Lesson 39: Full inventory of connectors — addition, consequence, contrast, concession, sequence

Part 1: What connectors are and why they get their own lesson

Connectors (also called discourse markers / connectors) are words that stitch one utterance to the next. Without them speech falls apart into isolated phrases:

Yarad geshem. Lo halakhnu la-yam. Nisharnu ba-bait. Kar'anu sefer. "It rained. We didn't go to the sea. We stayed home. We read a book."

With connectors:

Yarad geshem, ve-lakhen lo halakhnu la-yam. Im zot, lo hitba'asnu — **mi-kakh she-**nisharnu ba-bait, gam kar'anu sefer ve-gam dibarnu im chaverim. "It rained, and therefore we didn't go to the sea. Nevertheless, we weren't upset — since we stayed home, we both read a book and talked to friends."

The difference is not in the facts but in the architecture. The text becomes navigable: the listener sees where the cause is, where the consequence, where the concession.

Main point for an English speaker: in Hebrew connectors far more often go at the beginning of the clause than in English. Where English drops "however" into the middle ("He, however, agreed"), Hebrew fronts akh / aval: "Aval hu hiskim". Get used to starting a new clause with a connector.

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Part 2: Five boxes — a map of all the connectors in the course

Box	Idea	Basic connectors
ADDITION	"and more", "in addition"	ve-, gam, gam… ve-gam…, naosaf le-, mi-le-chala, besof
CONSEQUENCE	"therefore", "thus"	ach-shav, lakhen, mi-kakh (she-), kakh-she-, beigvar
CONTRAST	"but", "however", "rather"	aval, akh, ela, im zot
CONCESSION	"nevertheless", "despite this"	mi-kol mekom, larot zot, kayin she-
SEQUENCE	"first, second, finally"	rishonit, shenit, shlishit, lebsof, besof shel davar

Below we go through each box separately — and most importantly we focus on the register differences within the CONTRAST box, where three synonyms (aval / akh / ela) look the same but are used differently.

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Part 3: ADDITION — "and", "also", "in addition"

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register / note
ו-	ve-	and	Prefix. Merges with the next word. The most frequent Hebrew connector.
גם	gam	also, too	Goes before the word it modifies: gam ani ("I too").
גם… וגם…	gam… ve-gam…	both… and…	Paired construction. Reinforced "and".
נוסף לכך	naosaf le-khakh	in addition to this	Formal/written.
מלכתחילה	mi-le-chala	initially, from the very start	Marker of "right from the first move".
בסוף	besof	at the end, in the end	Can work both as an addition (at the end of a list) and as a sequence marker.

Examples

Ani ohev kafe **ve-**tey. I love coffee and tea.

Hu medaber ivrit, ve-gam anglit, ve-gam tsarfatit. He speaks Hebrew, and English, and French.

Ha-ish hu more, ve-naosaf le-khakh hu sofer. The man is a teacher, and in addition to that he's a writer.

Mi-le-chala amarti she-zo to'ut. From the start I said it was a mistake.

Gam ani choshev kakh. I too think so. (Note: gam stands before ani.)

Trap for an English speaker: ve- (and) is not separated by a space from the next word. It's a prefix: written ו-, read as part of the word. "And a book" — ve-sefer (וספר), not ve sefer.

Another trap: in Hebrew gam goes before the word it modifies, whereas English "too" often comes after ("I too" → gam ani, not ani gam). In writing gam ani = "I too", and ani gam is almost always a mistake.

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Part 4: CONSEQUENCE — "therefore", "thus"

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register / note
לכן	lakhen	therefore	Neutral, the most frequent.
אז	az	so, then	Colloquial. Very frequent in speech.
ככה ש-	kakh-she-	so that	Colloquial, introduces a result.
מכך ש-	mi-kakh she-	from which it follows that, since	Formal, argumentation.
בגלל זה	bigvar zeh / biglal zeh	because of this	Neutral. (Sometimes spelled beigvar.)
עכשיו	ach-shav	now, in this case	Used as "now that…", a marker shifting to a conclusion.

Examples

Yarad geshem, lakhen lo halakhnu la-yam. It rained, therefore we didn't go to the sea.

Ha-kvish chasum, az nis'a be-derekh acheret. The road is blocked, so let's go a different way. (Colloquial az.)

Hu lo bah, **kakh-she-**hithalnu bli'ado. He didn't come, so we started without him.

Lo hayu eduyot, **mi-kakh she-**ha-shofet zikah otah. There was no evidence, from which it follows that the judge acquitted her. (Formal register.)

Ach-shav, kshe-yesh lanu et ha-data, anachnu yekholim lehakhri'a. Now that we have the data, we can decide.

Trap: az is a colloquial connector; in written speech it looks cheap. In an academic or newspaper text use lakhen or mi-kakh she-. In casual chatting with friends — az.

Pair lakhen vs. mi-kakh she-: — lakhen stands between two independent clauses: "A, lakhen B" ("A, therefore B"). — mi-kakh she- = "from which it follows that…" — a formal link with a subordinate clause. Used in argumentation, in logical reasoning.

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Part 5: CONTRAST — "but", "however", "rather" — and why aval ≠ akh ≠ ela

This is the main spot in the lesson. The English "but" has three Hebrew equivalents, and they are not interchangeable.

5.1. aval — neutral "but"

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register
אבל	aval	but	Neutral. Universal, suitable everywhere.

This is your default connector. In speech, in writing, in a textbook, in WhatsApp — everywhere aval fits.

Ratzeti lavo, aval lo yakholti. I wanted to come, but I couldn't.

Ha-uga te'ima, aval yekara me'od. The cake is tasty, but very expensive.

5.2. akh — formal "however"

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register
אך	akh	however	Formal/literary. In newspapers, articles, essays.

akh is the written counterpart of aval. If you're writing an academic essay or a news article, replacing aval with akh raises the register.

Ha-mehkar nimshakh shanah, akh ha-totza'ot lo hayu chad-mashma'iyot. The study lasted a year, however the results were not unambiguous.

Yesh la-medinah trumot rabot, akh efes ba-tsmichah. The country has many merits, however zero growth.

In conversation akh sounds too solemn, like English "however" coming from a teenager. Save it for writing.

5.3. ela — "but rather", "rather" (after negation)

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register
אלא	ela	but rather, rather	Only after negation. Universal register.

This is a special connector. Used only after a clause with negation, to introduce the correct alternative.

Structure: "not X, ela Y" = "not X, but (rather) Y".

Ha-bayit lo adom, ela kachol. The house is not red, but rather blue.

Lo zo, ela acheret. Not this one, but another.

Hu lo more, ela rofé. He is not a teacher, but a doctor.

Main rule for ela: the left clause must contain lo (or ein, or ein, or lefi-rov). Without negation ela does not work. If there's no "not" on the left — use aval.

Compare:

✗ Ratziti lavo, ela lo yakholti. — Error! No negation in the left part. You need aval: Ratziti lavo, aval lo yakholti. ✓ Lo ratziti lavo, ela halakhti bekol zot. — "I didn't want to come, but rather I went anyway." — here lo is in the left part, ela is appropriate.

5.4. im zot — "nevertheless"

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register
עם זאת	im zot	along with this, nevertheless	Neutral-formal. Sits at the boundary between CONTRAST and CONCESSION.

Ha-mishpat sha'ar nimshakh, im zot, ha-tovel hiskim litvor. The hearings continued, nevertheless, the plaintiff agreed to wait.

Summary of CONTRAST registers

Connector	Register	When to use
aval	neutral	By default, everywhere.
akh	formal/written	Newspaper, essay, academic text.
ela	universal, but requires negation on the left	Only in the "not X, but Y" schema.
im zot	neutral-formal	When you need contrast with a concession tinge.

Remember the simple scheme: aval = "but" (always), akh = "however" (formal), ela = "but rather" (after lo). Three different English equivalents → three different Hebrew ones.

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Part 6: CONCESSION — "despite this", "nonetheless"

Concession is a special type of contrast, where the first clause sets up an "obstacle" and the second shows that the obstacle didn't work.

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register / note
מכל מקום	mi-kol mekom	in any case, anyway	Neutral. Often closes a paragraph.
לראות זאת	larot zot	despite this	Formal, written.
כיוון ש-	kayin she- / keivan she-	since, in view of the fact that	Formal. (Can be either a cause or a concession depending on context.)
למרות ש-	lamrot she-	although	Subordinating conjunction. Comes as "lamrot she- + clause", or "lamrot + noun". See L35.
בכל זאת	be-khol zot	nonetheless, all the same	Neutral.

Examples

Hayah kar, mi-kol mekom yatsanu letiyul. It was cold, anyway we went out for a walk.

Ha-mehkar lo huslam, larot zot, ha-totza'ot pursemu. The study wasn't completed, despite this, the results were published.

**Kayin she-**hu yad'a et ha-emet, hu shatak. Since he knew the truth, he kept silent. (Here — cause.)

Lo hayu li koach, be-khol zot halakhti la-avodah. I had no strength, all the same I went to work.

Distinction aval / im zot / mi-kol mekom / be-khol zot: — aval = pure contrast ("but"). — im zot = contrast with a turn ("along with this"). — mi-kol mekom = "in any case" — summary despite all the "buts". — be-khol zot = "all the same" — in conversation.

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Part 7: SEQUENCE — "first, second, finally"

These are list connectors: they arrange arguments in order.

Hebrew	Translit	English	Register / note
ראשית	rishonit	first	Formal/neutral.
שנית	shenit	second	Neutral.
שלישית	shlishit	third	Neutral.
רביעית	revi'it	fourth	(And so on by ordinals.)
לבסוף	lebsof	finally, in the end	Marker of the last item.
בסופו של דבר	besof shel davar	in the end, eventually	Literary-conversational.
לפני כן	lifnei khen	before this	Time marker.
אחרי כן	acharei khen	after this	Time marker.

Example of extended argumentation

Yesh shalosh sibot lehasrim et ha-pgisha. Rishonit, ein lanu data maspik. Shenit, mishtatfim chasrim. Shlishit, ha-tnaim ha-meteorologim lo tovim. Lebsof, kdai lehakhin yoter tov ve-lehipgesh ba-shavua ha-ba. There are three reasons to cancel the meeting. First, we have insufficient data. Second, some participants are missing. Third, the weather conditions are bad. Finally, it's better to prepare more thoroughly and meet next week.

Trap: in Hebrew rishonit / shenit / shlishit are in the feminine (ending -it). This is because an invisible word "pa'am" (time, instance) is implied — feminine. These are frozen forms; don't try to change the gender.

Lifehack: besof shel davar literally = "at the end of the matter". A very common phrase when summing up. Equivalent to English "in the end", "eventually".

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