Free lessonLevel A212 min read10 practice words

Verbs and Binyanim

Every Hebrew verb is a root poured into a fixed pattern. Learn the patterns and you can conjugate thousands of verbs.

You do not need all seven binyanim at once. Start with pa'al, pi'el, hif'il and hitpa'el, and add nif'al early: these five cover almost all everyday verbs.

Root and pattern, the idea behind everything

How a Hebrew word is built

Almost every Hebrew word is a three-consonant root poured into a pattern of vowels and affixes. The root carries the general meaning; the pattern decides the role: who acts, on whom, and how intensely.

The root כ־ת־ב is about writing. The same root in different patterns gives a plain verb, a verb that makes someone else write, a reciprocal verb, and even a noun.

Tip: when you meet a new word, try to isolate its three root letters. You will often find you already know the root from another word.

One root, four words

כָּתַבפָּעַל

katav

he wrote

הִכְתִּיבהִפְעִיל

hikhtiv

he dictated to someone

הִתְכַּתֵּבהִתְפַּעֵל

hitkatev

he corresponded with someone

מִכְתָּבnoun

mikhtav

a letter

The seven binyanimCore table

What a binyan does to the meaning

A binyan is the pattern the root enters. It does not change what the verb is about, it changes the angle: a plain action, an action you cause, an action done to you, or an action that turns back on yourself.

Three binyanim are active (pa'al, pi'el, hif'il), three are their passive counterparts (nif'al, pu'al, huf'al), and hitpa'el expresses reflexive or reciprocal action.

The binyanim with one example each

The binyanim with one example each
Binyan	Past	Present	Role
פָּעַל	כָּתַב	כּוֹתֵב	Pa'al — the basic pattern, a plain action
נִפְעַל	נִכְתַּב	נִכְתָּב	Nif'al — passive of pa'al, also actions that simply happen
פִּעֵל	דִּבֵּר	מְדַבֵּר	Pi'el — active, sometimes intensive or repeated
פֻּעַל	דֻּבַּר	מְדֻבָּר	Pu'al — passive of pi'el
הִפְעִיל	הִדְלִיק	מַדְלִיק	Hif'il — causes someone else to do the action
הֻפְעַל	הֻדְלַק	מֻדְלָק	Huf'al — passive of hif'il
הִתְפַּעֵל	הִתְלַבֵּשׁ	מִתְלַבֵּשׁ	Hitpa'el — reflexive or reciprocal action

Pu'al and huf'al are passive only: they have no infinitive and no imperative.

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Direction

Active and passive pairs

The same story from another angle

When the focus moves from the doer to what was done, you switch to the matching passive binyan. The root stays the same; only the pattern changes.

Spoken Hebrew prefers the active form. The passive appears mostly in writing, in the news and in formal registers.

Three pairs worth knowing

סִפֵּרסֻפַּרhe told → it was toldפִּעֵל ← פֻּעַל

הִזְמִיןהֻזְמַןhe invited → he was invitedהִפְעִיל ← הֻפְעַל

פָּתַחנִפְתַּחhe opened → it was openedפָּעַל ← נִפְעַל

The three tenses in one exampleלִכְתֹּב, binyan pa'al

What changes in each tense

In the past, the person is marked by a suffix at the end of the word (כָּתַבְתִּי, כָּתַבְנוּ). In the future, the person is marked at the beginning instead (אֶכְתֹּב, תִּכְתֹּב, יִכְתֹּב, נִכְתֹּב).

The present is the only tense that ignores person altogether: it marks gender and number only, which is why it has just four forms.

Future shortcut: א for I, ת for you and she, י for he and they, נ for we.

Conjugating לכתוב, to write

Conjugating לכתוב, to write
Person	Past	Present	Future
אֲנִי — I	כָּתַבְתִּי	כּוֹתֵב / כּוֹתֶבֶת	אֶכְתֹּב
אַתָּה — you (m)	כָּתַבְתָּ	כּוֹתֵב	תִּכְתֹּב
אַתְּ — you (f)	כָּתַבְתְּ	כּוֹתֶבֶת	תִּכְתְּבִי
הוּא — he	כָּתַב	כּוֹתֵב	יִכְתֹּב
הִיא — she	כָּתְבָה	כּוֹתֶבֶת	תִּכְתֹּב
אֲנַחְנוּ — we	כָּתַבְנוּ	כּוֹתְבִים / כּוֹתְבוֹת	נִכְתֹּב
אַתֶּם / אַתֶּן — you (pl)	כְּתַבְתֶּם / כְּתַבְתֶּן	כּוֹתְבִים / כּוֹתְבוֹת	תִּכְתְּבוּ
הֵם / הֵן — they	כָּתְבוּ	כּוֹתְבִים / כּוֹתְבוֹת	יִכְתְּבוּ

And the imperative: כְּתֹב / כִּתְבִי / כִּתְבוּ

Quick check

1 of 4

Yesterday she wrote a letter.

אֶתְמוֹל הִיא ___ מִכְתָּב.

Spotting the binyan in one second

Two signs that almost always work

First sign, the present tense: in pi'el, pu'al, hif'il, huf'al and hitpa'el the present form opens with the letter מ (מְדַבֵּר, מַדְלִיק, מִתְלַבֵּשׁ). In pa'al and nif'al it does not (כּוֹתֵב, נִכְנָס), except for pa'al verbs whose root itself starts with מ (מוֹכֵר, מוֹצֵא).

Second sign, the infinitive: each binyan has its own shape, and one glance is enough to recognise it.

Pu'al and huf'al have no infinitive at all, so you will never meet them as an infinitive in a vocabulary list.

The infinitive of each binyan

לִכְתֹּבפָּעַל

likhtov

לְהִכָּנֵסנִפְעַל

lehikanes

לְדַבֵּרפִּעֵל

ledaber

לְהַדְלִיקהִפְעִיל

lehadlik

לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁהִתְפַּעֵל

lehitlabesh

לְהִסְתַּכֵּלhitpa'el, ת swaps

lehistakel

A small, very useful rule: when a hitpa'el root starts with ס, שׂ, שׁ or צ, the ת of the pattern swaps places with the root letter. That is why it is לְהִסְתַּכֵּל and not לְהִתְסַכֵּל, and לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ and not לְהִתְשַׁמֵּשׁ. After צ the ת also turns into ט: לְהִצְטַלֵּם, not לְהִתְצַלֵּם. With ז the ת swaps too and turns into ד: לְהִזְדַּקֵּן (to grow old).

Common mistakes and summary

Four mistakes you hear every day

אֲנִי יֵלֵךְ מָחָראֲנִי אֵלֵךְ מָחָר
In the future tense, first person singular always opens with א. "יֵלֵךְ" belongs to he, not to I.
לְהִתְסַכֵּללְהִסְתַּכֵּל
In hitpa'el the ת of the pattern swaps with a root letter that is ס, שׂ, שׁ or צ (after צ it also becomes ט).
הוּא הִתְלַבֵּשׁ אֶת הַחֻלְצָההוּא לָבַשׁ אֶת הַחֻלְצָה
Hitpa'el is reflexive, so it takes no direct object. You wear a shirt; you do not "get-dressed a shirt".
הַסֵּפֶר כָּתַב עַל יְדֵי הַסּוֹפֵרהַסֵּפֶר נִכְתַּב עַל יְדֵי הַסּוֹפֵר
When the subject is what the action was done to, you need a passive binyan: נִכְתַּב, not כָּתַב.

What to take away

The root carries the meaning, the binyan sets the angle. Together they make the verb.
Seven binyanim: three active, three passive, and the reflexive hitpa'el.
Past marks the person at the end, future at the beginning, present by gender and number only.
A מ at the front of the present form is the quickest clue to the binyan.

Lesson test

Test yourself: Verbs & Binyanim

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Frequently asked questions

How many binyanim does Hebrew have?: Seven: pa'al, nif'al, pi'el, pu'al, hif'il, huf'al and hitpa'el. In everyday speech almost all verbs come from five of them: pa'al, nif'al, pi'el, hif'il and hitpa'el. The passives pu'al and huf'al are much rarer in conversation.
What is the difference between a root and a binyan?: The root is the three letters that carry the general meaning, for example כ־ת־ב for writing. The binyan is the pattern the root enters, and it decides whether the action is plain, caused, done to you, or turned back on yourself.
In what order should I learn the binyanim?: Start with pa'al, which is the most common, then pi'el and hif'il, then hitpa'el. Pu'al and huf'al can wait, as they are rare in conversation. Nif'al is worth meeting early: everyday verbs like נִכְנַס and נִשְׁאַר belong to it.
How do I know which binyan a new verb belongs to?: You do not choose the binyan, it is part of the word itself. Learn every new verb together with its infinitive and its present form, and the rest of the conjugation follows the pattern automatically.

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Binyan

Past

Present

Role

פָּעַל

כָּתַב

כּוֹתֵב

Pa'al — the basic pattern, a plain action

נִפְעַל

נִכְתַּב

נִכְתָּב

Nif'al — passive of pa'al, also actions that simply happen

פִּעֵל

דִּבֵּר

מְדַבֵּר

Pi'el — active, sometimes intensive or repeated

פֻּעַל

דֻּבַּר

מְדֻבָּר

Pu'al — passive of pi'el

הִפְעִיל

הִדְלִיק

מַדְלִיק

Hif'il — causes someone else to do the action

הֻפְעַל

הֻדְלַק

מֻדְלָק

Huf'al — passive of hif'il

הִתְפַּעֵל

הִתְלַבֵּשׁ

מִתְלַבֵּשׁ

Hitpa'el — reflexive or reciprocal action

Person

Past

Present

Future

אֲנִי — I

כָּתַבְתִּי

כּוֹתֵב / כּוֹתֶבֶת

אֶכְתֹּב

אַתָּה — you (m)

כָּתַבְתָּ

כּוֹתֵב

תִּכְתֹּב

אַתְּ — you (f)

כָּתַבְתְּ

כּוֹתֶבֶת

תִּכְתְּבִי

הוּא — he

כָּתַב

כּוֹתֵב

יִכְתֹּב

הִיא — she

כָּתְבָה

כּוֹתֶבֶת

תִּכְתֹּב

אֲנַחְנוּ — we

כָּתַבְנוּ

כּוֹתְבִים / כּוֹתְבוֹת

נִכְתֹּב

אַתֶּם / אַתֶּן — you (pl)

כְּתַבְתֶּם / כְּתַבְתֶּן

כּוֹתְבִים / כּוֹתְבוֹת

תִּכְתְּבוּ

הֵם / הֵן — they

כָּתְבוּ

כּוֹתְבִים / כּוֹתְבוֹת

יִכְתְּבוּ

Frequently asked questions

How many binyanim does Hebrew have?

Seven: pa'al, nif'al, pi'el, pu'al, hif'il, huf'al and hitpa'el. In everyday speech almost all verbs come from five of them: pa'al, nif'al, pi'el, hif'il and hitpa'el. The passives pu'al and huf'al are much rarer in conversation.

What is the difference between a root and a binyan?

The root is the three letters that carry the general meaning, for example כ־ת־ב for writing. The binyan is the pattern the root enters, and it decides whether the action is plain, caused, done to you, or turned back on yourself.

In what order should I learn the binyanim?

Start with pa'al, which is the most common, then pi'el and hif'il, then hitpa'el. Pu'al and huf'al can wait, as they are rare in conversation. Nif'al is worth meeting early: everyday verbs like נִכְנַס and נִשְׁאַר belong to it.

How do I know which binyan a new verb belongs to?

You do not choose the binyan, it is part of the word itself. Learn every new verb together with its infinitive and its present form, and the rest of the conjugation follows the pattern automatically.