Questions & Answers about חיית המחמד ישנה בכלוב ליד המלונה.
Why is it חיית המחמד and not just חיה?
חיית המחמד is the normal Hebrew way to say the pet. It is a construct chain (called סמיכות), literally something like the animal of affection/fondness. In modern Hebrew, this whole expression simply means pet.
Using just חיה would mean animal, not specifically pet.
Why does חיה change to חיית?
Because חיית is the construct form of חיה.
A very common pattern in Hebrew is that a feminine noun ending in ־ה changes to ־ת when it comes before another noun in a construct chain:
- חיה = animal
- חיית = animal of ...
So חיית המחמד = the pet.
Why is only המחמד marked with ה־, but the whole phrase means the pet?