מ־

מ־

See also: מ‎, ם‎, ־ם‎, מ׳‎, and Appendix:Variations of "m"

Hebrew

Etymology

From מִן‎ (min), by assimilation of the /n/ to the following consonant.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /mi/

Preposition

מִ־‎ • (mi-)

1. From, of, from inside.
   1. Introducing a noun or other nominal.

      ‏יצאתי מהחדר.‎‎ ― yatzáti mehakhéder. ― I left [literally went out from] the room.

      ‏מתי מגיעה הטיסה מתל אביב?‎‎ ― matái magi'á hatisá mitel-avív? ― When does the flight from Tel Aviv arrive?

   2. Introducing a prepositional phrase or other adverbial.

      ‏הכרתי אותו מלפני הרבה שנים.‎‎ ― hikárti otó milifnéi harbé shaním. ― I've known him since many years ago [literally from before many years].

2. Than, more than.

   ‏הוא יותר גבוה ממנה.‎‎ ― hu yotér gavóah miménah. ― He is taller [literally more tall] than she is.

   ‏הוא גבוה ממנה.‎‎ ― hu gavóah miménah. ― He is taller [literally tall] than she is .

3. (in negative) Without, without the existence or presence of.
4. Because of, due to, for.

   ‏רק מסיבה אחת הסכמתי: ביקשת.‎‎ ― rak misibá akhát hiskámti: bikásht(a). ― For only one reason did I agree to: you asked.

5. Used to construe various verbs.

   ‏ביקשו ממך גם?‎‎ ― bikshú mimkhá/mimékh gam? ― Did they ask [literally ask from] you, too?

   ‏כולם מפחדים ממנו.‎‎ ― kulám m'fakh'dím miménu. ― Everyone is afraid of him/us.

   ‏ניסינו למנוע מזה לקרות.‎‎ ― nisínu limnóa mize likrót. ― We tried to prevent it from happening.

   ‏שכחנו מההצגה.‎‎ ― shakhákhnu mehahatzagá. ― We forgot about the play.

Usage notes

• In writing with niqqud, the preposition מִ־‎ induces a dagesh forte (gemination) in the following consonant, unless that consonant is a guttural one, and thus, does not accept dagesh (i.e. א, ה, ח, ע, or ר), in which case the preposition becomes מֵ־‎ (me-), except before חוט‎ (khut, “thread”), חוץ‎ (khutz, “outside”), היות‎ (h'yot, “be”), where it remains מִ־‎. However, neither gemination nor the vowel change is ordinarily reflected in Modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation.

Inflection

• מִ־‎ shares its inflected forms with מִן‎ (min).

Inflection table

Non-personal-pronoun-including form				מִ־, מֵ־‎ (mi-, mei-), מִן‎ (min)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
First person	מִמֶּנִּי‎ (miméni)		מִמֶּנּוּ‎ (miménu), מאיתנו / מֵאִתָּנוּ‎ (mei'itánu)
Second person	מִמְּךָ‎ (mim'khá)	מִמֵּךְ‎ (mimékh)	מִכֶּם‎ (mikém), מִמְּכֶם‎ (mim'khém)1	מִכֶּן‎ (mikén), מִמְּכֶן‎ (mim'khén)1
Third person	מִמֶּנּוּ‎ (miménu)2, הֵימֶּנּוּ‎ (heménu)3	מִמֶּנָּה‎ (miména) הֵימֶּנָּה‎ (heména)3	מֵהֶם‎ (meihém)	מֵהֶן‎ (meihén)
Notes	1. The forms ממכם and ממכן are somewhat informal. 2. The pronunciation miméno is colloquial. 3. The forms הימנו and הימנה are Mishnaic.

References

• “מ־‎” in Abraham Even-Shoshan (אַבְרָהָם אֶבֶן־שׁוֹשָׁן) et al., הַמִּלּוֹן הֶחָדָשׁ‎ (ha-milón he-khadásh, “The New Dictionary”), Kiryat-Sefer Ltd. (קִרְיַת־סֵפֶר בְּע״ם)‎ (1984), →ISBN, volume 2 of 3 (ל to צ), →ISBN, page 611.