Tools for Lashon Hakodesh 4
There are certain Dikduk mistakes that are very common among the American Orthodox. These are keys to the language. There is no reason why there is even one religious educator who does not know these rules. If we infuse these into children as they grow, they will not be dependent on Artscroll to connect and understand the word of G-d.
Here is the first. What does the letter מ mean before a word?
Most people will tell you, מ before the word means “from”.
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!
מ before the word means “from” only if it is before a noun– a person, place or thing. ממצרים, מירושלים, ממדבר, ממשה,מאחיו, מאמו – these are all nouns, so מ before it means from.
מ before a verb though, means present tense between two bodies. For example. מדבר – speaking. מראה – showing. מפרש- explains. מסכים- agree.
There is a module to forever remember this. It goes like this. הוא היטיב לנו, הוא מיטיב לנו, הוא ייטיב לנו. He was good to us, He is good to us, He will be good to us.
The letter ה before a verb makes it past tense. The letter מ before a verb means that it is a present tense word. The letter י before a verb means that it is a future tense word.
