Questions & Answers about אני שומע עליה הרבה, אבל אני לא מכיר אותה.
Why is it שומע and not שומעת?
Because שומע is the masculine singular present-tense form.
Hebrew present tense agrees with the subject in gender and number. So:
- אני שומע = I hear / I am hearing said by a male
- אני שומעת = the same thing said by a female
The same applies later in the sentence:
- אני לא מכיר = said by a male
- אני לא מכירה = said by a female
So if a woman were saying the whole sentence, it would be:
אני שומעת עליה הרבה, אבל אני לא מכירה אותה.
Why are there two different words for her: עליה and אותה?
Because they do two different grammatical jobs.
- עליה means about her or on her
- אותה means her as a direct object
In this sentence:
- אני שומע עליה הרבה = I hear a lot about her
- אני לא מכיר אותה = I don’t know her
So English uses her in both places, but Hebrew changes the form depending on whether it comes after a preposition or is a direct object.
What exactly is עליה made of?