In Hebrew, verbs, which take the form of derived stems, 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. This article deals mostly with Modern Hebrew, but to some extent, the information shown here applies to Biblical Hebrew as well.
Verb classification
Roots Verbs in Hebrew, like nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, are formed and declined by altering a (usually) three-letter stem, known as a shoresh ( ). Vowels are added between or before these three consonants in a pattern to form a related meaning between different roots. For instance, () "(he) kept / guarded" and () "(he) wrote" both add the vowel "a" in between the first and second consonants and second and third consonants to indicate the past tense "he" form. A similar formation can be found in English strong verbs with write-wrote-written and drive-drove-driven sharing root consonants despite differing vowels and meanings.
Hebrew verbs are further divided into strong roots (regular verbs, with occasional and predictable consonant irregularities), weak roots (predictable verbs irregular by vowel), and wholly irregular verbs.
A root that changes the vowel used in a given pattern is considered a weak stem. These are further divided into guttural (containing alef, hey, het, ayin anywhere, or resh as the second root), hollow (containing vav or yud anywhere, or hey as the final root), and repeating roots (beginning with nun or ending with two of the same consonant); based on exact irregularities. Weak verbs are detailed further below:
Guttural weak roots Guttural roots contain a guttural consonant (such as alef (), hei (), het (), or ayin () in any position; or resh () as the second letter). Hei () as the third letter is usually a hollow root marker due to being a vowel spelling rather than one of any consonant, and is only considered a guttural root in the third position if historically pronounced. Alef () root-initially and root-finally takes on a somewhat divergent conjugation similar to that of hollow roots, but is usually identical to other gutturals. Of the three classes of weak roots, guttural roots are the most common.
Vowel weak roots Roots containing a vav () or yud () anywhere mark a historical vowel. Hey () word-finally usually marks a final vowel for the same reason, and shares similar irregularities.
Repeating weak roots Roots containing two of the same letter or a nun () in first position are considered repeating roots. Nun () before a consonant doubles it or prevents bais (), kaf (), and pey () from becoming vais, chaf, and fey in word-medial position. Doubling consonants also changes the quality of the preceding vowel. However, doubling a consonant that doesn't change it outright (gemination) is obsolete in Modern Hebrew, and the irregularities usually affect the vowels.
Initial sibilants: metathesis When the initial letter of a shoresh is one of the sibilants zayin (), samach (), tzadik () or shin (), then in Hispa'el there is a phenomenon called metathesis, in which the sibilant trades places with a preceding tav (); in addition, the taf () preceding a zayin () changes to a daled () and the taf () preceding a tzadik () changes to a tes (). E.g., , , , .
Stems Hebrew verbs are inflected according to specific patterns, derived stems, called forms or ( binyanim, "constructions"); where vowel patterns ( /miʃkaˈlim/ mishkalim, "weights"), affixes are put into the (usually) three-letter roots from which the vast majority of Hebrew words are made.
There are seven basic conjugations, as well as some irregular verbs coming from otherwise-obsolete constructions. The traditional demonstration root is (p-`-l), which has the basic meaning of "(He) acted". The dictionary form ( Kal "light; easy, simple" in hebrew) for this root is Pa'al. The conjugations for this root are as follows:
root: activereflexivepassive causative intensive simple This chart's menorah-like shape is sometimes invoked in teaching the binyanim to help students remember the main ideas about the verb forms: (1) which binyanim are active voice (left side) vs. passive voice (right side), and (2) which binyanim are simple (outer-most menorah branches), intensive (second-outer-most), causative (third-outer-most), and reflexive (center). Note that some binyanim have more meanings than the ones shown here, as well as obsolete and rare ones being left off entirely.
In Early Modern Hebrew, the verb paradigm nitpa'el was much more common than hitpa'el, but it was ultimately marginalized because its meanings were a subset of hitpa'el. Shira Wigderson has postulated that the early popularity of nispa'el was due to the influence of Yiddish; as the influence of Yiddish waned over time, the popularity of nispa'el declined.
Regular conjugation
Present tense A verb in the present tense ( hove) agrees with its subject in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural), so each verb has four present-tense forms.
The present tense does not inflect by person because its use as a present tense is a relatively recent trend, as this form was originally used only as the present participle alone; rather than both the present tense verb and present participle.
Earlier forms of the Hebrew language did not 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 present participle also becoming the present tense. This also happened to the Aramaic language around the same time, and later in some varieties of Arabic (such as Egyptian Arabic).
In these tables, every stressed syllable will be capitalized, except in monosyllabic words. Ayin will be represented by `, and aleph by ´, whenever pronounced.
+Present tense patterns Root Type Singular Plural Masculine(no suffix) Feminine : -et / : -a Masculine : -im Feminine : -ot Pa'alStrong 1o2e3 1o2e3et 1o23im 1o23ot Guttural 2 1o2e3 1o2e3et 1o2a3im 1o2a3ot Guttural 3 1o2ea3 1o2a3at 1o23im 1o23ot Vowel 2 1a3 1a3a 1a3im 1a3ot Vowel 3 1o2e 1o2a 1o2im 1o2ot Alef 3 1o2e´ 1o2e´t 1o2´im 1o2´ot Repeating 1a2 1a22a 1a22im 1a22ot Pi'el Strong me1a22e3 me1a22e3et me1a223im me1a223ot Guttural 2 me1a2e3 me1a2e3et me1a2a3im me1a2a3ot Guttural 3 me1a22ea3 me1a22a3at me1a223im me1a223ot Vowel 3 me1a22e me1a22a me1a22im me1a22ot Alef 3 me1a22e´ me1a22e´t me1a22´im me1a22´ot Polel me1o3e3 me1o3e3et me1o3e3im me1o3e3ot Hif'il Strong ma12i3 ma12i3a ma12i3im ma12i3ot Guttural 1 ma1a2i3 ma1a2i3a ma1a2i3im ma1a2i3ot Guttural 3 ma12ia3 ma12i3a ma12i3im ma12i3ot Vowel 1 mo2i3 mo2i3a mo2i3im mo2i3ot Vowel 2 me1i3 me1i3a me1i3im me1i3ot Vowel 3 ma12e ma12a ma12im ma12ot Nun 1 ma22i3 ma22i3a ma22i3im ma22i3ot Nun 1 & Guttural 3 ma22ia3 ma22i3a ma22i3im ma22i3ot Repeating me1e2 me1i22a me1i22im me1i22ot Hitpa'el Strong mit1a22e3 mit1a22e3et mit1a223im mit1a223ot Zayin 1 mizda22e3 mizda22e3et mizda223im mizda223ot Samekh/Sin 1 mista22e3 mista22e3et mista223im mista223ot Tsade 1 mitzṭa22e3 mitzṭa22e3et mitzṭa223im mitzṭa223ot Shin 1 mišta22e3 mišta22e3et mišta223im mišta223ot Guttural 2 mit1a2e3 mit1a2e3et mit1a2a3im mit1a2a3ot Guttural 3 mit1a22ea3 mit1a22a3at mit1a223im mit1a223ot Vowel 3 mit1a22e mit1a22a mit1a22im mit1a22ot Alef 3 mit1a22e´ mit1a22´et mit1a22´im mit1a22´ot Hitpolel mit1o3e3 mit1o3e3et mit1o3e3im mit1o3e3ot Nif'al Strong ni12a3 ni12e3et ni12a3im ni12a3ot Guttural 1 ne1e2a3 ne1e2e3et ne1e2a3im ne1e2a3ot Guttural 3 ni12a3 ni12a3at ni12a3im ni12a3ot Vowel 1 no2a3 no2e3et no2a3im no2a3ot Vowel 2 na1a3 ne1a3a ne1a3im ne1a3ot Vowel 3 ni12e ni12et ni12im ni12ot Alef 3 ni12a´ ni12e´t ni12a´im ni12a´ot Nun 1 ni22a3 ni22e3et ni22a3im ni22a3ot Repeating na1a2 ne1a22a ne1a22im ne1a22ot
+Present tense examples Root Type Singular PluralMeaning Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine Pa'al Strong כּוֹתֵב כּוֹתֶבֶת כּוֹתְבִים כּוֹתְבוֹת write(s)koTEVkoTEvetkotVIMkotVOT Guttural 2 בּוֹחֵר בּוֹחֶרֶת בּוֹחֲרִים בּוֹחֲרוֹת choose(s)boCHERboCHEretbochaRIMbochaROT Guttural 3 בּוֹלֵעַ בּוֹלַעַת בּוֹלְעִים בּוֹלעוֹת swallow(s)boLEA`boLA`atbol`IMbol`OT Vowel 2 דָּן דָּנָה דָּנִים דָּנוֹת discuss(es)dandaNAdaNIMdaNOT Vowel 3 שׁוֹתֶה שׁוֹתָה שׁוֹתִים שׁוֹתוֹת drink(s)shoTEshoTAshoTIMshoTOT Alef 3 מוֹצֵא מוֹצֵאת מוֹצְאִים מוֹצְאוֹת find(s)moTSEmoTSETmots´IMmots´OT Repeating סָב סַבָּה סַבִּים סַבּוֹת spin(s)savsaBAsaBIMsaBOT Pi'el Strong מְנַדֵּב מְנַדֶּבֶת מְנַדְּבִים מְנַדְּבוֹת contribute(s)menaDEVmenaDEvetmenadVIMmenadVOT Guttural 2 מְבָאֵס מְבָאֶסֶת מְבַאֲסִים מְבַאֲסוֹת make(s) upsetmeva´ESmeva´Esetmeva´aSIMmeva´aSOT Guttural 3 מְשַׁגֵּעַ מְשַׁגַּעַת מְשַׁגְּעִים מְשַׁגְּעוֹת drive(s) crazymeshaGEA`meshaGA`atmeshag`IMmeshag`OT Vowel 3 מְנַסֶּה מְנַסָּה מְנַסִּים מְנַסּוֹת try(s)menaSEmenaSAmenaSIMmenaSOT Alef 3 מְבַטֵּא מְבַטֵּאת מְבַטְּאִים מְבַטְּאוֹת pronounce(s), state(s)mevaTEmevaTETmevat´IMmevat´OT Po'el מרומם/ מְרוֹמֵם מרוממת/ מְרוֹמֶמֶת מרוממים/ מְרוֹמְמִים מרוממות/ מְרוֹמְמוֹת raise(s)meroMEMmeroMEmetmeromeMIMmeromeMOT Hif'il Strong מַזְמִין מַזְמִינָה מַזְמִינִים מַזְמִינוֹת invite(s), order(s)mazMINmazmiNAmazmiNIMmazmiNOT Guttural 1 מַעֲדִיף מַעֲדִיפָה מַעֲדִפִים מַעֲדִיפוֹת prefer(s)ma`aDIFma`adiFAma`adiFIMma`adiFOT Guttural 3 מַפְתִּיעַ מַפְתִּיעָה מַפְתִּיעִים מַפְתִּיעוֹת surprise(s)maftIA`mafti`Amafti`IMmafti`OT Vowel 1 מוֹבִיל מוֹבִילָה מוֹבִילִים מוֹבִילוֹת lead(s)moVILmoviLAmoviLIMmoviLOT Vowel 2 מֵבִין מְבִינָה מְבִינִים מְבִינוֹת understand(s)meVINmeviNAmeviNIMmeviNOT Vowel 3 מַפְנֶה מַפְנָה מַפְנִים מַפְנוֹת turn(s)mafNEmafNAmafNIMmafNOT Nun 1 מַכִּיר מַכִּירָה מַכִּירִים מַכִּירוֹת know(s) [a person]maKIRmakiRAmakiRIMmakiROT Repeating מֵסֵב מְסִבָּה מְסִיבִּים מְסִבּוֹת change(s)meSEVmesiBAmesiBIMmesiBOT Hitpa'el Strong מִתְנַדֵּב מִתְנַדֶּבֶת מִתְנַדְּבִים מִתְנַדְּבוֹת volunteer(s)mitnaDEVmitnaDEvetmitnadVIMmitnadVOT Guttural 2 מִתְבָּאֵס מִתְבָּאֶסֶת מִתְבַּאֲסִים מִתְבַּאֲסוֹת is/are upsetmitba´ESmitba´Esetmitba´aSIMmitba´aSOT Guttural 3 מִשְׁתַּגֵּעַ מִשְׁתַּגַּעַת מִשְׁתַּגְּעִים מִשְׁתַּגְּעוֹת go(es) crazymishtaGEA`mishtaGA`atmishtag`IMmishtag`OT Vowel 3 מִתְנַסֶּה מִתְנַסָּה מִתְנַסִּים מִתְנַסּוֹת experience(s)mitnaSEmitnaSAmitnaSIMmitnaSOT Alef 3 מִתְבַּטֵּא מִתְבַּטֵּאת מִתְבַּטְּאִים מִתְבַּטְּאוֹת speak(s) outmitbaTEmitbaTETmitbat´IMmitbat´OT Hitpo'el מִתְרוֹמֵם מִתְרוֹמֶמֶת מִתְרוֹמְמִים מִתְרוֹמְמוֹת rise(s)mitroMEMmitroMEmetmitromeMIMmitromeMOT Zayin 1 / ages Samekh/Sin 1 / looks Tsade 1 / regrets Shin 1 / try/tries Nif'al Strong נִכְתָּב נִכְתֶּבֶת נִכְתָּבִים נִכְתָּבוֹת is/are writtennikhTAVnikhTEvetnikhtaVIMnikhtaVOT Guttural 1 נֶאֱכָל נֶאֱכֶלֶת נֶאֱכָלִים נֶאֱכָלוֹת is/are eatenne´eKHALne´eKHEletne´ekhaLIMne´ekhaLOT Guttural 3 נבלע/ נִבְלַע נִבְלַעַת נִבְלָעִים נִבְלָעוֹת is/are swallowednivLA`nivLA`atnivla`IMnivla`OT Vowel 1 נוֹלָד לוֹלֶדֶת נוֹלָדִים נוֹלָדוֹת is/are bornnoLADnoLEdetnolaDIMnolaDOT Vowel 2 נָדוֹן נְדוֹנָה נְדוֹנִים נְדוֹנוֹת is/are discussednaDONnedoNAnedoNIMnedoNOT Vowel 3 נִשְׁתֶּה נִשְׁתֵּית נִשְׁתִּים נִשְׁתּוֹת is/are drunknishTEnishTETnishTIMnishTOT Alef 3 נִמְצָא נִמְצֵאת נִמְצָאִים נִמְצָאוֹת is/are [at]nimTSAnimTSETnimtsa´IMnimtsa´OT Nun 1 נישך/ נִשָּׁך נישכת/ נִשֶּׁכֶת נישכים/ נִשָּׁכִים נישכות/ נִשָּׁכוֹת is/are bittenniSHAKHniSHEkhetnishaKHIMnishaKHOT Repeating נָסָב נְסַבָּה נְסַבִּים נְסַבּוֹת is/are surroundingnaSAVnesaBAnesaBIMnesaBOT
Past tense A verb in the past tense ( 'avar) agrees with its subject in person (first, second, or third), number, and in the second-person and third-person singular, gender. The corresponding subject pronouns are not necessarily used in conjunction.