Subordinate Clauses
Like English, Hebrew allows clauses פסוקיות (/psukiˈjot/) to serve as parts of a sentence. A sentence containing a subordinate clause is called a משפט מורכב /miʃˈpat murˈkav/. Subordinate clauses almost always begin with the conjunction ש /ʃe-/ (usually that), which attaches as a prefix to the word that follows it. For example, in the sentence יוסי אומר שהוא אוכל /ˈjosi oˈmer ʃe-ˈhu oˈχel/ (Yosi says that he is eating), the subordinate clause שהוא אוכל /ʃe-ˈhu oˈχel/ (that he is eating) serves as the direct object of the verb אומר /oˈmer/ (says). Unlike English, Hebrew does not have a large number of subordinating conjunctions; rather, subordinate clauses almost always act as nouns and can be introduced by prepositions in order to serve as adverbs. For example, the English As I said, there's nothing we can do in Hebrew is כפי שאמרתי, אין מה לעשות /keˈfi ʃe-ʔaˈmaʁti, e(j)n ma laʕaˈsot/ (literally Like that-I-said, there-isn't what to-do).
That said, relative clauses, which act as adjectives, are also formed using ש /ʃe-/. For example, English Yosi sees the man who is eating apples is in Hebrew יוסי רואה את האיש שאוכל תפוחים /ˈjosi roˈe et ha-ˈiʃ ʃe-oˈχel tapuˈħim/ (literally Yosi sees the-man that-eats apples). In this use ש /ʃe-/ sometimes acts as a relativizer rather than as a relative pronoun; that is, sometimes the pronoun remains behind in the clause: היא מכירה את האיש שדיברתי עליו /hi makiˈra et ha-ˈʔiʃ ʃe-diˈbarti ʕaˈlav/, which translates to She knows the man I talked about, literally means She knows the-man that-I-talked about him. This is because in Hebrew, a preposition (in this case על /ʕal/) cannot appear without its object, so the him יו (/-av/) could not be dropped.
Read more about this topic: Modern Hebrew Grammar, Miscellaneous
Famous quotes containing the word subordinate:
“And then ... he flung open the door of my compartment, and ushered in “Ma young and lovely lady!” I muttered to myself with some bitterness. “And this is, of course, the opening scene of Vol. I. She is the Heroine. And I am one of those subordinate characters that only turn up when needed for the development of her destiny, and whose final appearance is outside the church, waiting to greet the Happy Pair!””
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)