Table of Contents
Verb Conjugation
Imperfect Verbs
m = masculine, f = feminine
x = mixed gender (group), c = common gender
Prefixes
| person gender | number | form | sound | example | construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3m | singular | יִ◌ | yi- | He will | yod hiriq |
| 3x | plural | יִ◌ | yi- | They(m/x) will | yod hiriq |
| 3f & 2c | any | תִּ◌ | ti- | They(f) , She, You, or Y'all will | tav hiriq |
| 1c | singular | אֶ◌ | ’e- | I will | alef segol |
| 1c | plural | נִ◌ | ni- | We will * | nun hiriq |
* Watch out for ni- נִ◌ as it can also begin a Niphal Perfect verb! You'll see perfect conjugation suffixes at the end in this case.
Suffixes
Qal Imperfect Verbs
R = Root (◌◌◌)
| P | masc. singular | masc. or mixed plural | fem. plural | fem. singular | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | יִ◌◌◌ | yi-R | יִ◌◌◌וּ | yi-R-u | תִּ◌◌◌נָה | ti-R-nah | תִּ◌◌◌ | ti-R | |||
| 2 | תִּ◌◌◌ | ti-R | תִּ◌◌◌וּ | ti-R-u | תִּ◌◌◌נָה | ti-R-nah | תִּ◌◌◌◌ִי | ti-R-iy | |||
| 1 | אֶ◌◌◌ | ’e-R | נִ◌◌◌ | ni-R | נִ◌◌◌ | ni-R | אֶ◌◌◌ | ’e-R | |||
Qal Perfect Verbs
s = singular, p = plural, m = masculine, f = feminine, c = common gender, x = mixed gender
| Letter | Construction | Meaning | Letter | Construction | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | base form | 3ms: He did. | 3m | |||
| ◌◌ָה | qamatz heh | 3fs: She did. | 3f/3c | ◌וּ | shuruq | 3cp: They did. |
| ◌תָּ | tav qamatz | 2ms: You(m) did. | 2m | ◌תֶּם | tav segol mem | 2mp: Y'all(m/x) did. |
| ◌תְּ | tav | 2fs: You(f) did. | 2f | ◌תֶּן | tav segol nun | 2fp: Y'all(f) did. |
| ◌תִּי | tav yod | 1s: I did. | 1c | ◌נוּ | nun vav | 1p: We did. |
The Qal pattern can be identified by: The first two letters of the root have qamatz and patah. With two exceptions: 3fs: “she did” - The first two letters of the root have qamatz and shewa. 2cp: “y'all did” - The first two letters of the root have vocal shewa and patach.
Other Perfect Verb Stems
Note: This is enough information to help identify the stem, but not enough information to generate the verbs. Identifying the stem is helpful so you can figure out which letters are the radicals (letters forming the root word.) Be aware that in certain conjugations and with certain types of sounds it is possible for one of the radicals to disappear.
| Stem | Sign | Meaning | Example | Example (translit) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qal (Pa'al) | pattern described above | A. simple | כָּתַבְנוּ | kathav'nu | We wrote |
| Niphal | prefix is nun hiriq first radical has silent shewa | P. simple | נִכְתַּבְנוּ | nik'tav'nu | We were written |
| Hiphil | prefix is heh hiriq first radical has silent shewa | A. causative | הִכְתַּבְנוּ | hik'tavnu | We dictated |
| Hophal | prefix is heh qamatz first radical has silent shewa | P. causative | הֻכְתַּבְנוּ | huk'tavnu | We were dictated |
| Piel | first radical has hiriq | A. intensive | כִּתַּבְנוּ | kitav'nu | We engraved/addressed |
| Pual | first radical has shuruq | P. intensive | כֻּתַּבְנוּ | kutav'nu | We were engraved/addressed |
| Hithpael | prefix is heh hiriq thav silent shewa first radical has patach | reflexive | הִתְכַּתַּבְנוּ | hit'katav'nu | We corresponded |