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Hebrew Lesson Number 60:

LHP at the Luna Park


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Some Grammar from This Lesson:

The Infinitive Form in Hebrew - 

Subject or Predicate?


!אני אוהב/אוהבת דקדוק


Jonathan: nachon! In our grammar section for this lesson, we will actually continue the discussion we started in Lesson 59: giving examples and understanding where we actually use the infinitive construct in the Hebrew sentence.


Learn Hebrew Pod - Lesson No. 60


As Liat just mentioned, in addition to the term makor natuy, there is another name which is often used for this form: shem hapoal. This term is comprised of 2 words: shem means ‘name’ or ‘noun’,  hapoal means ‘the verb.’



shem hapoal, is actually translated as ‘the noun of the verb’. The infinitive construct is a verbal noun in that it functions both as a verb and a noun. 

For more information, please refer to Lesson 59.



Dan: Not being strictly a verb and not being strictly a noun, the infinitive construct’s role within the syntax of the sentence is sometimes as the subject of the sentence, but could also be as the predicate of the sentence. 

When acting as a noun, it will usually be the subject. When acting as a verb, it will usually be the predicate.



Liat: In Lesson 59 we started to explore and give examples of the most typical ways the infinitive construct functions as the subject of the sentence, meaning, when its character and functionality in the sentence is more of a noun than a verb.  In today’s A Lesson we will continue reviewing this aspect.



Dan: While in the B Lesson we will mainly review the more typical instances for the appearance of shem hapoal as the predicate of the sentence, meaning, when its character and functionality in the sentence is more of a verb than a noun.

Jonathan: bediyuk! In Lesson 59 we mostly reviewed different cases of predicate adjectives when these are used in the sentence together with the infinitive construct.


טוב לשמור את השבת


In the infinitive phrase “tov lishmor et haShabat” the word ‘tov’ is a predicate adjective: it is good to observe the Sabbath. ‘to observe’ is the subject of the sentence. The makor natuy functions here as a noun.

Liat: Just as an adjective can function as the predicate of the sentence, being a predicate adjective, so can a noun: When preceding the infinitive construct, a very specific list of Hebrew abstract nouns can function in the infinitive phrase as its predicate.

Dan: Here is a very short list of the most commonly used abstract nouns in conversational Hebrew: 


sheifa – Ambition/ Aspiration - שאיפה

razzon – Desire/ Wish - רצון

kavana – Intention - כוונה


yecholet – Ability - יכולת


Jonathan: We most commonly hear these words in conversation in combination with the possessive pronoun ‘shel’ in its various personal pronoun declensions. Let’s demonstrate that in the next few examples:

Dan: My ambition is to climb the Everest in less than a day.

hashe-ifa sheli hi letapes al haEverest bepachot miyom.

or just

hashe-ifa sheli letapes al haEverest bepachot miyom.




       

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