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Free grammar · Unit 22 of 30

Adverbs: the word after the verb never changes

An adjective describes a person or a thing and copies its gender: יַלְדָּה יָפָה, «a pretty girl». An adverb describes how something is done and copies nothing: הִיא שָׁרָה יָפֶה, «she sings beautifully», with the bare masculine form even for a woman. English adds ‑ly; Hebrew just leaves the word as it is. הֵם מְדַבְּרִים לְאַט, «they speak slowly»: לְאַט is the same for everyone.

The common ones: טוֹב «well», יָפֶה «nicely», מַהֵר «fast», לְאַט «slowly», הַרְבֵּה «a lot», קְצָת «a little», בְּקֹשִׁי «hardly». They sit after the verb. מְאֹד «very» is special: it comes after the word it strengthens, the other way round from English: הַמָּרָק טוֹב מְאֹד, «the soup is very good».

The page has the explanation, the table of adjective against adverb and the first two exercises: «she sings beautifully» and «they speak Hebrew well». The other four, including typing the adverb yourself and building a sentence with מְאֹד, open with a free account.

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Step 22 of 30 · Explanation

Adverbs: the word after the verb never changes

An adjective describes a person or a thing and copies its gender: .

An adverb describes how something is done and copies nothing: , «she sings beautifully», with the bare masculine form even for a woman.

The adverb sits after the verb.

4 more exercises in this unit

This page has the explanation and the first two exercises. The rest are in your free account, with every unit and the reading course, and the practice remembers your mistakes.

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Questions

How do you say «slowly» and «fast» in Hebrew?
לְאַט (le’at) and מַהֵר (maher). They are adverbs, so they never change: הוּא נוֹסֵעַ לְאַט, הִיא נוֹסַעַת לְאַט.
Why הִיא שָׁרָה יָפֶה and not יָפָה?
Because here יָפֶה says how she sings, not what she is like. The adverb has the masculine singular form and never changes it; יָפָה would describe her.
Where does מְאֹד «very» go?
After the word it strengthens: טוֹב מְאֹד «very good», יָפֶה מְאֹד «very nice». For how much you do something there is הַרְבֵּה: הוּא קוֹרֵא הַרְבֵּה, «he reads a lot».

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The units

  1. Unit 1 of 30The pronouns: אֲנִי, אַתָּה, אַתְּ, הוּא, הִיא
  2. Unit 2 of 30Nouns: masculine or feminine, one or many
  3. Unit 3 of 30Strong verbs: לוֹמֵד, לוֹמֶדֶת, לוֹמְדִים, לוֹמְדוֹת
  4. Unit 4 of 30The adjective follows the noun and copies it
  5. Unit 5 of 30«And» is a letter: וְ
  6. Unit 6 of 30ב for where you are, ל for where you go
  7. Unit 7 of 30Strong verbs: לִלְמֹד, לִכְתֹּב, לִסְגֹּר
  8. Unit 8 of 30Strong verbs: כָּתַבְתִּי, לָמַדְתִּי, סָגַרְתִּי
  9. Unit 9 of 30Pi’el: מְדַבֵּר, מְדַבֶּרֶת, מְדַבְּרִים, מְדַבְּרוֹת
  10. Unit 10 of 30Time words: הַיּוֹם, מָחָר, אֶתְמוֹל, בַּבֹּקֶר
  11. Unit 11 of 30Two-letter verbs: גָּר, גָּרָה, גָּרִים, גָּרוֹת
  12. Unit 12 of 30Verbs ending in ה: רוֹצֶה, רוֹצָה, רוֹצִים, רוֹצוֹת
  13. Unit 13 of 30Two-letter verbs: גַּרְתִּי, קַמְתִּי, בָּאתִי
  14. Unit 14 of 30I had: הָיָה לִי, הָיְתָה לִי, הָיוּ לִי
  15. Unit 15 of 30Verbs ending in ה: לִרְצוֹת, לִשְׁתּוֹת, לִקְנוֹת
  16. Unit 16 of 30Verbs ending in ה: קָנִיתִי, רָצִיתִי, הָיִיתִי
  17. Unit 17 of 30Two-letter verbs: לָגוּר, לָקוּם, לָרוּץ
  18. Unit 18 of 30Throat letters at the end: שׁוֹמֵעַ, יוֹדֵעַ, קוֹרֵא
  19. Unit 19 of 30Pi'el in the past: דִּבֵּר, סִפֵּר, שִׁלֵּם
  20. Unit 20 of 30«That» after I think, I say, I know: שֶׁ
  21. Unit 21 of 30Verbs starting with י: לָשֶׁבֶת, לָרֶדֶת, לָלֶכֶת
  22. Unit 22 of 30Adverbs: the word after the verb never changes
  23. Unit 23 of 30Hif'il in the past: הִסְבִּיר, הִזְמִין, הִתְחִיל
  24. Unit 24 of 30Hitpa'el in the past: הִתְלַבֵּשׁ, הִתְחַתֵּן, הִסְתַּכֵּל
  25. Unit 25 of 30לָכֵן: the result after the reason
  26. Unit 26 of 30One word for the past: רַצְתִּי, not הָיִיתִי לָרוּץ
  27. Unit 27 of 30עַל with endings: עָלַי, עָלֶיךָ, עָלָיו
  28. Unit 28 of 30אֵצֶל with endings: אֶצְלִי, אֶצְלְךָ, אֶצְלוֹ
  29. Unit 29 of 30The dual: יוֹמַיִם, שְׁבוּעַיִם, פַּעֲמַיִם
  30. Unit 30 of 30I will have: יִהְיֶה לִי, תִּהְיֶה לִי, יִהְיוּ לִי