Prepositions with Pronoun Suffixes in Hebrew

In Brief

Hebrew often combines a preposition and a pronoun into one word: ל־ “to” + “me” becomes לי “to me,” and על “about” + “him” becomes עליו “about him.” These forms must usually be learned as families because the base may change when the suffix is added: עם “with” becomes איתי, not עמי, in ordinary modern speech.

Overview

A preposition is a short word that expresses a relationship such as “to,” “with,” “in,” or “about.” In English, a pronoun normally remains a separate word after it: “to me,” “with her,” “about them.” Hebrew can instead attach a pronoun suffix—an ending that stands for “me,” “you,” “him,” and so on—to the preposition. The result is written as one word: לי, איתה, בהם.

These forms are introduced at A1 because they occur constantly in ordinary conversation. You need them to say who receives something, who accompanies you, what you are thinking about, where something is located, and whose object something is. English speakers must get used to expressing two English words with one Hebrew word.

The basic idea is simple, but there is no single ending that can be attached mechanically to every preposition. Some bases expand or change, and Hebrew distinguishes masculine and feminine “you” in both the singular and plural. Begin with a few high-frequency families—especially ל־, של, עם, and על—and add the others gradually.

How It Works

The core pattern

The general structure is:

preposition base + pronoun suffix → one inflected preposition

• ל־ + “me” → לי — to/for me
• ב־ + “him/it” → בו — in him/it
• של + “her” → שלה — hers; of her
• על + “us” → עלינו — on/about us

The pronoun is built into the ending, so do not add an independent pronoun after it. לי already means “to me”; לי אני does not mean the same thing.

Person, number, and gender

Hebrew forms reflect person (who is speaking, being addressed, or spoken about), number (singular or plural), and sometimes gender. The most important distinction for learners is that “you” has four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine or mixed plural, and feminine plural.

In unpointed Hebrew, some different spoken forms have the same spelling. For example, לך is pronounced lekha when addressing one man and lakh when addressing one woman. Context tells the reader which is intended.

ל־: to, for

This family is extremely common. It marks a recipient, beneficiary, experiencer, or possessor in constructions with יש and אין.

Person	Hebrew	Meaning	Approximate pronunciation
I	לי	to/for me	li
you (m. sg.)	לך	to/for you	lekha
you (f. sg.)	לך	to/for you	lakh
he/it (m.)	לו	to/for him/it	lo
she/it (f.)	לה	to/for her/it	la
we	לנו	to/for us	lanu
you (m./mixed pl.)	לכם	to/for you	lakhem
you (f. pl.)	לכן	to/for you	lakhen
they (m./mixed)	להם	to/for them	lahem
they (f.)	להן	to/for them	lahen

In יש לי ספר, the literal structure is roughly “there is to me a book,” but natural English says “I have a book.” The same pattern appears with אין: אין לה זמן means “She has no time.”

של: of, belonging to

Inflected של forms express possession. They may follow a noun, or stand alone when the noun is understood.

Person	Hebrew	Meaning
I	שלי	my; mine
you (m. sg.)	שלך	your; yours
you (f. sg.)	שלך	your; yours
he	שלו	his
she	שלה	her; hers
we	שלנו	our; ours
you (m./mixed pl.)	שלכם	your; yours
you (f. pl.)	שלכן	your; yours
they (m./mixed)	שלהם	their; theirs
they (f.)	שלהן	their; theirs

Unlike English possessive adjectives, these forms normally come after the noun: הספר שלי, literally “the book of me,” means “my book.” Because the noun is definite, it normally takes ה־: החבר שלה “her friend,” not חבר שלה when a specific possessed friend is meant.

עם: with

Modern Hebrew normally uses the expanded stem אית־ before suffixes.

Person	Hebrew	Meaning
I	איתי	with me
you (m. sg.)	איתך	with you
you (f. sg.)	איתך	with you
he	איתו	with him
she	איתה	with her
we	איתנו	with us
you (m./mixed pl.)	איתכם	with you
you (f. pl.)	איתכן	with you
they (m./mixed)	איתם	with them
they (f.)	איתן	with them

This stem change is why memorizing only עם is not enough. Learn עם מי? — איתי, איתך, איתו... as a family.

על: on, about

Before suffixes, על commonly appears as עלי־ in several forms.

Person	Hebrew	Meaning
I	עליי	on/about me
you (m. sg.)	עליך	on/about you
you (f. sg.)	עלייך	on/about you
he/it (m.)	עליו	on/about him/it
she/it (f.)	עליה	on/about her/it
we	עלינו	on/about us
you (m./mixed pl.)	עליכם	on/about you
you (f. pl.)	עליכן	on/about you
they (m./mixed)	עליהם	on/about them
they (f.)	עליהן	on/about them

The exact English translation depends on the verb. לחשוב על means “to think about,” while לשמור על means “to protect” or “look after.” Learn the verb and its required preposition together.

ב־ and מ־: in/by and from

The attached preposition ב־ produces common forms such as בי “in me,” בך “in you,” בו “in him/it,” בה “in her/it,” בנו “in us,” and בהם/בהן “in them.” Its meaning can shift with the verb: להאמין ב־ is “to believe in,” while להשתמש ב־ is “to use.”

The preposition מ־/מן “from” has a less transparent inflected family: ממני “from me,” ממך “from you,” ממנו “from him/it,” ממנה “from her/it,” מאיתנו “from us,” מכם/מכן “from you (plural),” and מהם/מהן “from them.” Pronunciation and spelling changes make this family especially worth learning as whole words rather than constructing it by guesswork.

The direct-object marker את

The untranslatable marker את identifies a definite direct object—the specific person or thing directly affected by an action. With pronoun suffixes it becomes אותי “me,” אותך “you,” אותו “him/it,” אותה “her/it,” אותנו “us,” אתכם/אתכן “you,” and אותם/אותן “them.”

Do not confuse these forms with איתי, איתך, איתו from עם “with.” Compare:

• הוא רואה אותי. — He sees me.
• הוא בא איתי. — He is coming with me.

Examples in Context

Hebrew	English	Note
תן לי.	Give it to me.	לי marks the recipient.
יש לנו שתי דקות.	We have two minutes.	Literally, “There are to us two minutes.”
אין לה מפתח.	She does not have a key.	אין + ל־ expresses not having.
הספר שלה על השולחן.	Her book is on the table.	שלה follows the possessed noun.
הקפה הזה שלי.	This coffee is mine.	שלי stands alone as “mine.”
אני מדבר איתך.	I’m talking with you.	איתך may address a man or woman; pronunciation differs.
הם באים איתנו למסעדה.	They are coming with us to the restaurant.	איתנו means “with us.”
אני חושב עליו.	I’m thinking about him.	לחשוב על requires על.
מי שומר עליה היום?	Who is looking after her today?	לשמור על means “look after/protect.”
אתה מאמין בי?	Do you believe in me?	להאמין ב־ takes ב־.
קיבלתי הודעה ממנה.	I received a message from her.	ממנה means “from her.”
הילד מפחד ממנו.	The child is afraid of him.	לפחד מ־ is translated with English “of.”
דנה רואה אותי.	Dana sees me.	אותי is the direct object “me.”
אנחנו מזמינים אותם.	We are inviting them.	אותם refers to masculine or mixed “them.”
אפשר לדבר איתכם?	Can I speak with you?	Addressing several men or a mixed group.

Common Mistakes

Keeping the pronoun separate

• Wrong: אני מדבר עם אתה.
• Right: אני מדבר איתך.
• Why: After an inflecting preposition, Hebrew uses the suffixed form. English “with you” is one Hebrew word, איתך.

Building the form directly from עם

• Wrong: אני בא עמי. in ordinary modern conversation
• Right: אני בא איתו. — I am coming with him.
• Why: The everyday inflected stem of עם is אית־. Forms based on עמ־ exist in elevated or fixed usage, but they are not the beginner default.

Putting של־ possession before the noun

• Wrong: שלי הספר
• Right: הספר שלי
• Why: Hebrew normally places the inflected של form after the possessed noun, unlike English “my book.”

Omitting definiteness from a possessed noun

• Wrong: ספר שלי על השולחן when you mean “my book” as a specific item
• Right: הספר שלי על השולחן.
• Why: A noun made specific by שלי, שלך, and similar forms normally appears with the definite article ה־.

Confusing אותי with איתי

• Wrong: היא רואה איתי. for “She sees me.”
• Right: היא רואה אותי.
• Why: אותי is the object “me”; איתי means “with me.” Their similar spelling reflects two different grammatical jobs.

Translating the English preposition word for word

• Wrong: זה תלוי עליך.
• Right: זה תלוי בך. — It depends on you.
• Why: English uses “on,” but Hebrew uses ב־ with תלוי. Other combinations also differ: לפחד מ־ means “be afraid of,” and להשתמש ב־ means “use.” Memorize each verb or expression with its Hebrew preposition.

Usage Notes

Everyday Hebrew often prefers suffixed prepositions where English uses a separate pronoun. A form such as בשבילי “for me,” however, is built from the independent preposition בשביל and is useful when “for” means “for someone’s benefit” or “from someone’s point of view.” Compare תן לי את הספר “give me the book” with זה חשוב בשבילי “this is important to/for me.”

Unpointed spelling hides pronunciation distinctions. איתך is itkha to one man but itakh to one woman; ממך is mimkha or mimekh. In speech, the ending makes the gender clear. In writing, the surrounding sentence usually does so. Full vowel marks may clarify the difference in teaching materials, but ordinary Hebrew rarely uses them.

Masculine plural forms commonly serve mixed groups: איתכם can address several men or a mixed group. Feminine plural forms such as איתכן address an all-female group. In casual contemporary speech, speakers do not always maintain every feminine plural distinction consistently, but learners should recognize and practice the standard forms.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Some prepositions have both colloquial and elevated inflected families. Alongside everyday איתי “with me,” literary or formal Hebrew may use עימי; alongside איתנו, you may encounter עימנו. These are not errors, but the אית־ forms are the safer choice for ordinary modern conversation.

Possession can also be expressed through the construct state—a special noun form that links one noun directly to another—or through possessive suffixes attached to nouns. For example, formal ביתי can mean “my house,” while everyday speech strongly favors הבית שלי. This advanced noun pattern should not be confused with בי, the inflected preposition meaning “in me.”

The meaning of a suffixed preposition is often determined by the expression around it. עליי can literally mean “on me,” but it also appears in זה עליי “It’s on me / I’ll pay,” אני חייב לעשות את זה is “I must do it,” while עליי לעשות את זה is a more formal “I am required to do it.” Similarly, אין עליו is an idiomatic colloquial compliment meaning roughly “He’s unbeatable” or “There’s nobody like him,” not simply “there is nothing on him.”

Suffixes can refer to things as well as people. Hebrew nouns have grammatical gender, so בו may mean “in him” or “in it” when the noun is masculine, while בה may mean “in her” or “in it” when the noun is feminine. The antecedent—the earlier noun the suffix refers back to—determines the gender: הספר? אני קורא בו “The book? I’m reading it,” but הכתבה? אני קורא בה “The article? I’m reading it.”

Practice Tips

1. Learn in short families. Start with the five singular forms of one preposition: לי, לך, לך, לו, לה. Say a tiny sentence with each before adding the plural.
2. Pair verbs with their prepositions. Put לחשוב על, לדבר עם, לחכות ל־, להאמין ב־, and לפחד מ־ on cards as complete units. Then replace the noun with several suffix forms.
3. Use contrast drills. Say pairs such as הוא רואה אותי / הוא בא איתי and הספר שלה / תן לה ספר. Contrasting similar-looking forms helps prevent confusion better than memorizing isolated lists.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Prepositions — learn the basic meanings and uses of Hebrew prepositions before adding pronoun suffixes.