, yud, khaf with segol, and final mem) | Second person, plural, masculine possessive. Your |
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| (Tzere, yud, khaf with segol, and final nun) | Second person, plural, feminine possessive. Your |
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| (Tzere, yud, he with segol and final mem) | Third person, plural, masculine possessive. Their |
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| (Tzere, yud, he with segol, and final nun) | Third person, plural, feminine possessive. Their |
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| Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| (Tav with hiriq male) | 1st person sg. I did | shamarti (I kept) |
| (Tav with kamatz) | 2nd person, masc. sg. You did | shamarta (you kept) |
| (Tav with shva) | 2nd person, fem. sg. You did | shamart (you kept) |
| (None, base form) | Qal perfect Did 3rd person, masc. sg. He did | shamar (kept/he kept) |
| (Kamatz and he) | 3rd person, fem. sg. She did | shamra (she kept) |
| (Nun with shuruk) | 1st person pl. We did | shamarnu (we kept) |
| (Tav with segol and final mem) | 2nd person, masc. pl. You did | shmartem (you kept) |
| (Tav with segol and final nun) | 2nd person, fem. pl. You did | shmarten (you kept) |
| (Shuruk) | 3rd person pl. They did | shamru (they kept) |
| Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| (Chirik male) | Second person, feminine singular. You will do |
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| (Shuruk) | Third and Second person, masculine plural. They will do, You will do |
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| (Nun with kamatz and he) | Third and Second person, feminine plural. They will do, You will do |
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| Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| (Chirik male) | Feminine singular. do! | shimri (keep!) |
| (Shuruk) | Masculine plural. do! | shimru (keep!) |
| (Nun with Kamatz and He) | Feminine plural. do! | shmorna (keep!) |
| Suffix | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| (Cholam male and final nun) | Diminutive, sometimes masculine |
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| (Cholam chaser, nun with segol, and tav) | Diminutive, a feminine version of |
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| (Chirik male and tav) | Diminutive, sometimes feminine |
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These suffixes (Hebrew: sofit) often come from loanwords from English (Latin, Greek, etc...) which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms.
| Suffix | Origin | Hebrew | Meaning | Examples< | ----- | - | -archy |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -graphy | Ladino | - -grafya | field of study; writing |
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| -ic/-ical | Biblical Hebrew/ English | ִ- i | of or pertaining to |
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| -ian/-an/-ish | Biblical Hebrew/ English | ִ- i | belonging to |
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| -ism | English | - -izm | movement; discriminatory belief |
| - | -itis | Greek |
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| -kinesis | Greek | - -qinezis | movement, motion |
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| -logy (and -ology) | Ladino | - -logya | branch of learning |
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| -mania | Greek | - -manya | obsession |
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| -maniac | English | - -man | person with obsession |
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| -oid | English | - -oid | similar, but not the same |
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| -onym | English | - -onim | name |
| - | -phobia |
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| -scope | English | - -sqop | instrument for viewing |
| - | -icide | |||||
| -ine |
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| -esque | French | - -esqa | resembling |
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| -y | Ladino | - -ya | having the quality of |
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| -meter | English | - -meter | measuring device; units of measure |
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| -nik | Yiddish/Russian | - nik | one connected with |
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