modern hebrew on memrise

1. Double negatives
 We have already learned how to form simple negatives with
לא and אין . In this lesson, we will discover some double
negative expressions and negative generalities.

2. Double negatives
 In English, double negatives are never allowed. A double
negative expression would be something like: “I don’t want
nothing.” This is bad grammar and is not allowed. When a
double negative like the one above is to be expressed in
English, you make the second negative a positive like: I
don’t want anything.”
 Hebrew uses several words to express double negative
expressions and you must create double negatives to be
grammatically correct. This is the opposite of English.
Three of the most common ones are אף פעם (never), אף
אחד (no one), and שום דבר (nothing). Let’s learn how to use
these words in sentences.

3. Double negatives
 When you want to use one of above double negative
expressions, you must first have a negative clause to begin
with in Hebrew. It would not make sense to use these words
with a positive statement. Typically you will see either the
words לא or אין that we have learned before.
 There are other words that are similar to these negative
constructions that can be used with positive statements:
 The opposite of אף אחד (no one) is מישהו (some one)
 The opposite of אף פעם (never) is תמיד (always)
 The opposite of שום דבר (nothing) is משהו (something)
 We will use these in the lesson sentences.

4. Double negatives
 Let’s look at some examples:
 אין לי שום דבר (ein li shum davar – I don’t have anything)
 אני רוצה משהו לאכול (ani rotse mashehu le’ekhol – I want
something to eat)
 אני אף פעם לא עושה את זה (ani af pa’am lo ose et ze – I never
do that)
 Notice that the double negative words are located in
sentences that also contain negative expressions. These
are indicated by the words לא and .אין

5. Double negatives
 In spoken Hebrew, these double negative constructions can
stand alone when part of a conversation:
 ? מה אתה רוצה (what do you want?)
 . שום דבר (nothing.)
 Keep in mind this is usually only used in spoken Hebrew and it
is informal.

6. Not this, but rather that
 Another expression that uses the negative construction is
when you wish to show preference for one object over
another.
 The word אלא is used in these constructions. This word, like
the double negative words, MUST be used in a negative
construction.
 For example, if I wanted to say: “I don’t want fish but rather
chicken.”, I would say “ אני לא רוצה דגים אלא עוף “. Notice
how the verb is negative to express dislike for fish. אלא
offers a contradiction to what was previously said.

7. Not this, but rather that
 One point to note about אלא is that it is not the same as the
word אבל meaning “but”. אלא can sometimes be translated
as “but” in English, but they are used in different contexts in
Hebrew.
 יש לי דגים, אבל אני רוצה עוף . I have fish, but I want chicken.
Notice that this sentence uses positive phrases so the word
אלא would not be correct here because אלא requires the
phrase to be negative.

8. Not this, but also that
 This expression with אלא and לא can also express
preference for more than one thing. The expression לא רק
(not only) can be used with אלא גם (but also) to express this
meaning
 אני רוצה לא רק כלבים, אלא גם חתולים
 I want not only dogs, but also cats
 Notice that you are still using the word לא in this expression.
אלא cannot be used without an overall negative expression.