Free grammar · Unit 27 of 35

עַל with endings: עָלַי, עָלֶיךָ, עָלָיו

Hebrew never says «on me» as two words. The pronoun becomes an ending glued to the preposition, as in לִי and שֶׁלִּי. עַל takes the endings of a plural noun: עָלַי «on me», עָלֶיךָ «on you» (m.), עָלַיִךְ (f.), עָלָיו «on him», עָלֶיהָ «on her», עָלֵינוּ «on us», עֲלֵיכֶם «on you» (pl.), עֲלֵיהֶם «on them».

עַל does far more than «on». It is «about» after speaking and thinking: מְדַבְּרִים עָלֶיהָ, «they talk about her». It is the word after חוֹשֵׁב, מִסְתַּכֵּל, שׁוֹמֵר. And it says whose duty it is: עָלַי לָלֶכֶת, «I have to go». The same endings come back on אֶל and לִפְנֵי: learn them once on עַל.

This is the first unit of the second ulpan book. The page has the explanation, the table of עַל with every ending and the first two exercises: «they are talking about her» and «what do you think about him?». The other four, including typing the form yourself and matching the pairs, open with a free account.