# אותו vs. ההוא



## sawyeric1

They both can mean "that one". So what's the difference? How are they used differently?

Material from my Hebrew tutor:

F. Which one do you want?
?איזה מהם אתה רוצה

M. That one. The one that’s all black
אותו. זה ששחור לגמרי

F. Yeah, I like that one too
כן, אני גם אוהבת את ההוא

(talking about kittens)

Thanks


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## slus

There is no clear distinction between the two. I suppose אותו is a bit more affectionate than ההוא.
Your conversation could easily go the other way around without changing the meaning:

F. Which one do you want?
?איזה מהם אתה רוצה

M. That one. The one that’s all black
את ההוא. זה ששחור לגמרי

F. Yeah, I like that one too
כן, אני גם אוהבת אותו


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## shalom00

ההוא is used less, and not in more formal speech or writing.


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## amikama

Maybe it's just me, but in the tutor's version I have the impression that they are talking about _two _kittens:
אותו. זה ששחור לגמרי - "this one."
כן, אני גם אוהבת את ההוא - "that one" (pointing at another kitten)

...while in slus's version they are talking about the same kitten:
את ההוא. זה ששחור לגמרי - "that one" (pointing at a kitten)
כן, אני גם אוהבת אותו - "this one" (referring to that kitten)


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## slus

amikama said:


> Maybe it's just me, but in the tutor's version I have the impression that they are talking about _two _kittens:
> אותו. זה ששחור לגמרי - "this one."
> כן, אני גם אוהבת את ההוא - "that one" (pointing at another kitten)
> 
> ...while in slus's version they are talking about the same kitten:
> את ההוא. זה ששחור לגמרי - "that one" (pointing at a kitten)
> כן, אני גם אוהבת אותו - "this one" (referring to that kitten)



Yes, Amikama is correct, of course. I misread "אני גם". I read "גם אני".


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## sawyeric1

Why does one order talk about one kitten, and the other order talk about two, if the two terms are considered interchangeable?


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## amikama

sawyeric1 said:


> Why does one order talk about one kitten, and the other order talk about two, if the two terms are considered interchangeable?


They aren't (although they are close in meaning).
אותו - it/him/this
את ההוא - that (person, thing etc.)


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## orca

Just wanted to add that saying אני *גם *אוהבת אותו is not correct. It should be אני אוהבת *גם *אותו if you mean you like the other one as well, or *גם *אני אוהבת אותו if you mean you too like the same one.
I confess my knowledge is only intuitive, that is, I can't back it up with an academical explanation, but this is the right way to write it, although in spoken everyday language people don't usually insist on it.

I did a little search and found this:

*גם הסטודנטים* למדו בספרייה (ולא רק המרצים).

הסטודנטים *גם למדו* בספרייה (ולא רק ישבו שם).

הסטודנטים למדו *גם בספרייה* (ולא רק בכיתות).

Basically, they explain there that the place of the word Gam (and also רק, אפילו, דווקא) changes according to what you want to stress and it should then come before the predicate.

Your example fits the 3rd example above - I like this cat too (and not only the first one)


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## shalom00

In English as well as in Hebrew, the placement of also/גם may cause the meaning of a sentence to be ambiguous.
In context, the correct meaning is usually understood.
In speech, the emphasis on one of the words often solves the ambiguity.

Ambiguity, can however, be a great problem in such cases as formal requirements documents.


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