Prefixes and Suffixes
The following is an excerpt from Mr. Benner’s book, Ancient Hebrew Dictionary.
The Prefixes
Six letters are frequently prefixed to nouns and verbs. Below are these six letters and examples of their uses.
The prefix ב (b) is the preposition meaning "within" and is usually translated as "in" or with."
#666 / במדבר / bamidbar / in the wilderness
#573 / בחרב / behharev / with the sword
#352 / בשלח / b'shalahh / in the sending
The prefix ל (l) is the preposition meaning "toward" and is usually translated as "to" or "for."
#440 / לארץ / la'arets / to the land
#464 / לבן / l'veyn / to/for a son
#121 / לדעה / l'deyah / to know
The prefix מ (m) is the preposition meaning "from."
#459 / מבית / mibeyt / from the house
#592 / מיד / miyad / from the hand
The prefix כ (k) is the preposition meaning "like."
#415 / כאלהים / keylohim / like the powers
#624 / ככל / k'khol / like all
The prefix ו (v/u) is the conjunction meaning "and."
#498 / וגר / v'geyr / and a stranger
#503 / ודבש / ud'vash / and honey
#197 / ונגע / un'go'a / and touch
The prefix ה (h) is the article meaning "the."
#506 / הדור / hador / the generation
#585 / הטוב / hatov / the functional one
#24 / הבא / haba / the coming
The Suffixes (Possessive Pronouns)
Nouns are frequently suffixed by a letter (or letters) representing a pronoun. This noun/pronoun combination is in the construct state (identified in English with the word "of"). An example of a Hebrew construct state is ביתי (beytiy) which would literally be translated as "house of me," but would normally be translated as "my house."
ביתי / bey'tiy / my house
ביתך / bey'te'kha / your (mas) house
ביתך / bey'teykh / your (fem) house
ביתו / bey'to / his house
ביתה / bey'tah / her house
ביתנו / bey'tey'nu / our house
ביתכם / bey'te'khem / your (mas, pl) house
ביתכן / bey'te'khen / your (fem, pl) house
ביתם / bey'tam / their(mas) house
ביתן / bey'tan / their (fem) house
The Suffixes (Plurals)
Nouns are made plural by adding a suffix, either ים (im) for masculine nouns or ות (ot) for feminine nouns. There are a few exceptions to this though. For instance, the Hebrew word אב (father) is a masculine noun but in the plural is written as אבות (avot). Below are a few examples of Hebrew plurals.
#464 / בנים / beniym / sons
#477 / בנות / banot / daughters
#594 / ימים / yamim / days
#397 / אתות / otot / signs
Combinations
והארץ / v'ha'arets / and the land
The prefix ו meaning "and"
The prefix ה meaning "the"
The word ארץ meaning "land"
מידו / mi'ya'do / from his hand
The prefix מ meaning "from"
The word יד meaning "hand"
The suffix ו meaning "his"
לנו / lanu / To us
The prefix ל meaning "to"
The suffix נו meaning "us"
בניכם / b'ney'khem / your sons
The word בן meaning "son"
The masc. plural suffix ים
The suffix כם meaning "you" (mas, pl)