Prepositions in Hebrew – milot yachas – are small but powerful words that show the relationship between nouns, pronouns, and other parts of a sentence. They express ideas like location, direction, time, cause, and means – just like “in,” “on,” “to,” “from,” and “with” in English.
Key Features
- Hebrew prepositions do not change for gender or number.
- Prepositions often combine with pronouns in special forms.
Common Hebrew Prepositions
| English Meaning | Hebrew | Transliteration |
| on / about | עַל | al |
| with | עִם | im |
| without | בְּלִי | bli |
| like / as | כְּמוֹ | k’mo |
| before | לִפְנֵי | lifnei |
| after | אַחֲרֵי | acharei |
| between | בֵּין | bein |
| because of | בִּגְלַל | biglal |
| despite | לַמְרוֹת | lamrot |
| according to | לְפִי | lefi |
Prepositions + Pronouns
In Hebrew, prepositions often combine directly with pronouns to form compact, possessive-like expressions. Instead of saying “to me” or “with him” as separate words, Hebrew attaches a pronominal suffix to the preposition itself. For example, the preposition לְ (“to”) becomes לִי (li) – “to me,” לְךָ (lecha) – “to you (m.),” and לוֹ (lo) – “to him.” These forms are common in both Biblical and Modern Hebrew and are essential for fluent comprehension.
Example:
- הוא נתן לי מתנה – Hu natan li matanah – He gave me a gift
Here, לי is the preposition לְ (“to”) combined with the suffix -י (“me”), forming “to me.”
Examples in Sentences
- הספר על השולחן (ha-sefer al ha-shulchan) – The book is on the table
- אני מדבר עם חברים (ani medaber im chaverim) – I’m talking with friends
- הם באו לפניי (hem bau lefanai) – They came before me
