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.
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. Conjugation in the past tense is done by adding a suffix (universal across binyanim) to a binyan-specific root, so that <> "guarded" adds <> "I" to become <> "I guarded". The root changes depending on whether the suffix begins with a vowel or a consonant. The third person masculine singular pronoun (he/it) does not take a suffix and uses the plain stem; this is also the dictionary form for any given verb. There also used to be past-tense object suffixes, which came after the subject suffix, but these are obsolete.
Past participle Present participles are the same as present tense forms, as the Modern Hebrew present tense comes from a present participle form. Not all past participles shown here correspond to an existent adjective or one congruent to the verb's meaning; the ones shown here are just examples. Past participles are formed according to the tables shown below. The past participle is also commonly used as an adjective (similar to English), and is inflected for number and gender. The passive and reflexive binyans hispa'el, nif'al, pu'al, and huf'al lack passive participles. Pa'al verbs that have a nif'al form corresponding to its passive voice use the pa'al participle and nif'al present to indicate different states of completion. The pa'al past participle indicates an action is completely done: • ("the books are written") The nif'al present tense indicates that the action is still being done: • ("the books are being written") As shown below, pi'el and hif'il past participles use the present tense of the passive forms pu'al and huf'al, respectively.
Future tense A verb in the future tense ( 'asid) inflects for person, number, and gender; which is expressed by adding prefixes and suffixes to stems shown below. The second-person singular masculine and third-person singular feminine forms are identical for all verbs in the future tense. Historically, there have been separate feminine forms for the second and third person plural (shown in italics on the table). These are still occasionally used today (most often in formal settings); however, in everyday speech, most use the historically masculine plural for both genders. As in the past tense, personal pronouns are not strictly necessary in the future tense, as the verb forms are sufficient to identify the subject, but they are frequently used.
Imperative All imperatives are only used in affirmative commands, and in predominantly formal contexts. Negative commands use the particle followed by the corresponding future-tense form; as לא and a future tense negates the declaration not the command (contrast "don't do it" with "[you] won't do it"). The passive binyanim pu'al and huf'al do not have imperatives. In informal speech, the future tense (shown above) is commonly used for affirmative commands, to avoid the implication of being demanding. So, for example, can mean either "you will open" or "would you open" (masculine, singular). In Hebrew, as in English, the more formal way to avoid the implication of commanding is to use the word "please" ( or ) with the imperative. The infinitive can also be used as a "general imperative" when addressing nobody in particular (i.e., on signs, or when giving general instructions, to children, or large groups); so "" means "please do not open". There also once were
cohortative forms for the first person, and
jussive forms for the imperative third person, but this is now obsolete.
Infinitive In Modern Hebrew a verb has two
infinitives: the infinitive construct ( or ) and the rarely used infinitive absolute (). The infinitive construct is generally preceded by a preposition (e.g. ), usually the
inseparable preposition , meaning "to, for", although it can be used without a preposition. This article covers only infinitive construct with the preposition . The passive binyans pu'al and huf'al do not have infinitives.
Action noun Action nouns or gerunds ( ) are nouns derived from a verb's action and so they inflect for number. In Hebrew, gerunds are formed using a specific pattern shown in the table below. Hebrew gerunds cannot be used as adjectives, unlike in English. The passive binyans ''pu'al
and huf'al'' lack gerunds. Not all gerunds shown here correspond to an attested noun or a noun with a meaning congruent to that of the verb. == Auxiliary verbs ==