Hebrew words for every day: days, months, numbers and greetings
Four sets of basic Hebrew words, each on a page of its own: the seven days, the months of two calendars, the numbers and the greetings. Every page gives the Hebrew script without and with vowel points, a romanisation in a named scheme, and the grammar behind the words, from counting weekdays to the gender of numbers.
Hebrew words by topic
Each page opens with a table of the Hebrew words with niqqud and romanisation, then explains their origin, spelling, grammar and use, with examples from Wiktionary and Wikipedia.
- 01Days of the week in Hebrew: yom rishon to Shabbat, with vowel pointsThe days of the week in Hebrew are numbered from Sunday: יום ראשון, yom rishon, the first day, then the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth day, and Saturday is שבת, Shabbat. Only the seventh day has a name of its own.
- 02Months in Hebrew: Gregorian months and the Hebrew calendar monthsHebrew has two sets of month names. The months in Hebrew for the Gregorian calendar are borrowed from European languages, ינואר, yánuar, to דצמבר, detsémber. The months of the Hebrew calendar, תשרי, Tishrei, to אלול, Elul, are ancient names of a lunisolar year.
- 03Numbers in Hebrew: gender forms, letter numerals, ordinals, countingCounting to ten in Hebrew uses the feminine forms: אחת, שתיים, שלוש, ארבע, חמש, שש, שבע, שמונה, תשע, עשר, akhát to éser. Every number from one to nineteen has a masculine and a feminine form, and Hebrew also writes numbers with letters: א is 1, י is 10.
- 04Greetings in Hebrew: shalom, boker tov, ma nishma and lehitraotThe basic greeting in Hebrew is שלום, shalom, peace. By the time of day Hebrew says בוקר טוב, bóker tov, in the morning, ערב טוב, érev tov, in the evening and לילה טוב, láyla tov, at night, and how are you changes with the gender of the person asked.
How Hebrew words are written
- עבריתHebrew Hebrew
- שָׁלוֹםpeace; hello Hebrew
- יום ראשוןSunday Hebrew
Hebrew is written from right to left in an alphabet of 22 letters, five of which take a different form at the end of a word. There are no capital letters. The script began as an abjad of consonants only and is now described as an impure abjad: some letters double as vowel signs, and the full vowels are shown with niqqud, points and dashes added around the letters. The Modern Hebrew alphabet is set out letter by letter on the alphabets page.
Everyday print leaves the vowel points out: עברית, not עִבְרִית. Dictionaries, poetry and texts for learners add them, and these pages give both forms. The romanisation on the topic pages follows Wiktionary's scheme for Modern Hebrew and marks the stressed syllable.
Wikipedia's Hebrew article names the Academy of the Hebrew Language as the body that sets its norms. Hebrew ceased to be an everyday spoken language in antiquity and was revived as one in the late 19th century.
Days, months, numbers and greetings: what to expect
The days of the week in Hebrew are numbered from Sunday, first day to sixth day, and Saturday is Shabbat. The months in Hebrew come in two sets: European names for the Gregorian calendar and the ancient names Tishrei to Elul for the Hebrew calendar.
The numbers in Hebrew have masculine and feminine forms, and letters double as numerals in dates and lists. The greetings in Hebrew start with shalom, peace, and change with the gender of the person addressed.
Where Hebrew is spoken
Hebrew is the main language of Israel, where the country page gives the districts in Hebrew and Arabic. Wikipedia cites Ethnologue's figure of about 9 million speakers of Modern Hebrew in 2018, 5 million of them native speakers.
Hebrew belongs to the Semitic family with Arabic, Aramaic and Amharic. The Semitic and African word list compares Hebrew words with their relatives, and the Arabic pages show how closely the two languages run in their numbers, days and greetings.
Questions about Hebrew words
Is Hebrew written from right to left?
Yes. Hebrew words are written and read from right to left; numbers in figures still run from left to right inside the line.
What are niqqud?
The vowel points of Hebrew: dots and dashes placed under, over and inside the letters. Everyday texts leave them out; dictionaries and learners' texts use them.
Does Hebrew have capital letters?
No. Five letters have special forms at the end of a word, but there is no upper and lower case.