# Are there any exceptions to the ה' הידיעה rule?



## albondiga

cfu507 said:


> You should add "the" (ה' הידיעה) to the second word:
> בית כנסת - בית הכנסת (the synagogue)
> ראש ממשלה - ראש הממשלה (the Prime Minister)
> עץ אלון - עץ האלון (the oak tree)
> עצי שקמה גדולים - עצי השקמה הגדולים (the big sycamore tree)
> 
> When the second word describes the first one, than you should add "the" to both of them:
> רוח חזקה – הרוח החזקה (the strong wind)



OK, _every _rule of דקדוק has exceptions... at this time, I can think of no exceptions to this one though, albeit with my somewhat limited Hebrew knowledge (I thought I noticed one exception earlier tonight, but it turned out I was wrong.)  

Does anyone else know of any exception to this rule?


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## cfu507

Hi
There are no exceptions to ה הידיעה.

סוף שבוע, בית כנסת, עץ שיטה, ראש ממשלהare called מילת סמיכות. The first one is called נסמך and the second is called סומך. In this case the סומך gets the ה.

רוח חזקה is not מילת סמיכות. In this case both of the words get ה – הרוח החזקה 

In עץ השיטה הגדול the ה in השיטה is because of the fact that השיטה is סומך. The second ה is because of the fact that הגדול describes the עץ.

To read more about סמיכות

There is only one problem I can think about ה הידיעה. There are a lot of people who say "I go home":
אני הולך הבית instead of אני הולך הביתה. You would probably here it, but it is wrong.
Pay attention, There is no such a word ביתה. It is not that I add ה to ביתה.
To add ה to the word בית in this specific context is wrong, and you should use the word הביתה. It's like you use a different word with ה built-in.


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## Flaminius

cfu507 said:
			
		

> Pay attention, There is no such a word ביתה. It is not that I add ה to ביתה.
> To add ה to the word בית in this specific context is wrong, and you should use the word הביתה. It's like you use a different word with ה built-in.


Sorry but I find this difficult to understand.  Are you saying "ani holekh habajta" is wrong whilst "ani holekh habajt" is correct?  Or vice versa?  In my poor observation, I have never heard the _habajt_ version.


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## cfu507

"ani holech habayta" is the corect one.
"ani holech habayit" is wrong.


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## .Lola.

As far as I know, the ה in הבית*ה* was originally an acussative ending and then it was used as an ending when talking about direction. (Sorry, don' t know the right term in English.)

(Where to? - _to /towards_ home). 

There are not many words with this suffix in modern Hebrew; other examples:

out החוצ*ה*
in פנימ*ה*
right / left ימינ*ה*/שמאל*ה
*


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## scriptum

There are plenty. It happens frequently that the "status constructus" words are perceived by the speaker not as TWO words but as ONE, in which case the article is put before the first, not before the second word. Example: היושב ראש.
Many people say הבית ספר, הכובע מצחייה, etc.
This way of speaking is one of the hallmarks of the army slang.


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## albondiga

scriptum said:


> There are plenty. It happens frequently that the "status constructus" words are perceived by the speaker not as TWO words but as ONE, in which case the article is put before the first, not before the second word. Example: היושב ראש.
> Many people say הבית ספר, הכובע מצחייה, etc.
> This way of speaking is one of the hallmarks of the army slang.



So would any of these be considered "gramatically correct" usages?  Would they appear in a newspaper?  (Not that I'm looking to speak like a newspaper, but I'm sure you get my point... )  Or are they restricted to very casual conversations?  

Also, are there any that are almost _always _used this way, or are all of these examples of things which _should _have the ה elsewhere (if not for the speaker treating two words as one)??


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## scriptum

albondiga said:


> So would any of these be considered "gramatically correct" usages? Would they appear in a newspaper?
> Also, are there any that are almost _always _used this way, or are all of these examples of things which _should _have the ה elsewhere (if not for the speaker treating two words as one)??


"אדוני היושב ראש" is normally used in the Knesset. My other two examples are casual or slangy.
In a newspaper, expressions like הכובע מצחייה or האת חפירה would be incorrect; in the army they represent the normal way of speaking.


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## albondiga

scriptum said:


> "אדוני היושב ראש" is normally used in the Knesset. My other two examples are casual or slangy.
> In a newspaper, expressions like הכובע מצחייה or האת חפירה would be incorrect; in the army they represent the normal way of speaking.



Thanks!


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