Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Daniel Walin" <danserve4x AT yahoo.com>]

Although I have been endeavoring to learn Biblical Hebrew in my spare
time, I have as yet had no formal instruction beyond interacting with my
computer program (this will hopefully change when I leave for college) and
so this question may be simplistic.  Forgive me, the program I am using
seems to be good for vocabulary but not so great on teaching me grammar.

I recently purchased a Hebrew Bible and began to peruse it, starting at
the beginning.  I recognized most of the words in Genesis 1:1 and I now
understand each except for the word "et" that appears to be used twice,
once by itself and the second time with a vav prefix, I assume indicating
the "and."  My question is this:  what is the function of this word?  It
doesn't seem to me to have any word-for-word correspondence with the
English translations, so what is the idea behind it?

Thanks,
Daniel Walin