Hebrew verb conjugation

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Main article: Hebrew grammar
In Hebrew, verbs are conjugated to reflect their tense and mood, as well as to agree with
their subjects in gender, number, and person. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a
verb in one voice typically has counterparts in other voices. In transliterations below,
vowels are in Latin and consonants are in English.
Contents
[hide]

1 Classification of roots

2 Present tense

3 Past tense

4 Future tense

5 Imperative

6 Participles

7 Prospectives (Infinitives)

8 Gerunds

9 See also

[edit] Classification of roots

A root is classified according to the letters that appear in it. Roots that contain certain
letters are conjugated differently.
Roots that contain a vav or a yod as the 2nd letters are called hollow roots. The vav or
the yod rarely appear in any conjugation though are usually written as part of the root.
Examples of hollow roots: shar (sang), gar (lived), dan (discussed), dag
(fished).
Roots that contain at least one of the weak letters, yod, nun, et, yin, lef, and
hei, are called weak roots. Each weak letter/position pairing results in a slightly
different conjugation pattern. The largest group of these are those that end with yod.
Examples of weak roots: shata (drank), ala (went up), yarad (went
down), nafal (fell).

Roots that do not fit into the other two categories are called strong or complete roots.
[edit] Present tense
A verb in the present tense (
hoveh) agrees with its subject in gender (masculine or
feminine) and number (singular or plural), such that each verb has four present-tense
forms:
Example conjugations in the present tense.
Singular
Form

Plural

Root

Translation
M

Pa'al

Guards
sh-mr

shomer

shomret

shomrim

shomrot

Nif'al

Is guarded
sh-mnishmar
r

nishmret

nishmarim

nishmarot

Hif'il

Shrinks (something)
q-t-n

maktin

maktina

maktinim

maktinot

Huf'al

Is shrunken by
q-t-n

muktan

muktnet

muktanim

muktanot

Raises, grows
(something)

Pi'el
g-d-l mgaddel mgaddlet mgaddlim mgaddlot

Pu'al

Is raised
g-d-l

Hitpa'e
l

mgudda
mguddali
mguddlet
mguddalot
l
m

b-t-l mitbattel mitbattlet

mitbattlim

Belittles oneself, loafs

mitbattlot

[edit] Past tense

A verb in the past tense (

avar) agrees with its subject in person (first, second, or
third) and number, and in the second-person singular and plural and third-person singular,
gender.
Example conjugations in the past tense.
Singular
For Ro
m ot

Thou
He

Ye

She

I
M

Pa'a
l

Plural

They

We
M

sh- sham shamra shamrt shamar shamrti shamr shmarte shmarte shamr

nu

ar

mr

shnishm nishm nishmr nishma nishmrt nishm nishmar nishmar nishmr

mar
ra
ta
rt
i
ru
tem
ten
nu
r

Nif'a
l

Hif'il
qhiktin hiktante hiktante hiktnn
hiktin hiktina hiktnta hiktant hiktnti
t-n
u
m
n
u

'Huf
al

q- hukta huktn huktnt huktan

hukt huktante huktant huktnn
huktnti
t-n
n
a
a
t
nu
m
en
u

Pi'el
g- gidde
giddalte giddalte giddln
giddla giddlta giddalt giddlti giddlu
d-l
l
m
n
u

Pu'a
l

g- gudda
guddlt guddal
guddl guddalte guddalt guddln
guddla
guddlti
d-l
l
a
t
u
m
en
u

Hitp
a'el

b- hitbat hitbattl hitbatt hitbatt hitbattl hitbatt hitbattal hitbatta hitbattl

t-l tel
a
lta
alt
ti
lu
tem
lten
nu

[edit] Future tense

A verb in the future tense (

atid) agrees with its subject in person and number, and
in the second- and third-person singular, gender. The second-person singular masculine
and third-person singular feminine forms are identical for all verbs in the future tense.
Historically, there have been separate feminine forms for the second- and third-person
plural (shown in parentheses on the table). These are still occasionally used today (most
often in formal settings), and could be seen as the 'correct' forms; however in everyday
speech, most Israelis use the historically male form for both genders.
Example conjugations in the future tense.
Singular
For Ro
m ot

Thou
He

They

She

Ye

We

I
M

Pa'
al

Plural

(F)

(F)

shyishm tishm tishm tishm eshm yishm tishmr tishm tishmr nishm
mor
or
or
ri
or
ru
na
ru
na
or
r

'Nif
al

shyishsh tishsh tishsh tishsh eshsh yishsha tsham tishsha tsham nishsh
mamer amer amer amri amer mru mrna mru mrna amer
r

Hif'i
l

qtaktyn
taktyn
yaktin taktin taktin taktini aktin yaktinu
taktinu
naktin
t-n
a
a

'Huf
al

q- yukta
tuktn
yuktn tuktnn tuktn tuktnn
tuktan tuktan
uktan
nuktan
t-n
n
i
u
a
u
a

Pi'e
l

g- ygad tgad tgad tgadd agadd ygadd tigdln tgadd tigdln ngad
d-l del
del
del
li
el
lu
a
lu
a
del

'Pu
al

g- ygud tgud tgud tgudd agudd ygudd tgudd tgudd tgudd ngud
d-l dal
dal
dal
li
al
lu
lna
lu
lna
dal

Hitp
a'el

b- yitbatt titbatt titbatt titbattl etbatt yitbattl titbattl titbattl titbattl nitbatt
t-l
el
el
el
i
el
u
na
u
na
el

As in the past tense, personal pronouns are not strictly necessary in the future tense, as
the verb forms are sufficient to identify the subject, but they are frequently used.
[edit] Imperative
Except for the strictly passive binyanim (pu'al and huf'al), each binyan has distinct
imperative forms in the second person. This imperative form is only used for affirmative
commands. Pa'al, nif'al, pi'el, and hif'il form their imperatives by dropping the initial of
the future-tense form (e.g., tifta (singular, masc.) pta! "open!",
tishmri (singular, fem.) shimri! "guard!"); the fifth, hitpa'el, forms
its imperative by replacing this initial with ( titbattel hitbattel "do nothing!").
(Note that the dropping of the initial often results in a change in vocalization, as can be
seen in the instance of tishmri/shimri).
Negative commands use the particle al followed by the future-tense form. For
example, al tid'ag means "don't worry" (masculine, singular).
In colloquial speech, the future tense is commonly used for affirmative commands when
making requests, so that for example, tifta can mean either "you will open" or
"open" (masculine, singular), but this is considered incorrect usage.
The infinitive can be used as a "general imperative" when addressing nobody in particular
(e.g. on signs, or when giving general instructions to children or large groups), so that for
example, na lo lifta means "please do not open".
[edit] Participles
Present participles are identical to present tense forms (the modern present tense actually
having been derived from the ancient present participle): nerot bo'arim
(a'burning candles), ha-yalda maksima (the girl is a'charming).

Only the pa'al binyan has a true past participle: from k-t-b we have katuv,
(writ, written). This gives Hebrew a limited ability to distinguish between a completed
action, e.g.:

ha-sfarim ktuvim (the books have been written)

And, using the present tense of nif'al, which is often the passive of pa'al, a continuing
action:

ha-sfarim nikhtavim (the books are being written)

The passive participle is commonly used as an adjective, as in

pkuda ha-ktuva (the written order).

ha-

The present tense of the pu'al and huf'al are used as passive participles for the pi'el and
hif'il respectively, e.g. from hif'il he'ir (lit) we get eder mu'ar (lit
room).
[edit] Prospectives (Infinitives)
Prospectives (shmot ha-po'al) in Hebrew are primarily formed by adding the letter lamed
( )to the front of the base form (tsurat ha-makor). The vowels change systematically
according to the binyan.

katav (wrote, pa'al) likhtov (to write)

mdabber (speak, pi'el) ldabber (to speak)

hitil (started, hif'il) lhatil (to start)

hitpallel (prayed, hitpa'el) lhitpallel (to pray)

nifgash (met with, nif'al) lhippaggesh (to meet with)

Pu'al and huf'al verbs do not have prospectives.

[edit] Gerunds
Gerunds (shmot p'ula) are nouns expressing an action. Gerunds are created in Hebrew
by putting the root of a verb in a "mishkal" (see Hebrew grammar#Nouns). Five of the
binyanim have gerunds: pa'al, pi'el, hif'il, hitpa'el and nif'al. For example:

shamar (guarded pa'al) shmira (guarding)

o

shav (returned hollow pa'al) shiva (returning, a return)

shata (drank weak pa'al) shtiya (drinking, a drink)

nikhnas (enter nif'al) hikansut (entering)

bikker (visited pi'el) bikkur (visiting, a visit)

hifta (surprised hif'il) hafte' (surprising, a surprise)

hitammem (warmed hitpa'el) hitammmut

(warming)

Note that unlike in English (where gerunds and present participles share the same form),
Hebrew gerunds cannot be used as adjectives.