Ch5 Exercise — Definite Article and Conjunction ו¶
BBH Chapter 5 · 25 items
Instructions¶
For each Hebrew word or phrase below:
- Article? — Is a definite article present? (Yes / No)
- Article Form — If yes, what form? (הַ + dagesh / הֶ / הָ / none)
- Conj. ו? — Is the conjunction ו present? (Yes / No)
- Conj. Form — If yes, what form? (וְ / וּ / וָ / none)
- Translation — Translate the phrase into English
Part A — Article Before Normal Consonants (8 items)¶
These items feature the default article form: הַ with patah and dagesh forte in the following consonant.
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | הַמֶּלֶךְ | |||||
| 2 | הַבַּיִת | |||||
| 3 | הַיּוֹם | |||||
| 4 | הַדָּבָר | |||||
| 5 | הַלַּיְלָה | |||||
| 6 | הַבֵּן | |||||
| 7 | הַסֵּפֶר | |||||
| 8 | הַנָּבִיא |
Part B — Article Before Gutturals (5 items)¶
These items show the guttural exceptions: article vowel shifts to הֶ or הָ; no dagesh forte.
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | הָאִישׁ | |||||
| 10 | הָאָרֶץ | |||||
| 11 | הֶעָם | |||||
| 12 | הָהָר | |||||
| 13 | הָרוּחַ |
Part C — Conjunction Only (5 items)¶
These items have a conjunction ו but no definite article.
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | וְדָבָר | |||||
| 15 | וּמֶלֶךְ | |||||
| 16 | וּבֵן | |||||
| 17 | וְאִישׁ | |||||
| 18 | וָאֹמַר |
Part D — Both Article and Conjunction (5 items)¶
These items contain both the definite article and the conjunction ו.
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | וְהַמֶּלֶךְ | |||||
| 20 | וְהָאָרֶץ | |||||
| 21 | וְהָאִישׁ | |||||
| 22 | וְהַיּוֹם | |||||
| 23 | וְהֶעָם |
Part E — Neither (2 items)¶
For contrast: these items have neither the definite article nor the conjunction ו.
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | מֶלֶךְ | |||||
| 25 | דָּבָר |
Answer Key¶
Part A — Article Before Normal Consonants¶
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | הַמֶּלֶךְ | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the king |
| 2 | הַבַּיִת | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the house |
| 3 | הַיּוֹם | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the day |
| 4 | הַדָּבָר | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the word / the thing |
| 5 | הַלַּיְלָה | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the night |
| 6 | הַבֵּן | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the son |
| 7 | הַסֵּפֶר | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the book / the scroll |
| 8 | הַנָּבִיא | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | No | — | the prophet |
Notes: - Items 1–8 all show the default article: הַ (patah under ה) + dagesh forte doubling the first consonant of the noun. The dagesh forte is visible as a dot inside the first letter of the noun (מֶּ, בַּ, יּ, דָּ, לַּ, בֵּ, סֵּ, נָּ). - Item 3: יּוֹם — the dagesh forte in י makes it double-yod phonologically (though written once). Item 8: נָּבִיא — the dagesh forte is in נ.
Part B — Article Before Gutturals¶
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | הָאִישׁ | Yes | הָ (qamets; no dagesh) | No | — | the man |
| 10 | הָאָרֶץ | Yes | הָ (qamets; no dagesh) | No | — | the land / the earth |
| 11 | הֶעָם | Yes | הֶ (segol; no dagesh) | No | — | the people |
| 12 | הָהָר | Yes | הָ (qamets; no dagesh) | No | — | the mountain |
| 13 | הָרוּחַ | Yes | הָ (qamets; no dagesh) | No | — | the spirit / the wind |
Notes: - Items 9–10: The article before א is always הָ (qamets). The aleph is quiescent (it does not resist vocalization, but it cannot take dagesh forte). - Item 11: Before ע in an unaccented syllable, the article is הֶ (segol). - Item 12: Before ה the article is הָ (compensatory lengthening — ה is a guttural and rejects dagesh). - Item 13: Before ר the article is הָ. The resh behaves like a guttural for this purpose.
Part C — Conjunction Only¶
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | וְדָבָר | No | — | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and a word |
| 15 | וּמֶלֶךְ | No | — | Yes | וּ (shureq) | and a king |
| 16 | וּבֵן | No | — | Yes | וּ (shureq) | and a son |
| 17 | וְאִישׁ | No | — | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and a man |
| 18 | וָאֹמַר | No | — | Yes | וָ (qamets) | and I said / then I said |
Notes: - Item 14: Default conjunction form — sheva before a normal consonant (ד is not a labial). - Items 15–16: Before labials (מ in מֶלֶךְ; ב in בֵּן), the sheva assimilates to shureq: וּ. - Item 17: Before א the conjunction remains וְ (sheva). Aleph does not trigger the labial rule. - Item 18: וָאֹמַר — this is the conjunction with qamets (וָ) before a 1cs imperfect form. This specific form (וָ + אֹמַר) can function as a conjunction "and I said" or "then I said" in certain contexts. Note: in full narrative prose this is often analyzed as a waw-consecutive; here we treat the vowel pattern alone.
Part D — Both Article and Conjunction¶
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | וְהַמֶּלֶךְ | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and the king |
| 20 | וְהָאָרֶץ | Yes | הָ (qamets; no dagesh) | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and the land / and the earth |
| 21 | וְהָאִישׁ | Yes | הָ (qamets; no dagesh) | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and the man |
| 22 | וְהַיּוֹם | Yes | הַ + dagesh forte | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and the day |
| 23 | וְהֶעָם | Yes | הֶ (segol; no dagesh) | Yes | וְ (sheva) | and the people |
Notes: - In all Part D items the conjunction וְ comes first, then the article prefix on the noun. The conjunction is always וְ here because ה is not a labial and does not begin with sheva. - Items 19 and 22: Article is הַ + dagesh forte — the noun begins with a normal (non-guttural) consonant. - Items 20–21: Article is הָ before א. - Item 23: Article is הֶ before ע (unaccented syllable).
Part E — Neither¶
| # | Hebrew | Article? | Article Form | Conj. ו? | Conj. Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | מֶלֶךְ | No | — | No | — | a king |
| 25 | דָּבָר | No | — | No | — | a word / a thing |
Notes: - Neither item has a prefixed ה (article) or ו (conjunction). Both are bare, indefinite nouns. - English must supply "a" because the context is indefinite. If context pointed to a specific king or word, the Hebrew would require הַמֶּלֶךְ or הַדָּבָר.
Reflection Questions¶
-
In item 11, why does the article appear as הֶ rather than the expected הַ? What phonological constraint causes this change, and which other consonant follows the same rule in unaccented syllables?
-
Items 15 and 16 both show the conjunction as וּ (shureq). State the rule governing this change and list the three consonants that trigger it. Why does item 14 (וְדָבָר) NOT trigger the same rule?
-
Compare items 24–25 with items 1 and 4. Both sets use מֶלֶךְ and דָּבָר, but the translations differ. What does the presence or absence of the definite article signal grammatically? How does Hebrew indicate indefiniteness differently from English?