Lesson 41: Describing People
Now you can describe the people around you — tall or short, kind or funny — and ask how old someone is. As always, the adjectives change with gender.
A new friend
אֵיךְ הֶחָבֵר הֶחָדָשׁ שֶׁלְּךָ?
eich hechaver hechadash shelcha?
What’s your new friend like?
הוּא גָּבוֹהַּ וְנֶחְמָד מְאוֹד.
hu gavoah venechmad me’od.
He’s tall and very nice.
בֶּן כַּמָּה הוּא?
ben kama hu?
How old is he?
הוּא צָעִיר, בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים.
hu tsa’ir, ben esrim.
He’s young, twenty years old.
נִשְׁמָע נֶחְמָד!
nishma nechmad!
Sounds nice!
Grammar: adjectives for people, and asking age
Describing adjectives come after the noun and agree in gender (and number):
| English | masculine | feminine |
|---|---|---|
| tall | גָּבוֹהַּ gavoah | גְּבוֹהָה gvoha |
| short | נָמוּךְ namuch | נְמוּכָה nemucha |
| smart | חָכָם chacham | חֲכָמָה chachama |
To ask someone’s age, Hebrew literally says “son/daughter of how many?”:
- בֶּן כַּמָּה אַתָּה? ben kama ata? — to a man
- בַּת כַּמָּה אַתְּ? bat kama at? — to a woman
You answer the same way: אֲנִי בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים (ani ben esrim, “I’m twenty”, lit. “I’m son-of twenty”).
Tip: מְאוֹד (me’od, “very”) goes after the adjective: נֶחְמָד מְאוֹד — “very nice”.
Vocabulary
Appearance (m. / f.)
| גָּבוֹהַּ / גְּבוֹהָה | gavoah / gvoha | tall |
| נָמוּךְ / נְמוּכָה | namuch / nemucha | short |
| צָעִיר / צְעִירָה | tsa’ir / tse’ira | young |
Personality (m. / f.)
| חָכָם / חֲכָמָה | chacham / chachama | smart, clever |
| נֶחְמָד / נֶחְמָדָה | nechmad / nechmada | nice, kind |
| מַצְחִיק / מַצְחִיקָה | matschik / matschika | funny |
Age
| בֶּן / בַּת כַּמָּה? | ben / bat kama? | how old? (to m. / f.) |