Lesson 1

Question 1

אָ֣ב - 'aav - father
(note: with personal pronouns it changes)
אָבִ֑י - 'aavi - my father
אָבִ֖יו - 'aaviyu - his father
אָבִ֗יהָ - 'aavihaa - her father

Answer 1

in modern Hebrew:
אבא - abba, (with vowels אַבָּא)
(In Aramaic: אַב - ‘av (with a short ‘a’) This is found in the book of Ezra)
(note: it is believed that ‘abba is a pet form of ‘av)

Question 2

אָהַב ‘aahav - to love

אָהַ֙בְתִּי֙ ‘aahavtiy - I love

Answer 2

In modern Hebrew:
אוהב - ohEv - I love (with vowels אוֹהֵב) masculine
אוהבת - ohevet - I love (with vowels אוֹהֶבֶת) feminine

Question 3

אַהֲבָה - ‘ahavaah - love

Answer 3

In modern Hebrew:
אהבה - ahava (with vowels אַהֲבָה)
(note that modern Hebrew doesn’t have two ‘a’ sounds even though it’s written with them, and doesn’t pronounce the h at the end)

Question 4

אֲנַי - ‘aniy - I

אָנֹכִי - ‘aanokhiy - I

Answer 4

In modern Hebrew:
אני - ani (with vowels, אֲנִי)
(note: ‘aanokhiy is not used in modern Hebrew)

Question 5

אַתָּה - ‘attaah - you (masculine)

אָ֑תְּ - ‘aatt - you (feminine)

Answer 5

In modern Hebrew:
אתה - ataah (with vowels אַתָּה) masculine
אתּ - att (with vowels אַתְּ) feminine

Question 6

בּוֹא - bo - come
בָּ֣א - baa - I come - masculine
בָּאָ֑ה - baa-‘aah - I come - feminine
(note: the verb is best described as ‘to enter in - to a new place’, hence both ‘come’ and ‘go’)

Answer 6

In modern Hebrew:
בא - baa (with vowels, בָּא) masculine
באה - bə’aah (with vowels בָּאָה) feminine
(note: the feminine is not pronounced as the vowels would dictate, but with a short schwa-‘a’ at the beginning).

Question 7

חָלָב - chaalaav - milk

Answer 7

in modern Hebrew:

חלב - chaalaav, (with vowels חָלָב)

Question 8

חָם - chaam - hot

note: This is also the name of Ham, Noah’s son

Answer 8

In modern Hebrew:
חם - cham (with vowels חַם)
(note that the vowel changed from long to short)

Question 9

אֵם - Em - mother
(note, when personal pronouns are attached, it changes)
אִמִּ֑י - immi “my mother” (masculine and feminine)
אִמּ֑וֹ immo - “his mother”
אִמָּ֑הּ immaah “her mother”

Answer 9

In modern Hebrew:
אמא - ima, (with vowels אִמָא)
(note that the modern hebrew comes from the old ‘her mother’)

Question 10

הַאִ֥ם - ha’im - a question particle
אִם - ‘im - if
(note: ha’im Is a vocal question mark which creates a yes/no question)

Answer 10

In modern Hebrew:
האם - ha’im (with vowels הַאִם)
(note: found in Numbers 17:13 and Job 6:13, it became a mode of creating a question. It is not used often in casual speech)

Question 11

לֹא - lo - not/negative/no

Answer 11

In modern Hebrew:

לא - lo’ (with vowels לֹא)

Question 12

הוּא - hu’ - he

הִ֔וא/הִיא - hi’ - she

Answer 12

In modern Hebrew:
הוא - hu (with vowels הוּא) 3rd person masc. singular
היא - hi (with vowels הִיא) 3rd person fem. singular

Question 13

לֶחֶם - lechem - bread/food/provision/a meal

note: it comes from לָחַם lacham which means “to use as food”, “to devour”, and more often “to fight” or “do battle”

Answer 13

In modern Hebrew:

לחם - lechem (with vowels לֶחֶם) - bread

Question 14

מַיִם - mayim - water

Answer 14

In modern Hebrew:
מים - maim (with vowels מַיִם)
(note: The modern pronunciation has made the consonantal ‘y’ disappear, it now rhymes with English “mime”)

Question 15

אוֹ - ‘o - or

Answer 15

In modern Hebrew:
או - o’ (with vowels אוֹ)
(note: rhymes with English ‘hot’)

Question 16

וְ - w’/wə - and
(note: also וּ - u/oo, before consonants bet, mem, and pey)
(known as the waw-conjunctive)

Answer 16

In modern Hebrew:
ו - v’/və, or u/oo (with vowels וְ or וּ)
(note: the w shifted to v in modern usage.
The vowel may vary further, depending on what letter or vowel it precedes)

Question 17

יַיִן - yayin - wine

Answer 17

In modern Hebrew:
יין - yaain (with vowels יַיִן)
(note: as with mayim, the middle y consonant has been dropped, now rhymes with English ‘wine’)