Personal Pronouns — I, You, He, She…

Personal pronouns are the small words "I, you, he, she..." that let you talk about people without naming them. Hebrew has ten of them, and the good news is that they never change form — אֲנִי ani is always אֲנִי. The interesting news: Hebrew cares about gender, so "you" has four different versions.

The full table

Usage notes

ata vs at — don't mix them up!

• אַתָּה ata — stress on the end: a-TA. For a man.
• אַתְּ at — one short syllable. For a woman.

💡 Tip: Mixed group of men and women? Use the masculine forms אַתֶּם atem / הֵם hem. One man in the room makes the whole group grammatically masculine.

No word for "it"

Hebrew has no neuter gender. Every object, animal, and idea is either masculine or feminine, so you say הוּא hu ("he") or הִיא hi ("she") about books, tables, and cars:

• הַסֵּפֶר הוּא טוֹב. ha-sefer hu tov. — The book (masc.) is good — literally "the book, he is good."
• הַדֶּלֶת הִיא פְּתוּחָה. ha-delet hi ptukha. — The door (fem.) is open — "the door, she is open."

Pronunciation traps for English speakers

• הוּא hu — the ה is pronounced; it's "hoo," not "oo."
• הִיא hi — sounds like the English pronoun "he," but means "she"! This confuses everyone at first.
• אֲנַחְנוּ anakhnu — the ח is the throaty kh sound.

When to use atem / aten and hem / hen

• A room full of women only → אַתֶּן aten, הֵן hen.
• Any other situation → אַתֶּם atem, הֵם hem.

✅ Key takeaways

• Ten pronouns: one "I" and "we," but four "yous" and two "theys."
• Hebrew splits by gender: ata (m) vs at (f), hem (m) vs hen (f).
• There is no "it" — objects are הוּא or הִיא depending on the noun's gender.
• A mixed group always takes the masculine form.
• Subject pronouns don't change form, but object pronouns (him, her, me) are entirely different words (e.g., "he" is הוּא but "him" is אוֹתוֹ).

✏️ Practice

1. Which pronoun do you use when talking to your female teacher? To your male friend?
2. Translate: "She is a student." (Hint: Hebrew needs no "is": הִיא תַּלְמִידָה.)
3. You see a group of three women. "They" = ?
4. A mixed class of students leaves the room. "They" = ?
5. The table (שֻׁלְחָן, masculine) is big. Say "It is big": הוּא גָּדוֹל — which pronoun did you use and why?

Answers

1. To the female teacher: אַתְּ at. To the male friend: אַתָּה ata.
2. הִיא תַּלְמִידָה. hi talmida.
3. הֵן hen — all women.
4. הֵם hem — mixed groups take masculine.
5. הוּא hu, because שֻׁלְחָן shulkhan is masculine — Hebrew has no "it."