Questions & Answers about בת דודה שלי עובדת במזרח העיר, ולכן היא יוצאת מהבית כבר בשש ורבע.
Why does Hebrew use בת דודה for female cousin?
In modern Hebrew, cousins are often named by gender:
- בן דוד = male cousin
- בת דודה = female cousin
Historically, these expressions are connected to דוד (uncle) and דודה (aunt), but in everyday Hebrew they function simply as the normal words for cousin.
So בת דודה שלי just means my female cousin.
Why is שלי at the end instead of the beginning?
Hebrew usually expresses possession by putting שלי (my) after the noun:
- בת דודה שלי = my female cousin
- literally: female cousin of me / cousin שלי
This is very normal in Hebrew. English says my cousin, but Hebrew often says cousin my.
Why is there no ה in בת דודה שלי?
Because the phrase is already definite due to שלי.
When a noun is followed by a possessive phrase like שלי, שלך, שלו, etc., it is already understood as definite:
- הספר = the book
- הספר שלי = my book
But with expressions like בת דודה שלי, Hebrew normally does not add ה to the first word. The possession already makes it definite enough.