# -it/-iyah and -im/-iyim



## Drink

For adjectives ending in -i (for example צָרְפָתִי), what is the difference between the feminine singular endings -it and -iyah (צָרְפָתִית and צָרְפָתִיָּה)? And what is the difference between the masculine plural endings -im and -iyim (צָרְפָתִים and צָרְפָתִיִּים)?

My gut feeling is that for the feminine singular, -it is used for inanimate objects and -iyah for people, and that for the masculine plural, -iyim is the adjective and -im is only if it is used as a noun.

For example, are the following grammatically correct?:

האישה הצרפת*יה* מכינה ארוחה צרפת*ית*.
הצרפת*ים* הם אנשים צרפת*יים*.

And are there any other rules about the usage of these variants?


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## airelibre

Correct.
You can simply say 
הצרפתיה מכינה ארוחה צרפתית
without אישה

And the second sentence is a bit strange ("The French are French people") but all the same correct.


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## Drink

Thanks for confirming that the sentences are correct, but they are really just examples to illustrate my perception of the difference between the endings. I am more interested in why they are correct and the more general rules of how to use these these endings.


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## ystab

Look in these two detailed answers by the Academy of Hebrew Languange:
http://hebrew-academy.org.il/2011/07/רוסייה-אבל-סורית-סיומת-םִית-לעומת-סי/
http://hebrew-academy.org.il/2010/03/חרדים-וחרדיים-חילונים-וחילוניים-סי/

If you can't read Hebrew, I'll write it briefly.


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## Drink

ystab said:


> Look in these two detailed answers by the Academy of Hebrew Languange:
> http://hebrew-academy.org.il/2011/07/רוסייה-אבל-סורית-סיומת-םִית-לעומת-סי/
> http://hebrew-academy.org.il/2010/03/חרדים-וחרדיים-חילונים-וחילוניים-סי/
> 
> If you can't read Hebrew, I'll write it briefly.



תודה רבה!

I can read Hebrew but with difficulty. I understood the first link about the feminine singular. It says that there is no hard rule but in general people prefer -it when the masculine singular has non-final stress and -iyah when the masculine singular has final stress. But this does not explain the difference between אישה צרפת*יה* and ארוחה צרפת*ית*.

I did not quite understand the second link about the masculine plural. It seemed to say that -im is used for people and -iyim for everything else, but then it gave a lot of counterexamples.

I would really like to understand the rules behind these counterexamples.


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## arielipi

I think that arukha tsarfatit - the -it suffix acts as a meta'er, while isha tsarfatiya is a fact.


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## ystab

Regarding the masculine plural, what they say there is that צרפתי can be  either a noun (a Frenchman) or an adjective (French). Therefore, for  persons you can say: חיילים צרפתיים (French soldiers) and חיילים צרפתים (soldiers who are Frenchmen), while for  inanimates you say: מטוסים צרפתיים (French planes). In practice, a single Yod is for people and a double Yod for non people.

Regarding the feminine singular, check also this related link from the same site: http://hebrew-academy.org.il/2011/07/דתית-או-דתייה-סיומת-םִית-לעומת-סיומת/. Its principle is basically similar to the people-non-people above.


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## Drink

ystab said:


> Regarding the masculine plural, what they say there is that צרפתי can be  either a noun (a Frenchman) or an adjective (French). Therefore, for  persons you can say: חיילים צרפתיים (French soldiers) and חיילים צרפתים (soldiers who are Frenchmen), while for  inanimates you say: מטוסים צרפתיים (French planes). In practice, a single Yod is for people and a double Yod for non people.
> 
> Regarding the feminine singular, check also this related link from the same site: http://hebrew-academy.org.il/2011/07/דתית-או-דתייה-סיומת-םִית-לעומת-סיומת/. Its principle is basically similar to the people-non-people above.



תודה רבה! אני חושב שאני מבין כרגע.


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## amikama

Moderator note: The discussion about the word כרגע has been moved to a new thread.


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