Nouns - Prefixes

Certain letters are used for the article, conjunction and prepositions. These letters can then be prefixed to a noun. For example, when the letter ה (he) is prefixed to the noun it means “the.” So, while (3ets) עץ means "tree," העץ (ha3ets) means “the tree.” Below is a list of all of the prefixes and their meanings.

ה The (ha, he)
ו And (ve, u)
ל To, For (le)
ב In, With (be)
מ From (mi, me)
כ Like (k)
שׁ Which (she)

Sometimes these prefixes can be used together. For instance, the first word in Genesis 1:2 is וְהָאָרֶץ (veha'arets) meaning “and the land.” In other cases they are combined such as in the following example. The word בְּאֶרֶץ (be'erets) means “in a land” and you would expect “in the land” to be written as בְּהָאָרֶץ (beha'arets) but the sh'va vowel (under the beyt) and the letter hey are dropped (בּ ָאָרֶץ) then the qamats vowel is shifted under the letter beyt forming the word בָּאָרֶץ (ba'arets) meaning "in the land."

The prefix “and” (ו) may sound like 'v' or 'u'.

Before the letters ב מ פ it sounds like a 'u'. And when the letters פ /p/, ב /b/ and כ /k/ are preceeded by vav they change from a hard sound to a soft sound פ /f/, ב /v/ and כ /kh/

ex:

נשים ופרחים
nashim ufra7im

women (nashim) - נשים
flowers (pra7im) - פרחים

בניינים ובתים
biniyanim uvatim

buildings (biniyanim) - בניינים
houses (batim) - בתים