Life at School and College

One ending, one letter change

This topic gives you the vocabulary of a school day: the rooms, the equipment, the timetable and the breaks. Most of it is learning words. One thing is not, and it is worth more than any single word here. Hebrew marks a masculine plural with an ending added to the word, and for many words that is all that happens. But when the singular ends in one of the letters that has a special form at the end of a word, adding the ending pushes that letter into the middle, and it changes shape. So the plural is not simply the singular with two more letters on the end; the letter before them changes too. That is where the spelling goes wrong for most learners, and once you have seen it happen you will see it everywhere. Along the way, notice how many of these words are two words joined, like הפסקת צהריים. You already know that pattern from the social issues module, so learn each one as a single item. A phrase like יש הפסקת צהריים should feel ordinary by the end.

Places and things at school

Five words from the list this specification uses for school life.

Match the school word

Which one is the plural

One of these is the plural of the word for a grade or mark. Which is it?

• ציונים
• ציון
• מעבדה
• בחינה

Singular and plural

Both of these come from your vocabulary list. Setting them side by side shows the rule, and shows the part people miss.

Which two are plural

Select the TWO words that carry the masculine plural ending.

• ציונים
• לחץ להשיג ציונים טובים
• ציון
• מערכת שעות

Recognise it before you write it

A word about how to use this. You have seen one pair from your own vocabulary list, a singular and its plural, and you have seen exactly what changed between them: the ending was added, and the letter before it went back to its ordinary shape because it was no longer the last letter in the word. That pattern is general in Hebrew, and you will meet it constantly. What this module deliberately does not do is ask you to make the plural of the other words on your list, because getting that right depends on knowing which letters have end-of-word forms and how each individual word behaves, and guessing is worse than not answering. So for now, learn to recognise the ending when you see it and to expect the letter before it to differ from the singular. Ask your teacher to work through the plurals of the words you actually need, and check each one rather than assuming the pattern is automatic. Recognising reliably is worth more marks in reading and listening than producing unreliably is in writing.

The school day in a sentence

The Hebrew for an exam is _____ and the word for a break is _____. A longer break in the middle of the day is _____, and you can say there is one with _____. The list of what happens when is the _____.

The word that is not a place

Three of these are places in a school. Select the ONE that is a piece of equipment.

• מעבדה
• מחדד
• אולם ספורט
• פרוזדור

Reading a school notice

A reading question gives you a short notice and asks in English what it says. Suppose it contains the word מערכת שעות together with בחינה. Model answer: the notice concerns the timetable and mentions an exam, so it is most likely telling students when an exam will take place or that the timetable has changed because of one. Notice what earned the mark. Not a translation of every word, but recognising two words you know and working out what a notice containing both would be for. There is a second thing worth doing on a paper like this. If you see a word you half recognise that is a little longer than the one you learned, check the end of it: if it carries the plural ending, it is probably a word you do know, in the plural, with the letter before the ending written differently. Students lose marks by treating a plural they have never seen written down as a completely new word.

Describe what changed

Complete the sentence describing what happens when the plural ending is added.

Reading a school notice

You are working through a reading passage about school. Take the decisions in order.

• You meet a word that looks like one you know but is two letters longer at the end. What is the first thing to check?
• It is the plural ending, but the letter before it is not the one you remember from the singular. What has happened?
• The passage uses several two-word phrases like the one for a language laboratory. How should you treat them?
• A writing task asks you to mention grades in the plural, and you are not certain of the spelling. What is the safer move?

Rooms and equipment

Explain the plural rule

Answer in ENGLISH. Explain what you have learned about Hebrew school vocabulary and about how the masculine plural is written.

• Name three Hebrew words for places or things in a school, and give their meanings
• Explain how a masculine plural is marked in Hebrew
• Explain what happens to the last letter of the singular when that ending is added, and why
• Explain why you should recognise the plural rather than construct it, at this stage
• Name one word on your list that is made of two words joined, and say what the two parts mean
• Explain how spotting a plural ending can help you in a reading paper