Hebrew verb conjugation
Encyclopedia
In Modern 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 transliterated with Latin
equivalents and consonants are transliterated with English
equivalents.
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, ħet, ''ʻáyin, álef, and hey, 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 hey. Examples of weak roots: shatá (drank), ''ʻalá (went up), yarád (went down), nafál (fell).
Roots that do not fit into the other two categories are called strong or complete roots.
There are seven basic binyaním. The traditional demonstration root is פ.ע.ל which has the basic meaning of "action" or "doing":
This chart's menorah-like shape is sometimes invoked in teaching the binyaním to help students remember which binyaním are active voice
(left side) vs. passive voice
(right side) and which binyaním are simple (outer-most menorah branches), intensive
(second-outer-most) and causative
(third-outer-most), and which binyán is reflexive
(center).
The present tense doesn't inflect by first, second, or third person because its use as a present tense is a relatively recent trend, as this form was originally used as the participle
. The ancient language didn't have strictly defined past, present, or future tenses, but merely perfective and imperfective aspects, with past, present, or future connotation depending on context. Later the perfective and imperfective aspects were explicitly refashioned as the past and future tenses respectively, with the participle standing in as the present tense. (This also happened to the Aramaic language
around the same time.) The modern present tense verb is still used as the present participle; see further down.
Note that the past/perfect and the present/participle inflections of the third-person singular nifʻál were historically pronounced with different vowels in the final syllable—the past/perfect with a patáħ gadól ( = /ɐː/), and the present/participle with a qamáts gadól ( = /ɔː/). In Modern Hebrew, both of these vowels have merged to /a/, and the two verb forms now are pronounced the same. For example, the past tense nishmár means "he was guarded" (or in old-fashioned perfective "he is/was guarded"), whereas the present tense nishmár means "he is being guarded".
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.
Negative commands use the particle al followed by the future-tense form. For example, al tidʼág means "don't worry" (masculine, singular).
In informal speech, the future tense is commonly used for affirmative commands when making requests. Thus for example, tiftáħ can mean either "you will open" or "would you open" (masculine, singular). (Similarly in English one might say "would you open" or "could you open" in lieu of simply "open".) In Hebrew, as in English, the more formal way to avoid the implication of commanding is to use the word "please" ( be-vaqasha) with the imperative.
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 liftóaħ means "please do not open". This might be more literally be rendered as "it is requested that [this] not be opened": avoiding the question of address by using a passive voice.
Only the paʻál binyán has a true past participle: from k-t-b we have katúv, (writ, written). This gives Hebrew a limited ability to distinguish between a completed action, e.g.:
ha-sfarím ktuvím (the books have been written)
And, using the present tense of nifʻál, which is often the passive of paʻál, a continuing action:
ha-sfarím nikhtavím (the books are being written)
The passive participle is commonly used as an adjective, as in ha-pqudá ha-ktuvá (the written order).
The present tense of the puʻál and hufʻál are used as passive participles for the piʻél and hifʻíl respectively, e.g. from hifʻíl heʼír (lit) we get ħéder muʼár (lit room).
katáv (wrote, paʻál) → likhtóv (to write) medabbér (speak, piʻél) → ledabbér (to speak) hitħíl (started, hifʻíl) → lehatħíl (to start) hitpallél (prayed, hitpaʻél) → lehitpallél (to pray) nifgásh (met with, nifʻál) → lehippagésh (to meet with)
Puʻál and hufʻál verbs do not have prospectives.
shamár (guarded — paʻál) → shmirá (guarding)
} shav (returned — hollow paʻál) → shivá (returning, a return)
} shatá (drank — weak paʻál) → shtiyá (drinking, a drink) nikhnás (enter — nifʻál) → hikkansút (entering) biqqér (visited — piʻél) → biqqúr (visiting, a visit) hiftíaʻ (surprised — hifʻíl) → hafteʻá (surprising, a surprise) hitħammém (warmed — hitpaʻél) → hitħammemút (warming)
Note that unlike in English (where gerunds and present participles share the same form), Hebrew gerunds cannot be used as adjectives.
~past-habitual mood
expressed with the auxiliary haya:
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew , also known as Israeli Hebrew or Modern Israeli Hebrew, is the language spoken in Israel and in some Jewish communities worldwide, from the early 20th century to the present....
, verbs are conjugated to reflect their tense
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
and mood
Grammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
, as well as to agree
Agreement (linguistics)
In languages, agreement or concord is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase. Agreement happens when a word changes form depending on the other words to which it relates....
with their subjects in gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
, number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
, and person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
. Each verb has an inherent voice, though a verb in one voice typically has counterparts in other voices. In transliterations below, vowels are transliterated with Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
equivalents and consonants are transliterated with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
equivalents.
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, ħet, ''ʻáyin, álef, and hey, 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 hey. Examples of weak roots: shatá (drank), ''ʻalá (went up), yarád (went down), nafál (fell).
Roots that do not fit into the other two categories are called strong or complete roots.
The Binyaním
Hebrew verbs are conjugated according to specific patterns called בניינים (binyaním - "constructions") where vowels and affixes are slotted into the (mostly) three-letter שורשים (shorashím - roots) from which the majority of Hebrew words are built.There are seven basic binyaním. The traditional demonstration root is פ.ע.ל which has the basic meaning of "action" or "doing":
| active | reflexive | passive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
paʻál |
piʻél |
hifʻíl |
hitpaʻél |
hufʻál |
puʻál |
nifʻál |
| causative | ||||||
| intensive | ||||||
| simple | ||||||
This chart's menorah-like shape is sometimes invoked in teaching the binyaním to help students remember which binyaním are active voice
Active voice
Active voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. It is the unmarked voice for clauses featuring a transitive verb in nominative–accusative languages, including English and most other Indo-European languages....
(left side) vs. passive voice
Passive voice
Passive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
(right side) and which binyaním are simple (outer-most menorah branches), intensive
Intensive
In grammar, an intensive word form is one which denotes stronger or more forceful action relative to the root on which the intensive is built. Intensives are usually lexical formations, but there may be a regular process for forming intensives from a root...
(second-outer-most) and causative
Causative
In linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
(third-outer-most), and which binyán is reflexive
Reflexive
Reflexive may refer to:In fiction:*MetafictionIn grammar:*Reflexive pronoun, a pronoun with a reflexive relationship with its self-identical antecedent*Reflexive verb, where a semantic agent and patient are the same...
(center).
Present tense
A verb in the present tense agrees with its subject in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural), such that each verb has four present-tense forms:| Form | Root | Singular | Plural | Translation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | F | M | F | |||
| Paʻál | Guards | |||||
| sh-m-r | shomér | shoméret | shomrím | shomrót | ||
| Piʻél | Raises, grows (something) | |||||
| g-d-l | megaddél | megaddélet | megaddlím | megaddlót | ||
| Hifʻíl | Shrinks (something) | |||||
| q-t-n | maqtín | maqtiná | maqtiním | maqtinót | ||
| Hitpaʻél | Belittles oneself, loafs | |||||
| b-t-l | mitbattél | mitbattélet | mitbattlím | mitbattlót | ||
| Hufʻál | Is shrunken by | |||||
| q-t-n | muqtán | muqténet | muqtaním | muqtanót | ||
| Puʻál | Is raised | |||||
| g-d-l | meguddál | meguddélet | meguddalím | meguddalót | ||
| Nifʻál | Is guarded | |||||
| sh-m-r | nishmár | nishméret | nishmarím | nishmarót | ||
The present tense doesn't inflect by first, second, or third person because its use as a present tense is a relatively recent trend, as this form was originally used as the participle
Participle
In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
. The ancient language didn't have strictly defined past, present, or future tenses, but merely perfective and imperfective aspects, with past, present, or future connotation depending on context. Later the perfective and imperfective aspects were explicitly refashioned as the past and future tenses respectively, with the participle standing in as the present tense. (This also happened to the Aramaic language
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
around the same time.) The modern present tense verb is still used as the present participle; see further down.
Past tense
A verb in the past tense ( ''ʻavár) 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.Note that the past/perfect and the present/participle inflections of the third-person singular nifʻál were historically pronounced with different vowels in the final syllable—the past/perfect with a patáħ gadól ( = /ɐː/), and the present/participle with a qamáts gadól ( = /ɔː/). In Modern Hebrew, both of these vowels have merged to /a/, and the two verb forms now are pronounced the same. For example, the past tense nishmár means "he was guarded" (or in old-fashioned perfective "he is/was guarded"), whereas the present tense nishmár means "he is being guarded".
| Form | Root | Singular | Plural | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| He | She | Thou (or You in Modern English) | I | They | Ye (or You in Modern English) | We | ||||
| M | F | M | F | |||||||
| Paʻál | ||||||||||
| sh-m-r | shamár | shamrá | shamárta | shamárt | shamárti | shamrú | shmartém | shmartén | shamárnu | |
| Piʻél | ||||||||||
| g-d-l | giddél | giddlá | giddálta | giddált | giddálti | giddlú | giddaltém | giddaltén | giddálnu | |
| Hifʻíl | ||||||||||
| q-t-n | hiqtín | hiqtína | hiqtánta | hiqtánt | hiqtánti | hiqtínu | hiqtantém | hiqtantén | hiqtánnu | |
| Hitpaʻél | ||||||||||
| b-t-l | hitbattél | hitbattlá | hitbattálta | hitbattált | hitbattálti | hitbattlú | hitbattaltém | hitbattaltén | hitbattálnu | |
| Hufʻál | ||||||||||
| q-t-n | huqtán | huqtná | huqtánta | huqtánt | huqtánti | huqtnú | huqtantém | huqtantén | huqtánnu | |
| Puʻál | ||||||||||
| g-d-l | guddál | guddlá | guddálta | guddált | guddálti | guddlú | guddaltém | guddaltén | guddálnu | |
| Nifʻál | ||||||||||
| sh-m-r | nishmár | nishmrá | nishmárta | nishmárt | nishmárti | nishmrú | nishmartém | nishmartén | nishmárnu | |
Future tense
A verb in the future tense ( ''ʻatíd) 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.| Form | Root | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| He | She | You | I | They | You | We | |||||
| M | F | M | (F) | M | (F) | ||||||
| Paʻál | |||||||||||
| sh-m-r | yishmór | tishmór | tishmór | tishmrí | eshmór | yishmrú | tishmórna | tishmrú | tishmórna | nishmór | |
| Piʻél | |||||||||||
| g-d-l | yegaddél | tegaddél | tegaddél | tegaddlí | agaddél | yegaddlú | tigdálna | tegaddlú | tigdálna | negaddél | |
| Hifʻíl | |||||||||||
| q-t-n | yaqtín | taqtín | taqtín | taqtíni | aqtín | yaqtínu | taqtéyna | taqtínu | taqtéyna | naqtín | |
| Hitpaʻél | |||||||||||
| b-t-l | yitbattél | titbattél | titbattél | titbattlí | etbattél | yitbattlú | titbattélna | titbattlú | titbattélna | nitbattél | |
| Hufʻál | |||||||||||
| q-t-n | yuqtán | tuqtán | tuqtán | tuqtní | uqtán | yuqtnú | tuqtánna | tuqtnú | tuqtánna | nuqtán | |
| Puʻál | |||||||||||
| g-d-l | yeguddál | teguddál | teguddál | teguddlí | aguddál | yeguddlú | teguddálna | teguddlú | teguddálna | neguddál | |
| Nifʻál | |||||||||||
| sh-m-r | yishamér | tishamér | tishamér | tishamrí | eshamér | yishamrú | tishammérna | tishamrú | tishammérna | nishamér | |
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.
Imperative
Except for the strictly passive binyaním (puʻál and hufʻál), each binyán has distinct imperative forms in the second person. This imperative form is only used for affirmative commands. Paʻál, nifʻál, piʻél, and hifʻíl form their imperatives by dropping the initial ת of the future-tense form (e.g., tiftáħ (singular, masc.) → ptaħ! "open!", tishmrí (singular, fem.) → shimrí! "guard!"); the fifth, hitpaʻél, forms its imperative by replacing this initial with (titbattél → hitbattél "do nothing!"). (Note that the dropping of the initial ת often results in a change in vocalization, as can be seen in the instance of tishmrí/shimrí).Negative commands use the particle al followed by the future-tense form. For example, al tidʼág means "don't worry" (masculine, singular).
In informal speech, the future tense is commonly used for affirmative commands when making requests. Thus for example, tiftáħ can mean either "you will open" or "would you open" (masculine, singular). (Similarly in English one might say "would you open" or "could you open" in lieu of simply "open".) In Hebrew, as in English, the more formal way to avoid the implication of commanding is to use the word "please" ( be-vaqasha) with the imperative.
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 liftóaħ means "please do not open". This might be more literally be rendered as "it is requested that [this] not be opened": avoiding the question of address by using a passive voice.
Participles
Present participles are identical to present tense forms (the modern present tense actually having been derived from the ancient present participle): nerót boʻarím (burning candles), ha-yaldá maqsimá (the girl is charming).Only the paʻál binyán has a true past participle: from k-t-b we have katúv, (writ, written). This gives Hebrew a limited ability to distinguish between a completed action, e.g.:
ha-sfarím ktuvím (the books have been written)
And, using the present tense of nifʻál, which is often the passive of paʻál, a continuing action:
ha-sfarím nikhtavím (the books are being written)
The passive participle is commonly used as an adjective, as in ha-pqudá ha-ktuvá (the written order).
The present tense of the puʻál and hufʻál are used as passive participles for the piʻél and hifʻíl respectively, e.g. from hifʻíl heʼír (lit) we get ħéder muʼár (lit room).
Prospectives (Infinitives)
Prospectives (shmot ha-poʻál) in Hebrew are primarily formed by adding the letter lamed (ל) to the front of the base form (tsurát ha-maqór). The vowels change systematically according to the binyán.katáv (wrote, paʻál) → likhtóv (to write) medabbér (speak, piʻél) → ledabbér (to speak) hitħíl (started, hifʻíl) → lehatħíl (to start) hitpallél (prayed, hitpaʻél) → lehitpallél (to pray) nifgásh (met with, nifʻál) → lehippagésh (to meet with)
Puʻál and hufʻál verbs do not have prospectives.
Gerunds
Gerunds (shmot peʻulá) are nouns expressing an action. Gerunds are created in Hebrew by putting the root of a verb in a "mishqál" (see Modern Hebrew grammar#Nouns). Five of the binyaním have gerunds: paʻál, piʻél, hifʻíl, hitpaʻél, and nifʻál. For example:shamár (guarded — paʻál) → shmirá (guarding)
} shav (returned — hollow paʻál) → shivá (returning, a return)
} shatá (drank — weak paʻál) → shtiyá (drinking, a drink) nikhnás (enter — nifʻál) → hikkansút (entering) biqqér (visited — piʻél) → biqqúr (visiting, a visit) hiftíaʻ (surprised — hifʻíl) → hafteʻá (surprising, a surprise) hitħammém (warmed — hitpaʻél) → hitħammemút (warming)
Note that unlike in English (where gerunds and present participles share the same form), Hebrew gerunds cannot be used as adjectives.
Conditional
Modern Hebrew has an analytic conditionalConditional mood
In linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
~past-habitual mood
Habitual aspect
In linguistics, the aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state. As its name suggests, the habitual aspect specifies an action as occurring habitually: the subject performs the action usually, ordinarily, or customarily...
expressed with the auxiliary haya:
"אם היה לי זמן, הייתי הולך."
|
"אם מישהו היה טורח לספר לי, הייתי יודע."
|
"פעם הייתי הולך המון לקולנוע."
|
||||
External links
- Hebrew Verbs Conjugation Tool - Online Hebrew Verb Learning Tool (Hebrew/English)
- hspell - המאיית העברי החופשי - טופס הטיית פעלים - Online Hebrew verb conjugator, based on hspell, the FreeFree softwareFree software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
Hebrew spelling engine (in Ktiv maleKtiv maleKtiv hasar niqqud , are the rules for writing Hebrew without vowel pointers , often replacing them with matres lectionis . To avoid confusion, consonantal ו and י are doubled in the middle of words...
)