The shoresh (שורש), meaning “root,” is a fundamental concept in Hebrew grammar. It’s typically a group of three (sometimes two or four) consonants that form the basis of a word’s meaning. By adding vowels and other letters around the root, you can create a whole family of related words with different meanings, but all sharing a core semantic concept.

Here’s an example using the shoresh k-t-v (כ-ת-ב):

• katav (כתב) – he wrote
• kotev (כותב) – writing (present tense)
• yikhtov (יכתוב) – he will write
• michtav (מכתב) – letter
• ktovet (כתובת) – address

As you can see, all these words relate to the concept of writing, even though they function differently as verbs, nouns, etc. This root system makes Hebrew very efficient and allows for a deep understanding of word relationships.

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