HEBREW · STEP 30
She said: Read the changed stem
Read amra, notice the changed vowels, and distinguish Sarah’s saying from the person reporting it.
In this lesson
Read the changed stem
You have read a-MAR, he said, a-MAR-ti, I said, and a-MAR-ta, you said. A new ending can also change the vowels inside a verb. The stem is the part of a verb to which endings attach. Read its points as carefully as its ending.
am-RA
She said
- Alef still carries qamats, giving the opening a.
- Mem now has sheva, the two vertical dots. In our modern Israeli-style reading of this word, it contributes no extra vowel. Mem closes the first syllable: am.
- Resh has qamats, and final he helps write its a. Read ra, with no final h.
Blend am-RA: two syllables, with the stronger one last. We keep the course’s modern sounds and the source’s stress. Sheva’s reading depends on the word and reading tradition; learn its local job here.
This form is third-person feminine singular: it reports the saying of one feminine subject being discussed. In today’s passage, that subject is a woman. The form means she said, even when someone else is reporting her words.
1. Cover the aid and read אָמְרָה. Give its meaning, syllables and stress. What do mem’s sheva and final he contribute?
am-RA, she said: two syllables, final stress. In our modern reading, mem’s sheva adds no vowel; am is the first syllable. Resh’s qamats and final he supply the final a. Add no h or third syllable.
Compare the whole form
- אָמַר · a-MAR · he said
- אָמְרָה · am-RA · she said
In amar, mem has patah and resh closes mar. In amra, mem’s patah changes to sheva, resh carries qamats, and final he appears. The change is inside the stem as well as at the end. Read the whole pointed form rather than adding “ha” to amar.
2. Read both forms. What changes in pointing, sound and subject information?
a-MAR is third-person masculine singular; am-RA is third-person feminine singular. Both report the saying of one subject in these examples.
Mem’s patah becomes sheva. Resh gains qamats, supported by final he. The course reading changes from a-MAR to am-RA, not “a-mar-ha.” This is a particular verb contrast, not a rule that every final he means she.
Follow Sarah within a report
Return to the Genesis scene where Avraham was called a prophet. Avimelekh, king of Gerar, has taken Sarah, Avraham’s wife. Hashem addresses him in a dream. Avimelekh replies by recalling Avraham’s claim that Sarah is his sister and Sarah’s claim that Avraham is her brother. Read the verb introducing Sarah’s statement.
אָמְרָה
she said
Read am-RA. The simplified display leaves out the source’s chanting marks and meteg, a small additional reading mark, while keeping the letters and vowel points.
- Subject of amra
- Sarah: she made the statement now being reported.
- Current speaker
- Avimelekh: he is reporting Sarah’s words.
- Current addressee
- Hashem: Avimelekh is answering him.
- Person called brother
- Avraham: he is the person Sarah’s reported words describe.
A person can report someone else’s action. The feminine verb follows Sarah’s saying, not Avimelekh’s identity as the current speaker. The one-word card contains neither a name nor a recipient expression.
3. Read the selected verb, then name its subject, the person reporting her words, the current addressee and the person called brother. Which names are printed in the selection?
am-RA, she said. Sarah is the subject of this verb; Avimelekh reports her words to Hashem; Avraham is the person called brother.
No name is printed in the one-word excerpt. The verb carries feminine singular subject information; the surrounding passage identifies the people. Sarah’s quoted message and any recipient information lie outside the card.
One woman, two points of view
Constructed practice, not biblical quotation. Imagine a narrator describing a woman’s words:
hi am-RA
She said.
Hi points to the woman, and amra reports her saying. If she speaks for herself about that event, the first-person form is available instead. A woman uses the same ani and amarti as a man.
4. Compare the worked line with constructed אֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי. Read and translate it. Could both lines concern the same woman and the same earlier saying?
a-NI a-MAR-ti, “I said.” Yes. The narrator’s hi am-RA describes her; her own a-NI a-MAR-ti presents the event from her point of view.
First person identifies the speaker; third person identifies someone being discussed. The woman need not be absent for someone to say she. The change concerns viewpoint, not a requirement for two different events.
Read before revealing
Constructed practice, not a biblical quotation. Read this new line before opening its answer.
הַבַּת אָמְרָה
5. Read and translate the line. Identify the subject and finite verb. Do the first he and final he do the same job?
ha-BAT am-RA, “The daughter said.” Habat names the subject; amra is the finite verb reporting her action.
The he at the beginning of habat belongs to the article, the. The final he in amra supports its final a within this feminine singular verb form. It is not another article. Position, pointing and the whole word matter.
Use form and context together
6. Repair three shortcuts: “Avimelekh is speaking, so amra means he said”; “all two-dot shevas are silent”; “final he always means she.”
Avimelekh reports Sarah’s saying, so the selected form is feminine singular. The current reporter and the subject of a reported verb can differ.
We learned no extra vowel at mem in this particular modern reading. That does not settle every sheva. In אֲנִי, the dots belong to the combined hataf-patah sign, which gives a; they do not silence the opening.
Read the learned whole form amra. Final he also serves other words, such as Torah, and does not by itself mean she.
Explain the two reports
Before opening the guide, write or say two or three sentences comparing Yaakov’s אָמַרְתִּי in Genesis 31:31 with אָמְרָה in Genesis 20:5. Who carried out the remembered saying or thought, and who reports it now? Separate the evidence of the verb from the identities supplied by the passage.
7. Check the evidence in your own explanation
- a-MAR-ti is first-person singular. In Genesis 31:31, Yaakov reports his own earlier fearful thought to Lavan.
- am-RA is third-person feminine singular. In Genesis 20:5, Sarah’s saying appears within Avimelekh’s report to Hashem.
- The forms express different grammatical relationships. The passages, not the endings alone, identify Yaakov and Sarah.
A strong explanation connects each form with the correct reporting situation and keeps these two scenes separate. It does more than list two English glosses.
Next session: retrieve the changed form
Begin your next session with models and answers closed. Rebuild she said and I said in pointed Hebrew. Read them and explain one change inside the verb. Then reconstruct the four participants’ roles in Genesis 20:5.
8. Check the forms, readings and report
- אָמְרָה: am-RA, she said.
- אָמַרְתִּי: a-MAR-ti, I said.
Amra has sheva under mem and qamats under resh; amarti retains patah under mem and has sheva under resh before ti. Follow each taught local reading.
Sarah made the reported statement; Avimelekh reports it to Hashem; Avraham is the person called brother. If you needed help, return to that form or participant relationship, then try it again later.
An attempt today can prepare you; leave a fresh attempt for the next session before looking back.
Explore the sources
Genesis 20 with surrounding English · Amra: form and meaning · Endings and stem vowels, Gesenius §44
Locate the selected verb in verse 5. Use the surrounding English to follow the report; the chapter and grammar reference contain other Hebrew forms for later learning.
From one subject to several
Next, keep the changed stem and read a new ending. The source will help you identify which group is speaking.