Hebrew builds its plurals with two suffixes: ־ִים -ím and ־וֹת -ót. As a first approximation, masculine nouns take ־ִים and feminine nouns take ־וֹת — and that approximation will carry you a long way, provided you know from the start that it is an approximation. This page is about which suffix goes on which noun and how it attaches. What the stem does underneath it is a separate story, told on plural stem changes.
־ִים on masculine nouns
In the simplest case the suffix just goes on the end of the noun.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| סֵפֶר séfer | סְפָרִים sfarím | book |
| חָבֵר khavér | חֲבֵרִים khaverím | friend |
| יֶלֶד yéled | יְלָדִים yeladím | child |
| סְטוּדֶנְט studént | סְטוּדֶנְטִים studéntim | student |
| מוֹרֶה moré | מוֹרִים morím | teacher (m.) |
Only two of those rows just add a suffix — סְטוּדֶנְט and חָבֵר. The rest reshape the stem first: סֵפֶר and יֶלֶד shift their vowels (סְפָרִים, יְלָדִים), and מוֹרֶה loses its final ה. Those are stem effects, and they are regular; the point here is only that all five nouns are masculine and all five take ־ִים.
קניתי שני ספרים חדשים ביריד.
kaníti shnei sfarím khadashím bayaríd
I bought two new books at the fair.
החברים שלי כבר בפנים, אני מחפש חנייה.
hakhaverím shelí kvar bifním, aní mekhapés khanayá
My friends are already inside — I'm looking for a parking space. (m. speaker)
כמה סטודנטים יש בקורס הזה?
káma studéntim yesh bakúrs hazé?
How many students are there on this course?
־וֹת on feminine nouns — remove the ending first
This is the mechanical point that trips people. A feminine noun does not keep its singular ending and add ־וֹת on top. The ending comes off, and ־וֹת goes on in its place.
| Singular | Plural | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| דִּירָה dirá | דִּירוֹת dirót | ־ָה removed, ־וֹת added |
| שְׁאֵלָה she'elá | שְׁאֵלוֹת she'elót | same |
| מִיטָּה mitá | מִיטּוֹת mitót | same |
| מַחְבֶּרֶת makhbéret | מַחְבָּרוֹת makhbarót | ־ֶת gone, and the stem rebuilt around it |
| רַכֶּבֶת rakévet | רַכָּבוֹת rakavót | same |
| מִרְפֶּסֶת mirpéset | מִרְפָּסוֹת mirpasót | same |
The ־ֶת nouns deserve a second look: makhbéret → makhbarót is not a swapped ending but a reshaped word. The whole vowel pattern moves, and the stress moves with it — from the middle of the singular to the very end of the plural. Say the pair out loud a few times; the shape is worth more than the rule.
יש לי כמה שאלות לפני שאני חותם.
yesh li káma she'elót lifnéi she'aní khotém
I've got a few questions before I sign. (m. speaker)
כל המרפסות בבניין פונות לים.
kol hamirpasót babinyán ponót layám
All the balconies in the building face the sea.
יש רכבות לירושלים כל חצי שעה.
yesh rakavót lirushaláyim kol khatsí sha'á
There are trains to Jerusalem every half hour.
The suffix takes the stress
Make this a teaching point rather than a footnote, because it is where an English accent gives itself away instantly. Both plural suffixes are stressed — in Hebrew's own vocabulary.
| Singular | Plural | Where the accent moves |
|---|---|---|
| séfer | sfarím | off the stem, onto ־ִים |
| yéled | yeladím | off the stem, onto ־ִים |
| makhbéret | makhbarót | two syllables to the right |
| dirá | dirót | already final, stays final |
English speakers hear séfer and produce sfárim, keeping the accent where the singular had it. Hebrew does the reverse: adding a suffix usually pulls the stress onto it. The general principle — Hebrew is a מִלְּרַע language, stressed on the last syllable far more often than English is — is on milra and mil'el.
Never practise a plural on its own
A plural noun almost never stands alone in a real sentence. The adjective behind it takes the same two suffixes, matched to the noun's gender, and so does the present-tense verb in front of it.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| סֵפֶר חָדָשׁ séfer khadásh | סְפָרִים חֲדָשִׁים sfarím khadashím |
| שְׁאֵלָה קָשָׁה she'elá kashá | שְׁאֵלוֹת קָשׁוֹת she'elót kashót |
| הַדִּירָה הַגְּדוֹלָה hadirá hagdolá | הַדִּירוֹת הַגְּדוֹלוֹת hadirót hagdolót |
| הַיֶּלֶד יוֹשֵׁב hayéled yoshév | הַיְלָדִים יוֹשְׁבִים hayeladím yoshvím |
הדירות הגדולות בבניין הזה כבר נמכרו.
hadirót hagdolót babinyán hazé kvar nimkerú
The big flats in this building have already been sold.
השאלות בבחינה היו קשות מאוד.
hashe'elót babkhiná hayú kashót me'ód
The exam questions were very hard.
המיטות בחדר הזה קטנות מדי לשני מבוגרים.
hamitót bakhéder hazé ktanót midáy lishnéi mevugarím
The beds in this room are too small for two adults.
The split is a tendency, not a test
Say this now rather than let it ambush you later: the suffix does not define the gender. A noun's gender is fixed, the suffix it happens to take is a separate fact about the word, and a minority of nouns take the "wrong-looking" one. שׁוּלְחָן "table" is masculine and pluralises שׁוּלְחָנוֹת. אִישָּׁה "woman" is feminine and pluralises נָשִׁים. Neither has changed gender — only the ending looks unexpected, and everything that agrees still agrees with the gender.
צריך עוד שני שולחנות בשביל כל האנשים.
tsaríkh od shnei shulkhanót bishvíl kol ha'anashím
We need two more tables for everybody. (שולחנות ends in ־וֹת and is masculine — hence שני, not שתי)
The full list of these is short and worth learning as a block: plurals whose ending disagrees with the gender.
Common Mistakes
1. Using ־ִים as a general plural. English has one plural suffix, so learners adopt the first Hebrew one they meet and apply it everywhere.
❌ יש לי כמה שאלים
Incorrect — שאלה is feminine and takes ־וֹת: יש לי כמה שאלות. ־ִים is the masculine plural, not the default one.
✅ יש לי עוד שתי שאלות ואני משחרר אותך.
yesh li od shtei she'elót va'aní meshakhrér otkhá
I've got two more questions and then I'll let you go. (m. speaker, to a man)
2. Keeping the stress on the stem. This one is not written down anywhere in the spelling, so nothing corrects it for you.
❌ ספרים
sfárim
Incorrect as a pronunciation — the plural suffix carries the stress: sfarím. Likewise yeladím, khaverím, dirót, she'elót — never yéladim or dírot.
✅ בארון יש ספרים בשלוש שפות.
ba'arón yesh sfarím beshalósh safót
There are books in three languages in that cupboard.
3. Pluralising the adjective but not gendering it. The number is easy to remember and the gender is the part that slips, so the adjective comes out plural and masculine.
❌ התשובות שלו היו קצרים
Incorrect — the adjective agrees in gender as well as number, and תשובות is feminine: התשובות שלו היו קצרות.
✅ התשובות שלו היו קצרות אבל מדויקות.
hatshuvót sheló hayú ktsarót avál meduyakót
His answers were short but accurate.
4. Adding ־וֹת to a ־ֶת noun instead of replacing it. The ־ֶת does not look like a removable ending, so it gets left in place.
❌ מחברתות
Incorrect as a spelling — the ־ֶת comes off and the stem rebuilds around ־וֹת: מַחְבֶּרֶת → מַחְבָּרוֹת, written מחברות. The same for רכבת → רכבות and מרפסת → מרפסות.
✅ קניתי לילדים מחברות חדשות לבית הספר.
kaníti layeladím makhbarót khadashót levéit haséfer
I bought the kids new notebooks for school.
Key Takeaways
- Two suffixes: ־ִים on masculine nouns, ־וֹת on feminine ones.
- ־וֹת replaces the feminine singular ending rather than joining it: דירה → דירות, מחברת → מחברות. A ־ֶת noun rebuilds its whole stem in the process (makhbéret → makhbarót).
- Both suffixes are stressed — sfarím, yeladím, she'elót, dirót. Keeping the accent on the stem is the most audible foreign-accent marker in Hebrew. Loanwords are the loose end (studéntim).
- The adjective takes the same suffixes, matched to the noun's gender: ספרים חדשים, שאלות קשות, הדירות הגדולות.
- The ־ִים/־וֹת split is a strong tendency, not a gender test. שולחן is masculine with שולחנות; אישה is feminine with נשים — and in both cases everything else in the clause still agrees with the gender, not with the ending.
Now practice Hebrew
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Feminine Endings: ־ָה and ־ֶתA1 — The two productive feminine markers, the ־ִית subtype that hangs off them, and the reading problem no beginner course mentions: in unpointed Hebrew מורה is both the male teacher and the female one, and only the words around it decide which.
- Stress: מלרע vs מלעילA1 — Hebrew stresses the last syllable of a word — shalóm, todá, slichá — and English speakers get this wrong more audibly than any consonant. Here is the default, the four pockets where the stress moves back, and why this guide prints an accent on every romanization.
- Adjectives Agree in Gender, Number and DefinitenessA1 — A Hebrew adjective copies three facts from its noun at once — gender, number and definiteness — and there is no neutral form to fall back on. The third one is the dangerous one: get the definiteness wrong and you have not made a clumsy phrase, you have made a different sentence.