7.5 Predicative Use

The Predicative use (also called the predicate use) asserts something about the noun

• In English translation, we must insert the applicable form of the verb “to be”
• The noun is the subject, and the adjective is the predicate of the sentence: “The book is good.”
• In some ways, the rules for Hebrew Predicative use are the opposite of Attributive rules
  • The Predicative adjective will NEVER have the article
  • The Predicative adjective can come before or after the noun
  • The only ambiguity is when both the adjective and noun are indefinite and the adjective comes after the noun
• Examples:
  • טוֹבָה הָאִשָּׁה - “the woman is good”
  • הָאִשָּׁה טוֹבָה - “the woman is good”
  • טוֹבָה אִשָּׁה - “a woman is good”
  • אִשָּׁה טוֹבָה - this can either be Attributive “a good woman” or “a woman is good”

PREDICATIVE MNEMONIC

Predicative dePrived of the article; Perhaps Prior