Hebrew Binyanim: The Seven Verb Patterns in Plain Words
A binyan (בִּנְיָן, “building”) is the pattern a Hebrew verb follows when it changes for tense, person and gender. There are seven, and almost every verb in the language fits one of them. Knowing a word's root and its binyan lets you build any form of the verb, even one you've never seen. Below: what a root is, a table of all seven binyanim with examples, and the clues that tell you which binyan a verb belongs to.
Hebrew for Beginners · updated 2026-09-25
Start with the root
Almost every Hebrew word is built around a root (שֹׁרֶשׁ, shoresh), usually three consonants. The root carries a general meaning; the vowels, prefixes and suffixes around it turn the root into a specific word. The root כ־ת־ב, for instance, is about writing: כָּתַב (katav) “he wrote”, מִכְתָּב (michtav) “a letter”, כַּתָּב (katav) “a reporter”, הִכְתִּיב (hichtiv) “he dictated”. One root, different “buildings”.
A binyan is exactly that building the root is placed into. By tradition the binyanim are named after the root פ־ע־ל (“to act”) placed into each pattern: pa'al, nif'al, pi'el and so on.
The seven binyanim: a table
The table gives the name, what the pattern usually means, and an example with the root כ־ת־ב or another common root. Transcription is approximate; “h” is a light breath as in “hello”.
| Binyan | What it usually means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pa'al פָּעַל (also called “kal”, light) | a simple action or state | לִכְתּוֹב lichtov — “to write” |
| Nif'al נִפְעַל | the passive or reflexive of pa'al | לְהִכָּתֵב lehikatev — “to be written” |
| Pi'el פִּעֵל | an intensive, repeated or directed action | לְדַבֵּר ledaber — “to speak” |
| Pu'al פֻּעַל | the passive of pi'el | מְדֻבָּר medubar — “discussed” |
| Hif'il הִפְעִיל | causing someone or something to act | לְהַכְתִּיב lehachtiv — “to dictate” |
| Huf'al הֻפְעַל | the passive of hif'il | מֻכְתָּב muchtav — “dictated” |
| Hitpa'el הִתְפַּעֵל | a reflexive or reciprocal action | לְהִתְכַּתֵּב lehitkatev — “to correspond” |
The meanings in the table are tendencies, not laws. Many verbs sit in a binyan for historical reasons and no “logic” can be read out of it: לְדַבֵּר (“to speak”) is pi'el although nothing about it is intensive. That's why a verb's binyan is memorised together with the verb itself.
Active and passive pairs
It helps to see the seven as three active patterns with their passive partners, plus one reflexive pattern:
- pa'al → nif'al (a simple action → its passive or reflexive);
- pi'el → pu'al;
- hif'il → huf'al;
- hitpa'el stands on its own: an action directed at oneself or at each other.
Pu'al and huf'al are hardly ever conjugated in spoken Hebrew: they mostly appear in the present tense as participles and adjectives — מְסֻדָּר (mesudar, “tidy, arranged”), מֻקְלָט (muklat, “recorded”).
How to recognise a binyan from the verb's form
The easiest places to look are the infinitive (the form starting with ל) and the present tense. The most reliable clues:
- Hitpa'el gives itself away with the prefix הִת (לְהִת in the infinitive): לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ (lehitlabesh, “to get dressed”), מִתְלַבֵּשׁ.
- Hif'il: the infinitive starts with לְהַ and has a י before the last root letter — לְהַרְגִּישׁ (lehargish, “to feel”); the present tense starts with מַ — מַרְגִּישׁ.
- Nif'al: the infinitive starts with לְהִי — לְהִכָּנֵס (lehikanes, “to enter”); the present tense starts with נִ — נִכְנָס.
- Pi'el: the infinitive is ל + root with the vowels “a-e” — לְדַבֵּר, לְסַפֵּר (lesaper, “to tell”); the present tense has מְ — מְדַבֵּר, מְסַפֵּר.
- Pa'al: the infinitive is ל + root, most often with an “o” before the last letter — לִכְתּוֹב, לִלְמוֹד (lilmod, “to learn”); the present tense has no prefix at all — כּוֹתֵב, לוֹמֵד.
The present-tense prefix is the fastest guide: מְ means pi'el or pu'al, מַ means hif'il, מִת means hitpa'el, נִ means nif'al, and no prefix means pa'al.
Which binyanim to learn first
Four binyanim cover the vast majority of verbs you need day to day: pa'al, pi'el, hif'il and hitpa'el. Add nif'al once those have settled. Pu'al and huf'al only need to be recognised in text; at a beginner level you almost never conjugate them yourself.
A practical order: first learn to identify the binyan from the form (a mechanical skill that trains quickly), then work through each binyan's conjugation in one tense — the present, then the past and the future. That's how the verb trainers in Shoresh are built: “Identify the binyan” on a base of 3,500+ verbs, then separate trainers for the past tense, the future tense and the imperative.
FAQ
How many binyanim are there in Hebrew?
Seven: pa'al, nif'al, pi'el, pu'al, hif'il, huf'al and hitpa'el. Three are active (pa'al, pi'el, hif'il), each has a passive partner (nif'al, pu'al, huf'al), and hitpa'el expresses a reflexive or reciprocal action.
Do I need to learn all seven at once?
No. For everyday Hebrew it's enough to be confident with four: pa'al, pi'el, hif'il and hitpa'el, then add nif'al. The passive pu'al and huf'al only need to be recognised in text at a beginner level.
How do I tell the binyan of a verb I don't know?
From the present-tense prefix or the start of the infinitive: מְ is pi'el, מַ is hif'il, מִת is hitpa'el, נִ is nif'al, and no prefix means pa'al. In the infinitive, hitpa'el starts with לְהִת, hif'il with לְהַ, nif'al with לְהִי.
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