# יותר טוב or יותר טובה



## Chazz

Hi.

If someone asks Me : ech ha regel? 
Do i say : 
ha rergel  yoter tov aval adain koev 
or 
ha regel yoter tova aval adain koevet.


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## Drink

Chazz said:


> Hi.
> 
> If someone asks Me : ech ha regel?
> Do i say :
> ha rergel  yoter tov aval adain koev
> or
> ha regel yoter tova aval adain koevet.



regel is feminine.


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## ismiv

Although רגל is feminine, you wouldn't say יותר טובה but יותר טוב. However, it's best to start the sentence without any noun 

יותר טוב, אבל עדין כואב


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## arielipi

ismiv said:


> Although רגל is feminine, you wouldn't say יותר טובה but יותר טוב. However, it's best to start the sentence without any noun


maybe *you*​ would do such thing, but it is poor practice and plain wrong


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## ismiv

arielipi said:


> maybe *you*​ would do such thing, but it is poor practice and plain wrong



I suppose you're right, but I really can't remember somebody saying טובה in such a situation. Do you think most Hebrew speakers would say it your way?


Second thoughts: I suppose you're right, there is nothing strange about saying הרגל יותר טובה and it's obviously the right choice grammatically.


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## hadronic

Maybe because "tov" is an adverb and not an adjective ?
In French, and possibly in English too, we can use an adverbe : ma jambe est bien / ma jambe est mieux,  my leg is well / my leg is better.


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## Drink

ismiv said:


> Although רגל is feminine, you wouldn't say יותר טובה but יותר טוב. However, it's best to start the sentence without any noun
> 
> יותר טוב, אבל עדין כואב



Regardless, you would say כואבת, not כואב.


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## refiZ

hadronic said:


> Maybe because "tov" is an adverb and not an adjective ?
> In French, and possibly in English too, we can use an adverbe : ma jambe est bien / ma jambe est mieux,  my leg is well / my leg is better.



I don't know if 'tov' (טוב) is the official adverb (though many people certainly use it like one) -- I thought the official adverb was 'heitav' (היטב).

Perhaps 'tov' can fill both roles (officially)? I don't know the rules, and would be also interested in hearing from the native speakers.


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## hadronic

I think there's nothing wrong with "היא מרגישה טוב". 
Also, היטב is "heitev".


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## refiZ

hadronic said:


> Also, היטב is "heitev".



Yikes! I always make silly errors when I post before sleeping.

In this case, could you use 'tov' and 'heitev' interchangeably?


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## hadronic

Google displays extremely few examples with "margish heitev".
In many of those examples, there's always a following with "et" : "margish heitev et ha mashber", "margish heitev et ha hevdel"  ("feel well the crisis", "feel well the difference "...). It sounds more like an optional adverb : without it, the basic meaning remains the same.
This is not the case for "ani margish tov". Just "Ani margish" is not the same thing


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## ismiv

refiZ said:


> Yikes! I always make silly errors when I post before sleeping.
> 
> In this case, could you use 'tov' and 'heitev' interchangeably?



There are very few places where you could use היטב in everyday talk without sounding fancy. If you asked me I'd say to avoid ot altogather (when speaking)  but I'm really not a teacher, and there might be some spaciel case that I'm overlooking. In any case, you can't say הרגל מרגישה היטב or אני מרגיש היטב because it's just too fancy. I don't know if it's grammatically correct.


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## arielipi

ismiv said:


> In any case, you can't say הרגל מרגישה היטב or אני מרגיש היטב because it's just too fancy.


Well, a. its your opinion that its too fancy and b. that doesnt make it unsayable in any case, only if its incorrect. you *can* say its advised not to use it.


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## ismiv

arielipi said:


> Well, a. its your opinion that its too fancy and b. that doesnt make it unsayable in any case, only if its incorrect. you *can* say its advised not to use it.



a. I said I'm not a teacher. What else would you like me to do, write I'm completely unreliable and no one should  ever trust me? b. I explicitly wrote what my problem is that it's too fancy. I'm sure the user can decide for himself whether fancy talk is unsayable,, laughable or  just unadvised.      

You also didn't write what *your* opinion is. Do you think it's fancy? would youadvise against it?

I have much respect for you, since I've posted here only few posts, and you might know much more about Hebrew than I do. Still, I can't understand the point of addressing my response only to hint your opinion and make clear points I've made very clear.

All that said, I don't take my word back. In my opinion it isn't natural to talk this way, and most people would find this strange.


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## arielipi

i am interested in bickering as i am about the color of my ceiling.

again, if something is not to your taste, say it isnt to your taste, dont say its incorrect.
my opinion is that it should be used for things needed to be done in a proper way e.g. studying, driving, working.
i think in this (leg) case it doesnt fit, although you can say הרגל החלימה היטב.

is that detailed enough?


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## refiZ

Thank you for the insight. The intersection and conflicts with prescriptive and descriptive linguistics are totally fascinating to me.  

I really aspire to use the correct adverb and adjective forms where appropriate, regardless of common usage.


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