10. The Verb: Root, Binyanim and the Present Tense
The verb (פֹּעַל – po’al) is the biggest topic in Hebrew, and four chapters are devoted to it. This one is about how a verb is built: the root, the binyan, the three tenses, and the present tense in detail. The good news: there are only three tenses, no auxiliary verbs, and all the information about who acts and when is packed into the verb form itself.
Root and binyan
Almost every verb is a root of three consonants placed into one of seven patterns called binyanim (בִּנְיָנִים, literally “buildings”). The root gives the meaning, the binyan gives the vowels, prefixes and a shade of meaning: simple, intensive, causative, reflexive. One root can live in several binyanim:
| Binyan | Root כ־ת־ב | Root ל־מ־ד |
|---|---|---|
| pa’al | כָּתַב (katav) – wrote | לָמַד (lamad) – learned |
| pi’el | – | לִמֵּד (limed) – taught |
| hif’il | הִכְתִּיב (hichtiv) – dictated | – |
| hitpa’el | הִתְכַּתֵּב (hitkatev) – corresponded | – |
| nif’al | נִכְתַּב (nichtav) – was written | – |
The seven binyanim and their recognisable marks:
| Binyan | Meaning | Infinitive | Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| פָּעַל (pa’al) | simple action; the biggest binyan | לִכְתֹּב (lichtov) – to write | infinitive לִ…ֹ… |
| פִּעֵל (pi’el) | intensive or repeated action; loanwords | לְדַבֵּר (ledaber) – to speak | מְ in the present: מְדַבֵּר |
| הִפְעִיל (hif’il) | causative: to make somebody do | לְהַרְגִּישׁ (lehargish) – to feel | לְהַ…, מַ in the present: מַרְגִּישׁ |
| הִתְפַּעֵל (hitpa’el) | reflexive, reciprocal action | לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ (lehitlabesh) – to get dressed | הִתְ / מִתְ |
| נִפְעַל (nif’al) | passive or reflexive of pa’al | לְהִכָּנֵס (lehikanes) – to enter | נִ in the past and present |
| פֻּעַל (pu’al), הֻפְעַל (huf’al) | passives of pi’el and hif’il | no infinitive | mostly participles: מְדֻבָּר – mentioned, מֻרְגָּשׁ – noticeable |
At the Alef level you need the first four binyanim and a little nif’al. Dictionaries list verbs by the infinitive, while tables name the binyan after the “he” form of the past tense.
Three tenses
Hebrew has three tenses: past (עָבָר – avar), present (הוֹוֶה – hove) and future (עָתִיד – atid). There are no aspects or perfect forms: כָּתַבְתִּי is “I wrote”, “I have written” and “I was writing”.
| Tense | How the person is shown | Example: לִכְתֹּב |
|---|---|---|
| past | ending: ־תִּי, ־תָּ, ־נוּ… | כָּתַבְתִּי (katavti) – I wrote |
| present | the person is not shown; only gender and number, like an adjective | אֲנִי כּוֹתֵב (ani kotev) – I write |
| future | prefix: אֶ־, תִּ־, יִ־, נִ־… | אֶכְתֹּב (echtov) – I will write |
The past-tense endings and the future-tense prefixes are the same in all binyanim; only the stem changes. Learn them once (chapters 11 and 12) and you can conjugate any verb.
The present tense: four forms
The present tense is really a participle, so it behaves like an adjective: it has four forms (m. sg., f. sg., m. pl., f. pl.) and does not distinguish person. “I write”, “you write” and “he writes” are the same word כּוֹתֵב, which is why the pronoun is obligatory.
| Form | Ending | pa’al: לִכְתֹּב | pi’el: לְדַבֵּר | hif’il: לְהַרְגִּישׁ | hitpa’el: לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. sg. | – | כּוֹתֵב (kotev) | מְדַבֵּר (medaber) | מַרְגִּישׁ (margish) | מִתְלַבֵּשׁ (mitlabesh) |
| f. sg. | ־ֶת / ־ָה | כּוֹתֶבֶת (kotevet) | מְדַבֶּרֶת (medaberet) | מַרְגִּישָׁה (margisha) | מִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת (mitlabeshet) |
| m. pl. | ־ִים | כּוֹתְבִים (kotvim) | מְדַבְּרִים (medabrim) | מַרְגִּישִׁים (margishim) | מִתְלַבְּשִׁים (mitlabshim) |
| f. pl. | ־וֹת | כּוֹתְבוֹת (kotvot) | מְדַבְּרוֹת (medabrot) | מַרְגִּישׁוֹת (margishot) | מִתְלַבְּשׁוֹת (mitlabshot) |
- אֲנִי כּוֹתֵב מִכְתָּב (ani kotev michtav) – I am writing a letter (a man).
- אֲנִי כּוֹתֶבֶת מִכְתָּב (ani kotevet michtav) – I am writing a letter (a woman).
- הֵם מְדַבְּרִים עִבְרִית (hem medabrim ivrit) – They speak Hebrew.
- הִיא מַרְגִּישָׁה טוֹב (hi margisha tov) – She feels well.
- הַיְּלָדִים מִתְלַבְּשִׁים (ha-yeladim mitlabshim) – The children are getting dressed.
The present tense covers both what is happening now and regular actions: אֲנִי לוֹמֵד עַכְשָׁו – I am studying now, אֲנִי לוֹמֵד כָּל יוֹם – I study every day. It also often stands for the near future: מָחָר אֲנִי נוֹסֵעַ לְחֵיפָה – Tomorrow I am going to Haifa.
Three deviations in the present tense
Most verbs follow the table above, but three groups of roots change the form, and they include the most common verbs in the language:
| Group | m. sg. | f. sg. | plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| roots ending in ה: לִקְנוֹת (to buy), לִרְאוֹת (to see), לִשְׁתּוֹת (to drink), לִרְצוֹת (to want), לַעֲשׂוֹת (to do) | קוֹנֶה (kone) | קוֹנָה (kona), not “konet” | קוֹנִים / קוֹנוֹת |
| roots ending in ע or ח: לִשְׁמֹעַ (to hear), לִנְסֹעַ (to travel), לָדַעַת (to know), לָקַחַת (to take) | שׁוֹמֵעַ (shome’a) | שׁוֹמַעַת (shoma’at) | שׁוֹמְעִים / שׁוֹמְעוֹת |
| two-letter roots: לָגוּר (to live), לָקוּם (to get up), לָבוֹא (to come), לָשִׁיר (to sing), לָשִׂים (to put) | גָּר (gar) | גָּרָה (gara) | גָּרִים / גָּרוֹת |
Examples: הִיא רוֹצָה קָפֶה – She wants coffee; אֲנִי לֹא יוֹדַעַת – I don’t know (a woman); אֲנַחְנוּ גָּרִים בְּחֵיפָה – We live in Haifa; מָה אַתֶּם עוֹשִׂים? – What are you doing?
The participle as adjective and profession
Since the present tense is a participle, the same words work as adjectives and nouns: מוֹרֶה – teacher (literally “teaching”), רוֹפֵא – doctor (“healing”), שׁוֹמֵר – guard, מְעַנְיֵן – interesting (“interesting somebody”), מְאֻרְגָּן – organised. That is why they agree in the same four forms.
“To be” in the present tense
It does not exist. “I am a student”, “he is at home”, “it is cold” are built without a verb (chapter 5). There is no “to have” either: “I have” is יֵשׁ לִי (chapter 6). There is, however, the verb לִהְיוֹת for the past and future (chapters 11 and 12).
What to remember
- Verb = root + binyan. The four main binyanim: pa’al, pi’el, hif’il, hitpa’el.
- The present tense does not distinguish person: four forms by gender and number, pronoun obligatory.
- Marks of the binyan in the present: pa’al כּוֹתֵב, pi’el מְדַבֵּר, hif’il מַרְגִּישׁ, hitpa’el מִתְלַבֵּשׁ.
- Roots ending in ה make the feminine in ־ָה (רוֹצָה), roots ending in ע/ח in ־ַעַת (יוֹדַעַת).
- The “Determine verb type” trainer in the app drills the marks of the binyanim.
Practise this in the app. In Shoresh every textbook topic comes with trainers: verb conjugation, tenses, binyanim, the imperative and choosing the right word in a sentence.
