05b. Verb paradigms: the strong verb in seven binyanim and the weak roots

This file holds the paradigm tables that go with 05. The verb: system, binyanim, tense and use, which explains the system (roots, binyanim, tenses, the imperative and its substitutes, spoken levelling). Section 1 lists the affixes common to all binyanim; section 2 gives a full paradigm of a strong root in each binyan; section 3 gives the key cells of every weak-root class, with the main colloquial variants. Index: Modern Hebrew (he): a reference manual for Mova. Neighbours: Nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals, Prepositions, prefixes, conjunctions and particles, 7. Syntax.

How to read the tables. Each cell gives the pointed (vocalised) normative form, then the transliteration of the normal Israeli pronunciation (chapter 02 conventions: stress marked only when not final; kh = /χ/; ' = an actually pronounced glottal stop). The ordinary unpointed spelling in ktiv male is given in the first column of each binyan header and wherever it differs notably (i written with י in pi'el and nif'al future, o/u written with ו). Forms labelled formal are normative but rare in speech; forms labelled spoken are the usual colloquial forms (05-verbs.md § 10). The cells were written for this manual and checked against UniMorph Hebrew (heb_voc, from Wiktionary; Goldman, UniMorph 4.0) wherever UniMorph has the verb; disagreements are noted.

1. Affixes shared by all binyanim

The past and future affixes are the same in every binyan; only the stem changes.

1.1 Past (suffixes on the past stem)

Notes. 2MS and 2FS are spelled alike without points (כתבת); in speech they differ (katávta / katavt). The past has no gender distinction in the 1st person and in the 3PL. The suffixes are stressless except 3FS and 3PL, which take the stress in pa'al/nif'al/pi'el/pu'al/hitpa'el (katva, katvu) and leave it on the stem in hif'il (hirgísha, hirgíshu). When the root ends in ת or ד, the suffix t merges: pakádti (פקדתי) is regular, but natáti "I gave" from נ-ת-נ shows assimilation of n to t.

1.2 Future (prefixes and suffixes on the future stem)

The prefix vowel depends on the binyan: i in pa'al (strong), nif'al and hitpa'el; e (written ְ) in pi'el and pu'al; a in hif'il and in pa'al of some weak roots; u in huf'al.

1.3 Present (participle endings)

The FS ending is -et (unstressed, with a segolate stem: kotévet, medabéret, mitlabéshet) in pa'al, pi'el, pu'al, hitpa'el and most nif'al verbs, and stressed -a in hif'il (margisha), hollow pa'al (kama), final-weak verbs (kona) and some nif'al verbs.

1.4 Imperative

The imperative is the future 2nd person without the prefix: MS (no ending), FS -i, MPL -u, FPL -na (formal). Nif'al and hif'il restore a prefix hi- / ha-. Pu'al and huf'al have none.

2. The strong verb in each binyan

2.1 Pa'al — כ-ת-ב "write" (future in o)

Unpointed future spellings: אכתוב, תכתוב, יכתוב (ו for o); imperative כתוב.

Spirantisation: כ is [k] at the start of a word (katav) and [kh] after a vowel prefix (yikhtov, likhtov); ב is [v] throughout this paradigm, because it always follows a vowel or a shva that was historically vocal (kitvi goes back to *ketubi).

Pa'al with future in a. Verbs whose 2nd or 3rd root consonant is a guttural, and some statives, take a in the future and imperative but keep o in the infinitive:

2.2 Nif'al — כ-נ-ס "enter"

Unpointed: future and imperative are spelled with י after the prefix in full spelling: איכנס, תיכנס, ייכנס, היכנס, להיכנס. The past 3MS and the present MS are spelled and pronounced alike (נכנס nikhnas): context decides. Spirantisation alternates in the first root consonant: nikhnas (past, [kh]) but yikanes (future, [k], historically doubled).

2.3 Pi'el — ד-ב-ר "speak"

Unpointed past in full spelling: דיבר, דיברה, דיברו (י for i). The middle ב is a stop [b] throughout (historically doubled). With a begadkefat first consonant the alternation shows: כִּבֵּס kibes "washed (laundry)" / מְכַבֵּס mekhabes / יְכַבֵּס yekhabes; פִּתֵּחַ pitéakh "developed" / מְפַתֵּחַ mefatéakh.

Quadriliteral pi'el (four-consonant roots) — ט-ל-פ-נ "phone":

Note: in four-consonant stems the cluster is broken with e before vowel-initial suffixes (tilfenu, not *tilfnu). The f of a borrowed root stays f everywhere (metalfen); the verbal noun is not in common use (speakers say sikhat télefon "phone call"). Other quadriliterals: תִּרְגֵּם tirgem "translated" (VN תִּרְגּוּם tirgum), גִּלְגֵּל gilgel "rolled" (VN גִּלְגּוּל gilgul), פִּרְסֵם pirsem "published" (VN פִּרְסוּם pirsum), סִנְכְּרֵן sinkhren "synchronised".

2.4 Pu'al — ס-ד-ר "be arranged"

Present: מְסֻדָּר mesudar, מְסֻדֶּרֶת mesudéret, מְסֻדָּרִים mesudarim, מְסֻדָּרוֹת mesudarot (mainly adjectives "tidy, organised"). No imperative, infinitive or verbal noun. Unpointed full spelling: סודר, מסודר (ו for u).

2.5 Hif'il — ר-ג-ש "feel"

Hif'il is the binyan whose 3FS and 3PL past and 2FS/PL future keep the stress on the stem vowel i (hirgísha, targíshi, yargíshu). The present FS ends in stressed -a (margisha). The imperative MS has e (hargesh), which speakers often replace with the future targish.

2.6 Huf'al — ר-ג-ש "be felt"

Present: מֻרְגָּשׁ murgash, מֻרְגֶּשֶׁת murgéshet, מֻרְגָּשִׁים murgashim, מֻרְגָּשׁוֹת murgashot. No imperative, infinitive or verbal noun. Unpointed: הורגש, מורגש (ו for u). The vowel is pointed either qubbuts (הֻ) or qamats qatan (הָ, the older hof'al pronunciation horgash); Modern Hebrew pronounces u and spells with ו.

2.7 Hitpa'el — ל-ב-ש "get dressed"

The past 3MS and the imperative MS are identical (הִתְלַבֵּשׁ). For metathesis with sibilants (histakel, hishtamesh, hitstalem, hizdaken) see 05-verbs.md § 2.7; the endings are the same.

Nitpa'el (formal past only) is not used with this root; typical forms: נִתְקַבֵּל nitkabel "was received", נִתְגַּלָּה nitgala "was revealed", 3FS נִתְקַבְּלָה nitkabla, 3PL נִתְגַּלּוּ nitgalu. Present and future coincide with nif'al-like nitkabel/hitpa'el and are not used separately.

2.8 The copula היה

See 05-verbs.md § 9.1 for the full table (hayíti … yihyu); infinitive לִהְיוֹת lihyot; imperative הֱיֵה heye, הֲיִי hayi, הֱיוּ heyu. Haya is a final-weak (ל"ה) pa'al verb with an initial h, so it follows § 3.5 below; its first consonant ה is a guttural, which in pointed writing gives the future יִהְיֶה yihye with a silent shva under ה (an exception among gutturals).

3. Weak roots: key cells

Each table gives, per verb: past 3MS, past 1SG, past 3FS, present MS / FS, future 1SG, future 3MS, imperative MS, infinitive, verbal noun. A dash means the cell does not exist or is not in use. The unchanged cells of the paradigm follow the strong pattern of the same binyan (§ 2).

3.1 First consonant n (פ"נ)

The n assimilates (doubling the next consonant, now only visible as a stop) when it closes a syllable, and in some verbs drops in the imperative and infinitive.

Notes.

• In hif'il and huf'al the n is lost entirely; the resulting stems look biliteral (hipil < *hinpil). Speakers recover the root from pa'al or nouns (נפילה).
• The pa'al 1st n verbs differ: נפל keeps n in the imperative (nefol) and drops it nowhere but the future; נסע drops it in the imperative (sa) but keeps it in the infinitive (linsóa); נתן drops it everywhere outside the past and present, and its 3rd n assimilates to the suffix t (natáti) and to the infinitive (latet).
• Spoken: the imperative of נפל is rare (al tipol "don't fall"); sa "drive! go!" is common; ten is very common, also as "let": ten li lahashov "let me think". Some speakers say nasánu-type forms regularly; the infinitive linsóa is stable.
• Many 1st n verbs behave as strong in pa'al and nif'al when the second consonant is a guttural: נהג nahag "drove", fut. yinhag; נגע naga "touched", fut. yiga (assimilating), inf. lingóa.

3.2 First consonant y (פ"י / פ"ו)

Two subtypes. (a) Original w-roots (most): the y drops in the pa'al future, imperative and infinitive, which take e and the feminine -et ending; in nif'al, hif'il and huf'al the old w reappears as o/u/v. (b) Original y-roots (a few: ישן, ינק, יטב): the y stays as i in the future.

Notes.

• The pa'al infinitives lashévet, larédet, ladáat, latset, lalédet "to give birth" are fossilised -et forms. Children and some casual speakers say leshev, lered (Ravid 1995); these are non-standard.
• The type (b) future yishan is written with two yods in full spelling (יישן).
• הלך halakh "go" behaves like a 1st y verb in the future and imperative: אֵלֵךְ elekh, יֵלֵךְ yelekh, לֵךְ lekh, לָלֶכֶת lalékhet (05-verbs.md § 6.2 on lekh). Spoken 1SG future: ani yelekh.
• In hif'il and huf'al the root y appears as o / u; in pi'el and hitpa'el it is an ordinary consonant: יִשֵּׁב yishev "settled", הִתְיַשֵּׁב hityashev "sat down, settled".

3.3 First consonant a guttural (פ' גרונית) and ' (פ"א)

Gutturals (א, ה, ח, ע) cannot take a silent shva in the pointed system, so the vowels around them change in writing; in speech, א and ע are usually silent or a glottal stop, ה is often dropped, and ח is kh. The audible effect in Modern Hebrew is mostly in the vowels a / e after the prefix.

Notes.

• Pe-aleph pa'al (אכל, אמר, and אבד, אפה) has future o-: yokhal, yomar. In speech, the 1SG okhal often becomes yokhal (05-verbs.md § 10.1). Other א-initial verbs are regular guttural verbs: אהב ahav "loved", fut. ye'ehav, spoken yohav (normative ye'ehav, often avoided).
• אמר is defective in speech: future, imperative and infinitive come from הגיד higid (agid, tagid, lehagid); yomar and lomar are formal (05-verbs.md § 6.2). The infinitive לֵאמֹר lemor means "saying (as follows)" in formal and biblical style.
• In nif'al of 1st guttural roots, the future cannot double the guttural, so the vowel of the prefix lengthens to e (ye'alem, e'alem) — "compensatory lengthening"; in speech this is simply ye'alem vs strong yikanes.

3.4 Hollow roots: middle v or y (ע"ו / ע"י)

The middle consonant is a vowel (u, o, i), so the stem has two consonants. These are among the most frequent verbs (קם, בא, שם, גר, רץ, טס, שר, מת).

Notes.

• Stress distinguishes past from present in the FS: past קָמָה káma "she got up" (penultimate) vs present קָמָה kama "she gets up" (final). Likewise bá'a / ba'a, shára / shara. In unpointed text they are identical.
• Hif'il of hollow roots has e in the past and a in the future: hekim / yakim; hevi / yavi; hevin "understood" / yavin. Older literary 1SG past forms with -óti (הֲקִימוֹתִי hakimóti, הֲבִיאוֹתִי) are now archaic.
• Pi'el and hitpa'el of hollow roots have two shapes: the old polel / hitpolel, which repeats the last consonant (קוֹמֵם komem "raised up", הִתְקוֹמֵם hitkomem "rebelled", הִתְבּוֹנֵן hitbonen "observed"), and a newer regular shape with the middle y as a consonant (קִיֵּם kiyem "kept, fulfilled", הִתְקַיֵּם hitkayem "took place", צִיֵּר tsiyer "drew", הִתְחַיֵּב hitkhayev "committed oneself"). New coinages use the regular shape.
• Hollow nif'al is rare (נָסוֹג, נָבוֹךְ, נָכוֹן as adjective); its normative 1SG past nesogóti is replaced in speech by nasógti. This row is given from normative grammar; UniMorph does not have it.
• Spoken: future 1SG ani yakum, ani yavo, ani yavi (§ 10.1 of 05-verbs.md); imperative of הביא is the future tavi (tavi li et ze "give me that").

3.5 Final weak (ל"ה / ל"י)

Roots whose last consonant was y (written ה at the end of the 3MS). The stem ends in a vowel: -a in the past 3MS, -e in the present MS and future, -i/-e before consonant suffixes, -ot in the infinitive, and the 3FS past has the old -ta.

The rest of the future: 2FS tikni, 2/3PL tiknu, yiknu (the stem vowel is dropped before -i, -u); past 3PL kanu. The present FPL is konot, MPL konim.

Notes.

• Past 1/2 vowel: -íti in pa'al and pi'el, -éti in nif'al, pu'al, hif'il, huf'al, hitpa'el (as UniMorph gives נִקְנֵיתִי, הִתְנַסֵּיתִי). In speech -íti tends to spread (hitnasíti) (05-verbs.md § 10.5).
• Nif'al present FS has two normative forms, נִקְנֵית niknet and (formal) נִקְנָה nikna.
• Spoken 3FS past: forms like kanta are universal; hitnasta, shinta likewise.
• The copula היה belongs here: haya, hayíti, hayta; future yihye; inf lihyot.
• Common verbs of this class: ראה ra'a "see" (fut. yir'e, inf. lir'ot), עשה asa "do" (fut. ya'ase, inf. la'asot), רצה ratsa "want", שתה shata "drink", בנה bana "build", עלה ala "go up", קרה kara "happen", ניסה nisa "try", גילה gila "discover", הראה her'a "show", התראה hitra'a "see each other".

3.6 Final ' (ל"א)

The final א is silent in Modern Hebrew. In pointed writing these verbs differ from final-weak verbs (the stem keeps the a or e of the strong pattern and the spelling keeps א), but in pronunciation many forms coincide, and speakers often inflect them like ל"ה (05-verbs.md § 10.4).

Notes.

• The pa'al infinitive likro, limtso sounds the same as a ל"ה infinitive would without its -t; speakers occasionally produce *likrot by analogy (non-standard).
• Spoken merger: future yikre, yimtse; imperative tikre; nif'al and pi'el 1SG past with -íti. The spelling with א is kept in careful writing; misspellings with י (מיליתי) are frequent and are the main written evidence of the merger (Ravid 1995).
• ל"א verbs that are also hollow (בא, הביא) or 1st y (יצא) combine both sets of changes (§§ 3.2, 3.4).

3.7 Final guttural (ל' גרונית: ח, ע)

Final ח and ע take a "furtive" a before them when preceded by i, e, o, u (written ַ under the guttural): the effect in speech is an extra a and a stress before it.

Notes.

• The future has a before the final guttural (yishma, yiftakh), not o (§ 2.1); the infinitive keeps o (lishmóa).
• Spoken: the furtive vowel is often dropped in casual speech in some forms (shomea → shoméa is stable, but lishmóa may be heard as lishmo'a); the present FS of pa'al is commonly shomáat / potákhat (normative), with shoméat and potékhet heard as levelled forms. These are variable; no frequency data were found for this manual.

3.8 Geminate roots (ע"ע)

Roots with identical 2nd and 3rd consonants. Pa'al geminate verbs are mostly literary or behave as strong in speech (חגג khagag "celebrated", fut. yakhgog; סבב savav rare); the derived binyanim have short stems.

Notes.

• The hif'il 1SG past is given in UniMorph in the modern form hegánti, hesávti (הֵגַנְתִּי, הֵסַבְתִּי); the older normative forms with -óti (הֲגִנּוֹתִי haginóti, הֲסִבּוֹתִי) survive in literary style.
• Pi'el and hitpa'el of geminate roots appear in two shapes, like hollow roots: polel (sovev "surrounded", histovev) and regular (sibev, spoken sivev with the middle consonant spirantised). The pi'el cells of סבב are not in UniMorph and are given from the general rule; the cluster in the 3FS is broken by e as in quadriliterals.
• In hif'il, geminate and hollow verbs look alike (hegen / hekim differ only by the stem vowel), and both differ from 1st n hif'il (hipil), which has a doubled (now stop) second consonant.

3.9 Quadriliteral and reduplicated roots

Four-consonant roots occur only in pi'el, pu'al and hitpa'el. They include old reduplications of two-consonant roots (גלגל, קלקל, טלטל), roots with an affix absorbed into the stem (תפקד from tafkid, שעבד "enslaved" from the old shaf'el causative), and loan roots (טלפן, פקסס, סנכרן).

Notes.

• In the 3FS past and the plural, a five-consonant cluster is broken by e: גִּלְגְּלָה gilgela, הִתְגַּלְגְּלוּ hitgalgelu; the same with loan roots: fiksesa, metalfenim.
• Loan verbs keep the foreign consonant value (f, and in the spelling פ without dagesh); the pointing פִקְסֵס marks f. Spoken 1SG future: ani yefakses (05-verbs.md § 10.1).
• סימס is a three-consonant pi'el from the acronym SMS; its spelling in full writing is סימס.

4. Summary of stems

The principal parts below let a learner or a generator rebuild any strong-verb form from the affix tables of § 1. ⟨C1C2C3⟩ is the root.

This table is the shape that a rule-based generator (as in Finkel and Stump 2002's default-inheritance model of Hebrew verb morphology, or Hspell's generator) encodes; the weak classes of § 3 are then overrides on particular cells.

References

• Finkel, Raphael; Stump, Gregory. 2002. Generating Hebrew verb morphology by default inheritance hierarchies. Proceedings of the ACL-02 Workshop on Computational Approaches to Semitic Languages. Local: onto-2002-finkel-generating-hebrew-verb-morphology-default. URL: aclanthology.org/W02-0502 our card
• Goldman, Omer (annotator). UniMorph Hebrew (heb, heb_voc, from_UD_unvoc), UniMorph 4.0, from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0. Local: unimorph-heb. URL: github.com/unimorph/heb. Used to check the cells; not copied.
• Har'El, Nadav; Kenigsberg, Dan. Hspell 1.4, AGPL-3.0. Local: hspell. URL: hspell.ivrix.org.il
• Kaikki.org. English Wiktionary extract, Hebrew (kaikki.org-dictionary-Hebrew.jsonl), CC BY-SA. Local: kaikki-enwiktionary-hebrew-aramaic. URL: kaikki.org/dictionary/Hebrew
• Ravid, Dorit. 1995. Language Change in Child and Adult Hebrew: A Psycholinguistic Perspective. Oxford University Press. (Not held.)
• Wikipedia. "Modern Hebrew verb conjugation." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern Hebrew verb conjugation (consulted 2026-10-17).
• See also the references of 05. The verb: system, binyanim, tense and use.

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