In Hebrew there are two ways to ask questions:
Dan is writing. | דָּן כּוֹתֵב |
Is Dan writing? | דָּן כּוֹתֵב? |
A question word or interrogative is added at the beginning of the sentence.
Who? |
מִי? |
Who is this (m.)? | מִי זֶה? |
Who is in the house? | מִי בַּבַּיִת? |
Who sits here? | מִי יוֹשֵׁב פֹּה? |
Who sees a chair? | מִי רוֹאֶה כִּסֵּא? |
Where? |
אֵיפֹה? |
Where is Miriam? | אֵיפֹה מִרְיָם? |
Where is the dog? | אֵיפֹה הַכֶּלֶב? |
What? |
מַה? |
What is this (f.)? | מַה זֹאת? |
What are you saying? | מַה אַתָּה אוֹמֵר? |
What are you learning? | מַה אַתָּה לוֹמֵד? |
What is on the table? | מַה עַל הַשֻׁלְחָן? |
When? |
מָתַי? |
When is father home? | מָתַי אַבָּא בַּבַּיִת? |
When do you study? | מָתַי אַתְּ לוֹמֶדֶת? |
When do they go home? | מָתַי הֵם הוֹלְכִים הַבַּיְתָה? |
When are the students here? | מָתַי הַתַּלְמִידִים פֹּה? |
We can also ask a question in Hebrew by placing the interrogative word הַאִם at the beginning of the sentence. הַאִם cannot be translated into English (at least not by itself); it takes the place of verbs does, is and are in English questions.
Does Dan write? | הַאִם דָּן כּוֹתֵב? |
Is Ruth a student? | הַאִם רוּת תַּלְמִדָה |
Are they smart? | הַאִם הֵם חֲכָמִים |
An interrogative word can introduce both a noun sentence and a verb sentence.
David | writes | a letter. | מִכְתָּב. | כּוֹתֵב | דָּוִד | |
subject | verb | object | object | verb | subject | |
Father | reads | a book. | סֵפֶר. | קוֹרֵא | אַבָּא | |
subject | verb | object | object | verb | subject |
Some sentences contain only a subject and a verb. However, most sentences also contain an object. The direct object receives the action of the verb.
The direct object may be indefinite or indefinite.
Dan reads a book. | דָּן קוֹרֵא סֵפֶר. |
Dan reads the book. | דָּן קוֹרֵא אַת הַסֵפֶר. |
When the direct object of the verb is definite, Hebrew uses the cue word אֶת. The word אֶת has no meaning.
When the word אֶת is placed between a verb and its direct object, the direct object has the prefix ה added to it.
Proper names (people, places) are always considered definite, and require the cue word אֶת. However, they do not require the definite article ה.
I see Dan. | אֲנִי רוֹאֶה אֶת דָּן. |