Noun Gender

Level 1

Hebrew nouns are masculine or feminine. Gender guides the adjective, pronoun and many number forms used with the noun.

How It Works

Words Have Agreement Groups

ספר is masculine: ספר חדש. מחברת is feminine: מחברת חדשה. The adjective changes to match the noun. For people, noun forms often reflect gender; for objects, the grouping is grammatical.

Endings Give Clues

ילדה and מחברת are feminine. But לילה, night, is masculine despite its final ה: לילה טוב. Some nouns can take more than one gender in accepted usage; learn the common pattern and label a real variant instead of calling it an error.

Keep Gender When the Plural Looks Different

שולחן is masculine and its plural is שולחנות, with ות. It still takes masculine agreement: שולחנות גדולים. שנה is feminine and its plural is שנים, with ים. It still takes feminine agreement: שנים טובות. Learn the singular, gender and plural together.

Examples (5)

  1. ספר חדש

    A new book.

    ספר is masculine.

  2. מחברת חדשה

    A new notebook.

    מחברת is feminine.

  3. לילה טוב

    Good night; a good night.

    לילה is masculine despite its ending.

  4. שולחנות גדולים

    Large tables.

    The masculine noun has a ות plural but masculine adjective agreement.

  5. שנים טובות

    Good years.

    The feminine noun has a ים plural but feminine adjective agreement.

Common Mistakes

  • Guessing adjective gender only from the noun’s plural ending.

    שולחנות גדולות
    שולחנות גדולים

    שולחן is masculine, so its plural takes masculine גדולים.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Noun GenderLevel 1