הן

See also: Appendix:Variations of "en"

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /hin/

• Audio:

  (file)

Particle

הֵן • (hen)

1. Lo! also (as expressing surprise) if: - behold, if, lo, though.
   • Tanach, Numbers 23:9, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     כִּי־מֵרֹאשׁ צֻרִים אֶרְאֶנּוּ וּמִגְּבָעוֹת אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ הֶן־עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב׃

     ki-merósh tsurím 'er'énu umig'va'ót 'ashurénu hen-'ám l'vadád yishkón uvagoyím ló yitkhasháv.
     kī-mērōš ṣūrīm ʾerʾénnū ūmiggəḇāʿōṯ ʾăšūrénnū hen-ʿām ləḇāḏāḏ yiškōn ūḇaggōyīm lō yiṯḥaššāḇ.

     For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

2. (formal) yes, yea, aye
3. as well as

Usage notes

• Due to being the affirmative, it is used as a copula, inflected identically to (and confused with) הִנֵּה (hiné). Although this is in parallel to usage of the negative אֵין (ēn), this is discouraged by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Antonyms

• לַאו (lav)

Derived terms

• בהן צדק
• מכלל הן אתה שומע לאו

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /hin(n)/
• (Samaritan Hebrew) IPA^(key): /in.na/, [ˈʔin.næˑ]
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈheːn/, [ˈheː.en]
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈhen/, [ˈheːn]
• (Persian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /hen/
• (Iraqi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /hen/
• (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /hen/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /hejn/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /(h)en/

• Audio (Modern Israeli Hebrew):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -em

Pronoun

הֵן • (hen) f pl

1. They (feminine).

See also

Hebrew personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		אֲנִי (aní), אנוכי / אָנֹכִי (anokhí)	אֲנַחְנוּ (anákhnu), אָנוּ (ánu)
2nd person	m	אַתָּה (atá)	אַתֶּם (atém)
	f	אַתְּ (at)	אַתֶּן (atén)
3rd person	m	הוּא (hu)	הֵם (hem)
	f	הִיא (hi)	הֵן (hen)

References

• H2005 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible