בן
bén/beːn/
The word for son in Hebrew is בן (bén).
בן is a male child in relation to his parents. It also means aged or years old when giving a man's or boy's age.
Meaning: a male person in relation to his parents (noun)
Which one should you use?
בן is used for a male child. For a female child Hebrew uses בת, daughter.
How does it change in a sentence?
With vowel marks it is written בֵּן. The son is הַבֵּן. The plural, sons, is בנים. With the possessive ending for his, it becomes בנה, his son.
How do you pronounce it?
Say it as bén. The IPA is /beːn/, one syllable.
Did you know?
- In modern Hebrew, the word בן is often used in the phrase בן אדם, which literally means 'son of man' but is the standard way to say 'person' or 'human being'.
- While בן refers to a son, it is also used in the phrase בן מזל to describe a 'lucky person', literally a 'son of luck'.
- The name בִּנְיָמִין (Benjamin) is a compound word that incorporates בן, reflecting an ancient way of embedding the word for 'son' directly into a personal name.
Examples in context
- יש לו עוד בן.He has another son.Here בן follows the word for another to say he has one more son.Tatoeba #1391121 by MrShoval, translation #284712 by CK
- תום בן של מי?Whose son is Tom?Here בן asks whose son Tom is.Tatoeba #6137302 by fekundulo, translation #1766835 by CK
- יש לה בן רופא.She has a son who is a doctor.Here בן is followed by the word for doctor to describe her son.Tatoeba #6007928 by fekundulo, translation #308726 by CK
- 35 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Noa and Itai are talking about their families at a cafe.
- נועה Noaאיתי, יש לך בן או בת?Itai, yesh le-cha ben o bat?Itai, do you have a son or a daughter?
- איתי Itayיש לי רק בן אחד.yesh li rak ben e-chad.I only have one son.
- נועה Noaהבן שלך כבר לומד בבית ספר?ha-ben she-cha kvar lo-med be-veit se-fer?Is your son already studying in school?
- איתי Itayכן, הוא בן שש עכשיו.ken, hu ben shesh ach-shav.Yes, he is six years old now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry בן, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries בן, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
