Hebrew for Bible Readers

Past, present and future

Verbs in Hebrew—as in other languages—can assume many forms, depending on the tense, person, number and gender of the person or thing that is doing the action.

The simplest form of a Hebrew verb consists of three consonants and two vowels to express the past tense. Here are a dozen frequently used verbs:

lk'a;	(a-chal)	eat
dm'l;	(la-mad)	learn
bt'K;	(ka-tav)	write
rm'a;	(a-mar)	say
dl'y:	(ya-lad)	give birth
bv'y:	(ya-shav)	sit
rm'G:	(ga-mar)	finish, complete
÷t'n:	(na-tan)	give
rm'v;	(sha-mar)	guard, keep
Jl'h;	(ha-lach)	walk, go
rg"s;	(sa-gar)	shut, close
dm'['	(a-mad)	stand

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