Hebrew

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Proto-Semitic *šum. Cognate with Arabic هُم (hum). The central sense is “they”; other senses are by extension.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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הֵם (hemm pl

  1. they (the third-person masculine plural personal pronoun, masculine plural of הוא (hu'))
  2. those, yon (the masculine plural distant demonstrative pronoun, masculine plural of הוא (hu'))
    Synonym: אֵלֶּה (éileh, these)
    Antonym: אֵלֶּה (éileh)
  3. are (a masculine plural present-tense copula, masculine plural of הוא (hu'))
    Synonym: הינם (hinám)
    Antonym: אינם (einám)
Usage notes
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  • Like the other personal pronouns, הם is not used as a direct object, as the object of preposition, or as a possessive pronoun; rather, its sense is incorporated into the preceding word (which is usually a preposition, especially in Modern Hebrew), which then appears in its third-person-masculine-plural-personal-pronoun-including form. This applies to its demonstrative-pronoun sense as well, as these senses are not truly distinct.
  • Like other masculine plural forms, הם is used both with masculine-only antecedents or referents and with mixed-gender antecedents or referents.
  • Like other masculine plural forms with feminine counterparts in (-n), הם is sometimes substituted for its feminine counterpart הן (in which case it takes feminine adjectives and verbs), but this is not usually considered correct.
  1. ^ Samaritan Hebrew merges הם and המה using the former spelling but the pronunciation is derived from the latter.
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See also
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Adjective

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הֵם (hem)

  1. those, yon (the masculine plural distant demonstrative adjective, masculine plural of הוא (hu'))
    Antonym: אֵלֶּה (éileh, these)
Usage notes
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  • This adjective is nearly always found in its definite form הָהֵם (hahém).
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from English heme.

Noun

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הם (him)

  1. (biology, medicine) heme

Further reading

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Anagrams

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