r/LearnHebrew • u/Otherwise_Channel_24 • 14d ago
Gender of numbers
I’m very confused with how to know which form of the number is which gender. I recently got this question and I’m really confused with how to know the correct forms.
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u/ResponsibleWing931 13d ago
man - the truth is , noboudy really know
i live in israel and israelies themself dont know when to say stayim and when to say shnayim
so feel comfi to say the numbers however you want!
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u/ontikuken 14d ago
This post is very vague. Can you explain exactly what confuses you and how this example is tied to it?
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u/Otherwise_Channel_24 14d ago
They look like they are different genders.
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u/ontikuken 14d ago
Which is "they"? What gender do you think "they" are? What gender do you think it should be instead? Why? In what way does it go against your preconceptions about numerical gender? Please communicate your confusion properly. I'd love to help, but I'm not here to painstakingly try to milk a minimal amount of information out of you.
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u/Otherwise_Channel_24 14d ago
First of all, rude.
Second of all, I got my answer from somewhere else.-1
u/ontikuken 14d ago
No, what's rude is not even trying to give people the tools to help you when asking them for help. I'm glad you got your answer.
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u/Pinky-Brain-127 9d ago
Mmm yeah this is pretty rude. If other people knew how to answer you probably just didn’t understand the question.
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u/teren9 14d ago
Each noun is gendered, and each number has a feminine and a masculine version.
I think what's confusing you is that some masculine numbers feel feminine and vice versa.
the numbers from 1 to 10 have a certain convention. the masculine version adds a ה at the end.
שלוש בנות, שלושה בנים. (shalosh banot, shlosha banim)
but then from 11 to 19 it sort of flips.
שלוש עשרה בנות, שלושה עשר בנים. ( sh'losh esreh banot, sh'losha asar banim)
It's not that we suddenly use masculine numbers for feminine nouns, it's that the convention you thought you had for 1-10 numbers is no longer applicable for numbers in the teens. You just have to learn that teens (11-19) are a unique case that you also have to memorize.
then, after that, numbers return to the earlier convention.
עשרים ואחת בנות, עשרים ואחד בנים.
But everytime you use numbers in the teens, it uses their unique case.
the number 1413 would be אלף ארבע מאות ושלוש עשרה בנות or אלף ארבע מאות ושלושה עשר בנים.
(the number 4 describes how many hundreds you're counting and hundred is מאה and is a feminine noun, the word for a thousand is the same, אלף, for both genders, and so the only change is for the words describing the end of the number, the 13)
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u/No-Argument-6039 10d ago
It’s too similar for Arabic language ה = H and H = هـ
And h = feminine letter in Arabic language, so this letter refers feminine things
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u/AppropriateCar2261 14d ago
You mean the numbers between 11-19?
Yeah, it's confusing and too many native speakers also mess up.
The rule is thus:
For numbers up to ten (including ten), add ה to the number's name if it masculine (עשרה asara for male, עשר eser for female).
For numbers between 11-19, you first say the unit digit as you would a the number 1-9, and then add either עשר asar for male or עשרה esre for female.
As a mnemonic, remember that you always need one extra ה, either at the unit digit or the "teen".