Bagrut Hebrew Language & Expression flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

ra'ayon markazi

The central idea of a text: the claim that the majority of the text's sentences explain, support, or illustrate. Testing each candidate sentence against the rest of the paragraph identifies it reliably.

ta'ana ve-hokhacha

Claim and evidence. A claim is a statement open to dispute; evidence is the fact, quotation, or statistic offered to settle it. Argumentative texts pair the two explicitly.

af al pi she-

Concessive marker meaning 'although'. In the pattern 'although X, Y', the writer's own position is Y; X is the opposing view being acknowledged and set aside.

milat kishur le-khen

The connective 'therefore', signaling that the following sentence is a conclusion drawn from what preceded. Recognizing it helps locate the author's final position in a long argument.

amad ha-kotev

The author's stance toward the subject, carried by evaluative adjectives and modality words such as 'ראוי', 'חייב', 'אין ספק'. Neutral descriptive verbs do not by themselves reveal a stance.

hashvaa im kaf ha-memad

A simile: a comparison using 'ke-', 'kmo', or 'dome le-'. It states that one thing resembles another, unlike a metaphor, which asserts identity without a comparison word.

hachnasha

Personification: attributing human action, speech, or feeling to an object, animal, or abstraction. It is identified by a human verb attached to a non-human subject in the text.

nekudat mahpekh

The turning point of a narrative: the moment when the protagonist's situation, understanding, or relationship changes. It usually precedes and explains the resolution of the plot.

dover mul mechaber

Speaker versus author. In lyric poetry the speaking voice may be a persona distinct from the poet; questions about feelings refer to the voice constructed inside the text.

ironya ba-koteret

An ironic title states the opposite of what the text finally endorses. Checking whether the title matches or reverses the ending distinguishes ironic from symbolic titles.

shoresh u-mishkal

Root and pattern. Hebrew words combine a usually three-consonant root with a fixed vowel pattern; the pattern (mishkal for nouns, binyan for verbs) determines the word's category of meaning.

binyan hif'il

The causative verb pattern. A pa'al verb like 'lamad' (learned) becomes 'hilmid' (taught) in hif'il, showing that the pattern adds the meaning of causing the action.

et ha-yedi'a

The particle 'et' marks a definite direct object and is omitted for an indefinite one: 'ani kore et ha-sefer' versus 'ani kore sefer'. Its presence signals definiteness of the object.

smichut

The Hebrew construct state, where two nouns are juxtaposed to express possession or belonging: 'beyt sefer' (a school) versus 'beyt ha-sefer' (the school). Definiteness is marked on the second noun.

mishpat yesh

An existential sentence built on 'yesh' (there is) or 'ein' (there is not). It has no overt subject and is grammatically complete, so it should not be corrected by adding one.

psukit she-

The relative clause marker '-she-', equivalent to formal 'asher'. It introduces a clause modifying a noun, as in 'ha-ish she-ba' (the man who came).

heskem be-mispar u-ve-min

Agreement rules: an adjective matches its noun in gender, number, and definiteness, while a verb matches its subject in gender and number, and in person in past and future tenses.

mispariim 3-10

Numbers three through ten take a plural noun ('shlosha sfarim'), whereas numbers eleven and above take a singular noun ('achad asar sefer'). This reversal is a frequent exam trap.

milat yachas be-khafifa

A preposition fused with a pronoun into one word: 'li', 'lekha', 'bah', 'aleinu'. These are written as single units and are not split into preposition plus separate pronoun.

meduberet mul leshon ha-sefer

Spoken versus literary register. Spoken Hebrew tolerates slang and shortened forms; literary Hebrew prefers full forms and nominal constructions. A word's register must fit the text type.

tzirufim kvu'im

Fixed collocations such as 'le-kabel hachlata' (make a decision) or 'le-hafik lekach' (draw a lesson). Substituting a near-synonym for one element breaks the idiom and marks the writing as non-native.

niv o she-elo

An idiom whose meaning is not derivable from its parts, such as 'lo kol yom Purim' (not every day is a holiday). Idioms carry a fixed register and cannot be paraphrased word by word.

mishkal katlan

A noun pattern that typically denotes a habitual agent or profession, as in 'safran' (librarian) and 'ramlan' (fraudster). Recognizing the pattern lets you infer meaning from an unfamiliar root.

milim sh'ulot

Loanwords absorbed into Hebrew. Some, like 'telefon' and 'universita', are fully standard; others, like 'sababa', remain restricted to colloquial speech and are inappropriate in formal writing.

nkudotayim

The colon. It introduces a list, an explanation, or a direct quotation. It is not placed after a preposition or after the comparison word 'kmo'.

nkuda u-psik

The semicolon, joining two independent clauses that are closely related in meaning but not linked by a conjunction. It signals a tighter link than a full stop.

gershayim be-rashei teivot

Multi-letter acronyms take gershayim before the final letter, as in 'צה"ל'. Single-letter abbreviations take a geresh instead, as in 'עמ'' for 'amud'.

mikaf mul kav mafrid

The hyphen joins parts of a single compound word and takes no surrounding spaces; the longer dash marks a break in thought and is spaced on both sides.

mishpat nose

The topic sentence that states a paragraph's single central idea, usually at or near its start. Every other sentence in the paragraph must support or illustrate it.

mi-vne ha-ta'ana

Argumentative essay structure: introduction with a thesis, body paragraphs each pairing one reason with evidence, a counter-argument with rebuttal, and a conclusion restating the thesis in new words.

taktsir be-milim acherim

A summary must be phrased in the summarizer's own words. Reproducing a full sentence from the source is quotation rather than summary and is penalized in assessment.

yichus le-makor

Attribution of each claim to its source, using formulas like 'le-fi makor alef' or 'ba-makor ha-sheni nimenet ha-ki'ara she-'. Merging sources without attribution is a standard integration error.