# Ch5 Exercise — Definite Article and Conjunction ו

**BBH Chapter 5 · 25 items**

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## Instructions

For each Hebrew word or phrase below:

1. **Article?** — Is a definite article present? (Yes / No)
2. **Article Form** — If yes, what form? (הַ + dagesh / הֶ / הָ / none)
3. **Conj. ו?** — Is the conjunction ו present? (Yes / No)
4. **Conj. Form** — If yes, what form? (וְ / וּ / וָ / none)
5. **Translation** — Translate the phrase into English

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## 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 | | | | | |

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## 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 | | | | | |

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## 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 | | | | | |

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## 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 | | | | | |

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## 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 | | | | | |

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## 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.

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### 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.

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### 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.

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### 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).

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### 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.

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## Reflection Questions

1. **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?

2. **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?

3. **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?
