הוא נשבע לומר את האמת.

he

Breakdown of הוא נשבע לומר את האמת.

• את: direct object marker
• לומר: to say
• אמת: truth

Questions & Answers about הוא נשבע לומר את האמת.

Is הוא necessary here, or could the sentence just be נשבע לומר את האמת?

Often, הוא is not strictly necessary.

In the past tense, Hebrew verbs already show the subject. נשבע by itself already means he swore. So:

• נשבע לומר את האמת = He swore to tell the truth
• הוא נשבע לומר את האמת = also He swore to tell the truth

Adding הוא can make the sentence clearer, more natural in context, or slightly more emphatic, especially if you are contrasting him with someone else.

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What form is נשבע, and why doesn’t it look like the root ש-ב-ע?

נשבע is a past tense, 3rd person masculine singular form, meaning he swore.

It comes from the root ש-ב-ע in the Nifal pattern. In this pattern, a נ is often added at the beginning, which is why the word looks different from the bare root.

So:

• root: ש-ב-ע
• basic dictionary form / past 3ms: נשבע
• meaning: swore, took an oath

A useful comparison:

• נשבע = he swore
• השביע = he made someone swear

So the pattern matters a lot.

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Why is לומר used after נשבע?