Suffixes in Hebrew


There are several suffixes in Hebrew that are appended to regular words to introduce a new meaning. Suffixes are used in the Hebrew language to form plurals of nouns and adjectives, in verb conjugation of grammatical tense, and to indicate possession and direct objects. They are also used for the construct noun form. The letters which form these suffixes are called "formative letters".

Gender and number

Due to noun-adjective agreement rules, these apply to nouns and to adjectival modifiers. In some cases, a masculine plural noun will have a feminine plural suffix and vice versa, but the adjectival modifiers are always the same.
SuffixMeaningExamples
feminine singularsusa susa tova
masculine pluralsusim susim tovim
feminine pluralsusot susot tovot
masculine and feminine noun dual formyadayim

Loanwords

These suffixes often come from loanwords from English which are especially prevalent with technical and academic terms.
SuffixOriginHebrewMeaningExamples
-graphyLadino- -grafyafield of study; writinggeografya geographyqaligrafya calligraphy
-ic/-icalBiblical Hebrew/ Englishִ- iof or pertaining tonostalgi nostalgic politi political miti mythicmolequlari molecularqavi linear
-ian/-an/-ishBiblical Hebrew/ Englishִ- ibelonging torusi Russianutopi utopian germani Germanbriti Britishpolitiqai politicianqomiqai comedian
-ismEnglish- -izmmovement; discriminatory beliefliberalizm liberalismseqsizm sexism
-kinesisGreek- -qinezismovement, motionteleqinezis telekinesis psikhoqinezis psychokinesis
-logy Ladino- -logyabranch of learningbiyologya biologytrilogya trilogy
-maniaGreek- -manyaobsessionpiromanya pyromaniaqleptomanya kleptomania
-maniacEnglish- -manperson with obsessionpiroman pyromaniacqleptoman kleptomaniac
-oidEnglish- -oidsimilar, but not the sameandroid androidhumanoid humanoid
-onymEnglish- -onimnameeponim eponym hetronim heteronym
-scopeEnglish- -sqopinstrument for viewingtelesqop telescopemiqrosqop microscope
-esqueFrench- -esqaresemblingburlesqa burlesquehumoresqa humoresquegrotesqi grotesque
-yLadino- -yahaving the quality ofqomedya comedyhistorya historyfilosofya philosophy
-meterEnglish- -metermeasuring device;
units of measure
barometer barometerqilometer kilometer
-nikYiddish/Russian- nikone connected withmoshavniq moshav member/resident nudniq bothersome person