Prefixes in Hebrew


There are several prefixes in the Hebrew language which are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. In Hebrew, the letters that form those prefixes are called "formative letters". Eleven of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet are considered Otiyot HaShimush. These letters are Aleph, Bet, He, Vav, Yud, Kaf, Lamed, Mem, Nun, Shin, and Tav. A mnemonic to remember these letters is איתן משה וכלב, which translates to "Ethan, Moses, and Caleb."

Otiyot HaShimush

Prefixes in Hebrew serve multiple purposes. A prefix can serve as a conjunction, preposition, definite article, or interrogative. Prefixes are also used when conjugating verbs in the future tense and for various other purposes.

Conjunctions

Inseparable prepositions

Other prepositions

Definite article

Interrogative

Conjugation of verbs

PrefixMeaningExamples
When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates first person, singular, future tense. I will.
  • 'omar
When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates third person, future tense. He will or They will.
  • yomar
  • yomru
    • When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates first person, plural, future tense. We will.
  • nomar
    • When prefixed to a verb stem, indicates one of the following:
  • third person, singular, feminine, future tense. She will
  • second person, future tense. You will
  • In biblical Hebrew, third person, plural, feminine, future tense. They will
  • tomar
  • tomru
  • tomarna sarot

    • Other uses

    Non Otiyot HaShimush

    European languages had a large stock of prefixes for technical terminology mostly taken from Greek and Latin. While Hebrew traditionally didn't use this kind of prefixes, professionals in the Yishuv who started to teach and work in Hebrew were used to this terminology, and incorporated most of these prefixes into Hebrew. Meanwhile people working on revitalising the language coined some Hebrew parallels, so today those foreign and Hebrew prefixes are used interchangeably.
    PrefixOriginHebrewMeaningExamples
    ex-
    		Latin-former
    • eqspozitzya exposition
    un-/non-
    /    		English/ Latin i
    al    		negation
  • i-alimut non-violence
  • nonqonformizm nonconformism
  • al-mathechet nonmetal
    • in-/il-/im-/ir-Latin inot, opposite of
  • iratzyonali irrational
    • a-
    		Greek-lacking in, lack of
  • apoliti apolitical
  • a-mini asexual
    • prae-
    		Latin trom
    qdam    		before
  • prehistori prehistoric
  • terom-ledati prenatal
  • qedam-soqratit Pre-Socratic
    • post-
    		Latin aḥar
    batar    		after
  • batar-miqra'i post-old-testamental
    • pro-
    		Greek-for, on the side of
  • prognoza prognosis
    • inter-
    		Latin benbetween, among
  • internatzyonal international
  • benle'umi international
    • intra-
    		Latin tokh
    pnim    		inside
  • intranet intranet
    • para-
    		Greek-beside, beyond
  • parapleg paraplegic
    • homo-
    		Greek-same
  • homoseqsualiyut homosexuality
    • hetero-

    		Greek-different
  • heteroseqsualiyut heterosexuality
    • di-/bi-
    -/בּי    		Greek/Latin dutwo
  • du-tachmotzet dioxide
  • du-leshoni bilingual
    • geo-
    		Greek-relating to the earth or its surface
  • geotermi geothermal
    • retro-
    		Latin-backwards
  • retroaqtivi retroactive
    • semi-
    		Latin dmui-
    ḥatsi-    		half, similar to-
  • semitreiler semitrailer
    • hemi-
    		Greek-half
  • hemisfera hemisphere
    • electro-
    		Greek-electric, electricity
  • eleqtroentzfalograf electroencephalograph
    • anti-
    		Greek-opposite
  • antikrist Antichrist
  • anti-chomer antimatter
    • infra-
    		Latin tatbelow, beneath
  • infra-adom infrared
    • mono-
    		Greek chadone, sole, only
  • monolog monologue
  • chad-leshoni monolingual
    • uni-
    		Latin chadone, whole
  • chad-ofan unicycle
    • poly-
    		Greek ravmany
  • poligamya polygamy
    • multi-
    		Latin ravmany
  • multimedya multimedia
  • rav-leshoni multilingual
    • tele-
    		Greek-at a distance
  • telesqop telescope
    • super-
    		Latin al-over, above, more than, better
  • supernova supernova
  • al-tiv'i supernatural
    • hyper-
    		Greek-extra specially, over, high
  • hiperaqtivi hyperactive
    • tri-
    		Greek thlatthree
  • triatlon triathlon
    • re-
    		Latin-again, back
  • reorganizatzya reorganization
  • re-irgun reorganization
  • revizya revision
    • sub-Latin tatunder, lower than, less than
  • tat-muda subconscious
    • extra-
    		Latin chutzoutside
  • chutz-tai extracellular
  • eqstrateritoryali extraterritorial
    • neo-
    		Greek-new
  • neologizm neologism
    • proto-Greek av
    qedam    		first, original, father
  • avtipus prototype
    • socio-
    sots'io    		French-society, social, sociological
  • sotzyolingvistiqa sociolinguistics
    • hydro-
    		Greek-relating to water, or using water
  • hidroeleqtri hydroelectric
    • hypo-
    		Greek-under or below something, low
  • hipogliqemya hypoglycemia
    • iso-
    / izo/iso    		Greek-equal
  • izotop isotope
    • meta-
    		Greek-after, along with, beyond, among
  • metabolizm metabolism
    • mega-
    		Greek-very large, million
  • megahertz megahertz
    • micro-
    		Greek-minute size, 1/1,000,000
  • miqrosqop microscope
    • trans-
    		Latin-across
  • transatlanti transatlantic
    • idio-
    		Greek-individual, personal, unique
  • idyomati idiomatic
    • pyro-
    		Greek-fire
  • pirometer pyrometer
  • piroman pyromaniac
    • auto-
    		Greek-self
  • otomati automatic