Lesson 7
1. The 7 conjugations of verbs – ha-binyanim
The word binyan denotes the system of seven conjugations in Hebrew. binyan means building and is derived from the word boneh – to build.
Three binyanim are active conjugations (like to see), three more are the corresponding passive conjugations (like to be seen) and one binyan, the hitpa’el, is reflexive (like to adapt oneself)
Each of the seven conjugations or binyanim has a name, which derives from the shoresh (root) pe, ayin and lamed. This shoresh (p/a/l) denotes the verb pa’al – to act (therefore po’al = verb).
The name of the binyan shows always the third person male singular past tense of the respective binyan: so the first binyan is called pa’al / פעל. The word means he acted. In this form, i.e. in the 3rd person singular of the past tense, the root consonants of verb are easiest to recognized, because there are the least additional consonants in and around the word.
Systematic diagram:
Active binyanim
Passive binyanim
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pa'al פעל
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pi'el פיעל
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hif'il הפעיל
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hitpa'el התפעל
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nif'al פעל
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pu'al פיעל
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huf'al הפעיל
2. The genitive (eg king Lear’s death)
The genitive is formed with the preposition shel – of.
Examples:
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Jacob's dad -> האבא של יעקוב - ha-aba shel ya'akov
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The airplane of the president -> המטוס של הנשיא - ha-matos shel ha-nasi
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The right of the citizen -> הזכות של האזרח - ha-z'chut shel ha-esrach
3. The possessive pronoun (my, your, his etc.)
By adding a possessive ending to the preposition of – shel, you get the possessive pronoun my, your etc.
Examples:
The possessive pronoun is always placed after the noun.
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My husband -> הבעל שלי - ha-ba'al sheli
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Your girlfriend -> החברה שלך - ha-chaverah shelach
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Our boss -> המנהל שלנו - ha-menahel shelanu
4. The possessive ending appended to the noun
In spoken Hebrew you will hear mostly the word shel to designate a possession.
In written Hebrew you will often find, that my head or your house are expressed by adding the possessive ending to the noun and merging the two words into one.
Examples:
In female nouns with the ending –ah in singular the letter he is replaced by a tav.
This table shows all possessive endings of a noun in a systematic fashion.
In few cases the Israeli uses the connection of the possessive pronoun with the noun also in everyday language, eg in the greeting how are you? – literally: what is your peace/condition?
5. Forming the accusative with the preposition et
The accusative of a noun always answers the question whom or what?
The accusative is formed with the preposition et. This word is simply placed before the noun. The word et has no meaning by itself.
Before the undetermined article “a” the preposition et is omitted.
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Do you hear the children? -> ?אתה שומע את הילדים - atah shomea et ha-yeladim?
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They read the book -> הם קוראים את הספר - hem kor'im et ha-sefer
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Do you see Daniel? -> ?אתם רואים את דניאל - atem ro'im et dani’el?
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Do you want chocolate? -> ?אתם רוצים שוקולד - atem rotzim shokolad?
Also et is – as all prepositions – merged with personal pronouns. All these pronouns answer the question “whom?”
6. The first binyan: the active conjugation pa’al
The word pa’al means: he acted. All verbs listed so far are pa’al verbs. In present tense you will recognize pa’al verbs by the vocalization o-e, eg holech, goes.
The binyan pa’al is also called kal (light, simple) in one-syllable verbs.
More kal-verbs:.
