Rachael's Hebrew Classes: Happy Hebrew עברית בשמחה,שיעור 4,Lesson 4, The letter Gimel

Happy Hebrew עברית בשמחה

Lesson 4 שיעור 4

The letter ג Gimel

It has only one sound in modern Hebrew, although people from Yemin can use two vocalizations a very hard G and a soft G.

As Hebrew is spoken in Israel today we use a soft g sound.

According to the rules of grammar the ג can take a dagesh, but we don't change the sound of the letter.

Hebrew letters we know up to now:

א ג ה י מ ם נ ן ר ת

New vowel: Tsere: ֵ י ֵ

There is no change with the tsere in pronunciation when you use the yud or not.

New Vowel: Hirik ִ י ִ

It is a dot under the letter. All the letters in Hebrew can use the ִ hirik.

There is no change with the hirik in pronunciation when you use the yud or not.

וֹ This is the holom, it uses the letter vav with a dot at the top, and the sound is oh.

וּ This is the shuruk, it also uses the vav, but the dot is in the middle the sound is ooh.

ֻ is the kubbutz it also makes the sound ooh, it is used in a verb constuction, pual, it appears when the word is using vowels, but when the vowels are not used, sometimes you will see the shuruk.

ְ The shva is a place holder for the sound of the letter, it is not technically called a vowel. There are many rules for the shva that we will learn later.

Now say the Gemel with the vowels!

גִ	גֵ	גֶ	גַ	גָ
gee	gey	geh	gaa	gaaaa
	גְ	גֻ	גוּ	גוֹ
	ge	gou	gou	go

Sometimes the tsere needs the yud, as a helper, but sometimes not. There is no rule, but you have to know the word.

אִי	אי	eeee	island
תֶּה	תה	teh	tea
הַר	הר	har	mountain
הִנֵּה	הנה	heney	here

Some pronouns in Hebrew
אֲנִי	אני	ahnee	I
אַתְּ	את	aht	you fem sing
אַתָּה	אתה	atah	you mas sing
הִיא	היא	heee	she
הֵם	הם	hem	they mas pl

Grammar The verb : live

גָּר	גר	gar	I live, he lives, you live ms
גֵּרָה	גרה	gara	I live, she lives, you live fs
גֵּרִים	גרים	garim	We live, they live, you live mpl
גָּרוֹת	גרות	garot	We live, they live, you live fpl

אֲנִי גָּר	אני גר	anee gar	I live	common sing
אַתְּ גָּרָה	את גרה	at gara	You live	fem sing
הֵם גָּרִים	הם גרים	hem garim .	They live	mas pl
הֵן גָּרוֹת	הן גרות	hen garoht	They live	fem pl