Transcript Lesson 13
A nominal predicate is a noun phrase that occurs after a verb and modifies the subject. For example: The king is a great warrior. Subject: The king Verb: is Nominal predicate: a great warrior One simple Hebrew sentence form places the subject and the nominal predicate next to each other. For example: משה נ ִָביא צַ ִדיק ֶׁ Literal: Moses prophet righteous. Idiomatic: Moses is a righteous prophet. Sometimes the pronouns ( הּואhe) and ( ִהיאshe) are used in this type of sentence. For example: משה הּוא נ ִָביא ֶׁ צַ ִדיק משה נ ִָביא צַ ִדיק ֶׁ הּוא Literal: Moses he prophet righteous. (or) Literal: Moses prophet righteous he. Idiomatic: Moses, a righteous The use of the pronouns ( הּואhe) and יאhe ִהis (she) places prophet. emphasis on a part of the sentence and answers the questions “who is a righteous prophet?” Our earlier example (Moses is a righteous prophet) without the pronoun is a simple statement of fact. To this point, we have focused on sentences without verbs. In each case we have added is or are to create the idiomatic English translation. We can convert these sentences into verbal sentences by adding the Hebrew verb הָ יָה, which in the perfect form means was or were. For example: משה נ ִָביא צַ ִדיק ֶׁ הָ יָה Literal: Was Moses prophet righteous. Idiomatic: Moses was a righteous prophet. Below are examples of nonverbal sentences we created in previous lessons, which now can be converted to verbal sentences with the addition of הָ יָה. הָ יָה הַ ז ֵַקן בַ בַ יִתLiteral: Was the old man in the house. Idiomatic: The old man was in the house. הָ יָה נַעַ ר עַ ל־הַ ֶׁד ֶׁרְך Literal: Was young man on the road. Idiomatic: A young man was on the road. הַ נָהָ ר אֵ צֶׁ ל הַ ֶׁמלֶׁ ך הָ יָה Literal: Was the king near the river. Idiomatic: The king was near the river. We negate each of these examples with the addition of ל ֹא. For example: לׁא הָ יָה הַ ז ֵַקן בַ בַ יִת Literal: Not was the old man in the house. Idiomatic: The old man was not in the house. In lesson 7 we learned about יֵשand אֵ יןas expressions of existence and nonexistence. Our example was the following: יֵש ִא ָשה There is a woman. יֵש נ ִָשים There are women. The tense for the above examples is usually taken from context. We could also translate the examples as “there was a woman” or “there were women.” הָ יָהcan be used to replace יֵשin the perfect tense. The use of the preposition לcreates the meaning of “becoming” when added to a sentence that uses הָ יָה. For example: משה ְלנ ִָביא צַ ִדיק ֶׁ הָ יָה Literal: Was Moses to prophet righteous. Idiomatic: Moses became a righteous prophet. The use of the preposition כcan create the meaning of “like” or “acting like.” For example: הָ יָה הַ נַעַ ר לַ ִאיש כְ בֵ ן Literal: Was the boy to the man like son. Idiomatic: The boy was like a son to the man. Past tense possession can be created with the use of לand הָ יָה instead of the present tense לand יֵש. For example: הָ יָה ִש ְפחָ ה לַ ִא ָשה Literal: There was maidservant to the woman. Idiomatic: The woman possessed (or had) a maidservant. Finally, when a sentence has a participial predicate, such as ( הַ ִא ָשה מׁ ֶׁד ֶׁדתThe woman is measuring), it is not usually converted with הָ יָה. The reason for this will be better understood as we study Hebrew narrative syntax in upcoming lessons. Most feminine singular nouns end in ָה, ַת, ֶׁת, ִית, or ּותand plural nouns in וׁת. These feminine nouns show a variety of changes when made plural. Note the differences in the following selection of feminine nouns: Singular Plural ַמ ְלכּות ַמ ְלכּויֹות עֵ ת ִע ִתים times בַ ת בָ נֹות daughters ֶׁדלֶׁ ת ְדלָ תוׁת kingdoms doors