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?