Pa'al - Weak Verbs

Interactive Learning Module

Conjugation Patterns

• This is the third module focusing on Biblical Hebrew verbs.
• The previous module explored the conjugation patterns for strong verbs (the שלמים)This refers to those verbs which maintain all three root letters across inflections. including some with gutturals (האח"ע) in the pa'al binyan.
• This module will turn to the weak verbs, those verbs which contain at least one root letter which is either silent or absent in various inflections.
• We will look at the conjugation patterns of roots in the following classes: פ"א (those with an aleph in the first root position), פ"י (those with a yud in the first root position), פ"נ (roots with a nun in the first root position), ל"א (those with an aleph in the third root position), ל"ה (those with a heh in the third root position), ע"ו/י (those with either a vav or yud in the second position), and ע"ע (those with doubled root letters).Our study will vary in the order used to present these, generally starting with simpler conjugation patterns and ending with the more complicated ones.
• We will discuss the perfect conjugation independently, then the imperfect together with related forms such as the imperative, followed by the similar infinitives, and close with participles.
• For each conjugation pattern, we will provide a paradigm with notes explaining the pattern and any unusual vocalization.

• Review – The perfect conjugation is used to indicate a completed act (similar to the past tense). In the previous module we learned that it is also referred to as the "suffix conjugation", as it marks person, number and gender by adding suffixes to the various verb stems, as seen here. These suffixes are somewhat fixed regardless of whether the verb being conjugated is strong or weak.
• We learned that there are three paradigm for strong verbs, as seen in the attached table. The pa'al, marked by a thematic patach (כָּתַב), is the main pattern, used mostly for dynamic verbs, while the pa'el and pa'ol, marked by a thematic tzere (זָקֵן) and cholam (קָטֹן) respectively, are used for stative verbs.
• Weak verbs – When inflected, the stems of weak verbs tend to vary from their strong counterparts, with some root letters dropping or being assimilated into the following onesAssimilation refers to a linguistic process in which a letter's sound is modified or disappears due to the influence of a neighboring sound. and others taking different vocalization.
• In the perfect, however, several classes of weak verbs (פ"נ, פ"א and פ"י verbs, those with either a nun, aleph, or yud in the first root position) have conjugation patterns which are identical to those of strong verbs, exhibiting no abnormalities. See their paradigms here.
• The following slides will focus on those classes which deviate from the regular patterns.

• ל"א verbs – These verbs vary only slightly from the strong paradigm, due to the final aleph. Click here to see the perfect conjugation pattern of these verbs (with a comparison to strong verbs). Notes on the pattern follow:
• Silent aleph – In all forms where the aleph originally closed a syllable, it loses its consonantal value, becoming silent (quiescent), and thus dropping the sheva.
• Stem vowel – To compensate, the stem vowel (the vowel under the second root letter) of dynamic verbs is lengthened from a patach to a kamatz. [The stem vowel of stative verbs such as "צמא" or "ירא" remains a tzere].
• Suffixes – In addition, the "ת" suffixes no longer take a dagesh as they now follow a vowel and are thus fricatives.
• ל"ה verbs – Click here for the perfect conjugation pattern of ל"ה verbs, those with a heh in the third root position.
• The root – Though the third person masculine singular of this class ends in heh, it is not actually the third root consonant, but a vowel letter.Roots (such as גבה) which end in a heh that functions consonantally when inflected (as in: גָבַהּ and גָבְהוּ) are considered strong verbs and not included in this class. When such verbs close with a heh, it is marked by a mappik. The original final root letter was actually a yud, and thus the verbs of this class might alternatively be referred to as ל"י verbs.This yud is apparent and voiced in the passive participle "בָּנוּי" and the noun "בִּנְיָן".
• Stem vowel – This original yud appears in many of the inflections, with the first and second person forms taking a thematic chirik-yud. Singular third person forms take a kamatz.
• Suffixes – As the "ת" suffixes now follow a vowel, they are fricatives and do not take a dagesh.
• Feminine third person form – The extra "ת" in the third person, feminine, singular comes to distinguish it from the masculine form.
• Doubly weak verbs – Some ל"ה verbs will have a guttural in the first or second root position (עלה, ראה) making them "doubly weak". These will take chataf patachs where other forms take shevas (עֲלִיתֶם, רָאֲתָה). The verb "היה" uniquely takes a chataf-segol (הֱיִיתֶם).

• Hollow verbs – Click here for the perfect conjugation pattern of hollow verbs, those with a yud or vav in the second root position.In the perfect conjugation, it is irrelevant which letter is taken by the second root for all are conjugated in the same way, as will be seen in the continuation. Hollow verbs are so called as they do not display this second root letter in any of the forms of the perfect.As the dictionary form of most verbs follows the third person, masculine, singular form of the verb, one might have expected that hollow verbs would be listed without the middle "ו" or "י" of the root, but they nonetheless do include all three root letters, appearing as: קום, בוא, שים etc.
• Stem Vowel – The verbs have a stem patach in all inflections except third person forms which take a kamatz (as in: קָם) or, in the case of stative verbs, a tzere (as in: מֵת).In other words, they take a short stem vowel wherever the stem syllable is closed and a long vowel when it is open (the only exception being third person, masculine, singular forms).
• Stress – In contrast to other roots conjugated in the perfect which only take penultimate stress in first person forms and in the second person, singular, masculine forms, here the third person, feminine, singular, and the common plural forms also take penultimate stress, being accented on the stem syllable. This is important for disambiguation with other verbs which might otherwise look the same.
• For example, see the two occurrences of the word "שבו" in Divrei HaYamim II 6:38. The first occurrence has penultimate stress, teaching that it is a hollow verb (from the root שוב, to return), while the second occurrence is accented on the final syllable, for it is a ל"ה verb, from the root "שבה" (to take captive).Since the stress is different for ע"ו and ל"ה verbs, though the two words otherwise look identical, the reader can still determine which root each verbal form is based upon.
• Doubly weak verbs – When these verbs are doubly weak, having an aleph in the third root position (as in the root בוא), they exhibit changes that are similar to other ל"א verbs: quiescence of the aleph and a corresponding lengthening of the stem vowel to a kamatz etc. as seen in the chart.
• Exceptional form – The root מות has an anomalous conjugation. As we saw with strong verbs, the "ת" assimilates into suffixes opening with "ת" so that these forms will display but one of the letters (מַתִּי, not: מַתְתִּי). [In addition, as seen above, being a stative verb, third person forms all take a tzere as their stem vowel.]

• Geminate verbs – Click here for the perfect conjugation pattern of ע"ע roots, those in which the second and third root consonants are identical. These roots are also known as geminates, meaning "doubled" or "twin".
• Assimilation – One of the characteristic features of geminates is that the doubled root letter often assimilates into its twin. Thus, though third person forms follow the paradigm of strong verbs, in the first and second person forms, in contrast, the doubled root letter disappears and is marked by a dagesh chazak.
• Reduction – The first root letter, now being in a closed unstressed syllable, takes a short vowel, a patach instead of the usual kamatz.
• Connecting vowel – A cholam is inserted before the suffixes as a connecting vowel. As such, the suffixes no longer take a dagesh kal for they now follow a vowel and are thus fricatives. [This cholam is a helpful indicator that a root is a geminate.]
• Doubly weak verbs – When the final two root consonants are gutturals or a reish, letters which do not take a dagesh chazak, there is compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel to a kamatz.This kamatz does not reduce even in second person plural forms where one might have expected it to reduce to a sheva due to propretonic reduction. [Whenever a kamatz is a product of compensatory lengthening it does not reduce.]
• For a comparative chart of the perfect conjugation of all the classes of weak verbs, see here.

• Review – The imperfect conjugation is used to indicate an ongoing action (similar to the future tense). In the previous module we learned that it is also referred to as the "prefix conjugation", as it marks person, number and gender mainly by adding prefixes (the letters אית"ן) to the various verb stems, as seen here. These prefixes are somewhat fixed regardless of whether the verb being conjugated is strong or weak.
• Two paradigms – We learned that there are two main paradigms for strong verbs, as seen in the attached table. Most dynamic verbs follow the cholam pattern, marked by the cholam taken by the second root consonant (יִשְׁמֹר), while stative verbs, a select few dynamic verbs, and roots containing certain gutturals follow the patach pattern, marked by the patach taken by the second root consonant (יִשְׁכַּב). Both paradigms are further marked by a chirik under the prefixes (excepting first person singular forms which take a segol.
• ו"ו ההיפוך – Normally when verbs are written in the consecutive imperfect (with a ו"ו ההיפוך) they take the same form as the regular imperfect (just prefixed with a vav and a dagesh). When weak verbs take a ו"ו ההיפוך, however, they sometimes deviate from their regular imperfect form, having shifts in stress or shortened forms. These deviations will be pointed out below.
• Imperatives – Imperatives (second person commands) are generally built off the imperfect, in most cases being almost identical to the imperfect second persons, but without the prefixes. [See here for the pattern for strong verbs.] As such, we will discuss these together with the imperfect forms.
• Weak verbs – In contrast to the perfect conjugation, in the imperfect, all classes of weak verbs veer from the standard paradigm. In some cases, vocalization will differ as verbs take different stem or prefix vowels. In other cases, one of the root letter might drop or assimilate.

• Imperfect pattern – The imperfect conjugation pattern of ל"א roots, those which take an aleph in the third root position, veers only slightly from that used for strong verbs. Click here to see the paradigm.
• Silent aleph – In all forms where the aleph originally closed a syllable, it loses its consonantal value, and becomes silent (quiescent).
• Stem vowel – In most forms, the silencing of the aleph causes the stem vowel to lengthen to a kamatz (as we saw with the perfect conjugation). Exceptionally, in the identical second and third person, feminine, plural forms the stem takes a segol.
• Prefix vowel – As with strong verbs, the prefix vowel is a chirik throughout the inflection (excepting first person singular forms which take a segol).
• ו"ו ההיפוך – There are no changes to the imperfect forms when this class of verbs is conjugated in the consecutive imperfect (ו"ו ההיפוך) form.
• Imperatives – Imperative forms are as expected: קְרָא, קִרְאִי, קִרְאוּ, קְרֶאנָה.

• Imperfect pattern – Click here for the imperfect conjugation pattern of ל"ה roots, those whose third root consonant is a heh.
• Stem vowel – In all forms without an inflectional suffix, these verbs take a segol-heh ending (אֶבְנֶה, תִּבְנֶה etc.). In forms with a suffix, the heh drops before the ending (תִּבְנִי, תִּבְנוּ, יִבְנוּ), and in the second and third person feminine plural forms the heh is replaced by a yud (תִּבְנֶינָה).See above in the discussion of the perfect conjugation, that the original third root letter of ל"ה verbs was a yud so this is somewhat expected.
• Prefix vowel – As with strong imperfect verbs, the prefix vowel is generally a chirik (excepting first person forms).See below that this is not true when the first root letter is a guttural.
• Doubly weak verbs – Some verbs ending in heh are doubly weak, having a guttural in one of the first two positions.
  • II-Gutturals – ל"ה verbs with gutturals in the second root position display no exceptional behavior (אֶרְאֶה, תִּרְאֶה, תִּרְאִי, יִרְאֶה etc.).
  • I-Gutturals – ל"ה verbs with gutturals in the first position follow one of two paradigms, with the prefix taking either a patach (as in: תַּעֲלֶה) or a segol (as in: יֶהְגֶּה).In general, though there are exceptions, פ"ע gutturals will have patach prefixes, while פ"ח and פ"ה verbs will take segol prefixes.. The פ"א roots אבה and אפה have unique inflection patterns, to be discussed later. The guttural following patach prefixes will normally take a corresponding chataf patach, while those following segol prefixes might ether maintain the original silent sheva or take a chataf segol. Thus, we see: יֶחֱסֶה and יֶהֱמוּ, but also אֶחְסֶה and יֶהְגֶּה‎.Regardless of the paradigm, singular first person forms, however, always take a segol and chataf segol.
  • Exceptional gutturals – Note that the roots "היה" and "חיה", despite having a guttural in the first position, still maintains the regular chirik prefix of the imperfect (תִּהְיֶה, תִּהְיִי, יִהְיֶה etc.).
• ו"ו ההיפוך – When ל"ה verbs are written in the consecutive imperfect (with a ו"ו ההיפוך), non-suffixed formsThese include the first person plural form, and all singular forms excepting the second person, feminine. usually take an abbreviated form of the imperfect, with the segol-heh ending dropping. This shortening produces a consonant cluster, leading to the insertion of a secondary vowel between the two root letters or a change in the prefix vowel. These vowels are not consistent and vary from verb to verb and even within different forms of the same root. Below are some common forms (not all are attested to in every inflection):
• וַיֵּבְךְּ, וַתֵּבְךְּ etc. – The root שתה also takes these forms.
• וַיַּעַל, וַתַּעַל etc. – This form is taken by roots with an "ע" in the first root position: עלה, ענה, עשה
• וַיִּחַן – This form is taken by roots with an "ח" in the first root position: חנה, חרה
• וַתֵּתַע – This form is taken by roots with an "ע" in the second root position: תעה, רעה
• Mixed forms: a) וָאֵפֶן, וַתֵּפֶן, וַנֵּפֶן but וַיִּפֶן - Other roots taking this paradigm include: כלה, רבה, בנה and perhaps בנה, גלה‎.These last two roots are only attested to with a vav conversive in the third person singular, so it is hard to know what form they would take in other inflections. b) וַיְהִי, וַנְּהִי, וַתְּהִי but וָאֱהִי.
• At times, the above forms exist alongside a long form of the same verb. Thus, for example, one finds both וָאֶהְיֶה and וָאֱהִי.
• Imperatives – These are mainly as expected except that the second person, masculine singular forms take a tzereh-heh ending rather than a segol: בְּנֵה, בְּנִי, בְּנוּ, בְּנֶינָה . In addition, as expected, I-Gutturals will take a chataf patach in place of the initial sheva (עֲלֵה). One exception is the root היה, which uniquely takes a chataf segol (הֱיֵה).
• Jussives – The jussive forms of these verbs are generally the abbreviated form used in the consecutive imperfect (but without the ו"ו ההיפוך and dagesh): יָעֵל, יֵבְךְּ etc.

• Imperfect pattern – Click here for the imperfect conjugation patterns of פ"א verbs, those whose first root consonant is a aleph.
• Two paradigms – These verbs follow one of two paradigms, with either a stem cholam or stem patach.
• Stem cholam – Most פ"א verbs have a stem cholam, a segol prefix and corresponding chataf-segol under the aleph (תֶּאֱסֹף).This is similar to strong verbs with I-Gutturals like יֶחֱזַק, except that these take a thematic cholam while "חזק" took a thematic patach. In second person, feminine singular and second and third person, masculine singular forms, where there would otherwise be two consecutive shevas, the chataf and prefix change to a patach (יַאַסְפוּ).This behavior differs from that of strong verbs with I-gutturals like יֶחֱזַק, where, in such forms, the prefix segol is maintained and the chataf lengthens to a matching segol (יֶחֶזְקוּ).
• Stem patach – Three verbs (אכל, אמר, אבד) have a stem patach and a cholam prefix (תֹּאמַר), with the aleph being quiescent (becoming silent and acting as a vowel letter).
• "אפה" and "אבה" – The roots "אפה" and "אבה" combine characteristics of the second group of פ"א verbs and of ל"ה verbs, taking a cholam prefix, but the segol-heh endings typical of ל"ה verbs (תֹּאפֶה), as seen in the table.
• Mixed paradigms – Some verbs show a mixture of the two paradigms.
• For example, we see יֶאֱהַב with a stem patach but a segol prefix.
• So, too, the form יֶּאֱחֹז (following the first paradigm) exists alongside יֹאחֵז (similar to the second paradigm but with an anomalous stem tzere).Neither of the roots אהב or אחז are attested to in all their forms, making it difficult to present a paradigm or to even know which forms are more exceptional and which more standard.
• ו"ו ההיפוך – When פ"א verbs are written in the consecutive imperfect (with a ו"ו ההיפוך) there are generally no changes, with one important exception relating to the root אמר.
  • When combined with a ו"ו ההיפוך, there is generally retraction of the stress to the second syllable in the first person plural and second and third person masculine singular forms, with an accompanying change in the stem vowel to a segol (וַיֹּאמֶר, וַתֹּאמֶר, and וַנֹּאמֶר).
  • However, when these words stand at the end of the clause, immediately preceding what is said, they often alternatively take the form "וַיֹּאמַר"‎.Compare usage of the two forms in Bereshit 20:3-4.
• Imperatives – The imperatives of both groups of פ"א verbs look the same: אֱסֹר, אִסְרִי, אִסְרוּ, אֱסֹרְנָה and אֱמֹר, אִמְרִי, אִמְרוּ, אֱמֹרְנָה.

• Imperfect pattern – Click here for the imperfect conjugation patterns of פ"נ verbs, those whose first root consonant is a nun.
• Stem vowel – These verbs follow one of two paradigms, with either a cholam or patach stem vowel (see here). [Verbs with the gutturals "ע" or "ח" in the third root position will take stem patachsDue to ease of pronunciation, gutturals tend to prefer patachs. but there is no clear rule to determine which paradigm other roots will follow.]
• Assimilation – In both paradigms the initial nun assimilates into the second root letter, being marked by a dagesh. [However, in forms where the consonant is vocalized with a sheva, the dagesh often drops, as in: תִּסְעוּ and יִסְעוּ.]
• Prefix – As with most imperfects, the prefix vowel is a chirik (except in first person, singular forms).
• Doubly weak verbs – When the second root letter is a guttural and when the root ends with heh or aleph, there are additional changes as seen in the table:When the third root letter is "ע" or "ח", however, the conjugation is not affected.
• II-Gutturals – פ"נ verbs that have gutturals as the second root consonant behave as strong verbs, with the "נ" remaining throughout the inflectionDue to the guttural in the second root position which does not take a dagesh chazak the "נ" does not assimilate. (אֶנְהַג, תִּנְהַג, תִּנְהֲגִי, יִנְהַג etc.)
• פ"נ + ל"א verbs – פ"נ verbs which have an aleph in the third root position combine characteristics of both groups, with the nun dropping, the aleph becoming silent and the stem vowel being lengthened to a kamatz (תִּשָּׂא), or in second and third person, feminine, plural forms changing to a segol (תִּשֶּׂאנָה).
• פ"נ + ל"ה verbs – פ"נ verbs which have an heh in the third root position combine characteristics of both groups, with the nun dropping, but the root taking the segol-heh ending typical of ל"ה verbs (תִּטֶּה).
• Exceptional forms: נתן – The root נתן exceptionally takes a thematic tzere, as seen in the table. [Note also that in the second and third person feminine singular forms (whose suffix begins with a nun) the second nun of the root assimilates into the suffix and is marked by a dagesh.]
• Pseudo פ"נ verbs – Several roots behave as פ"נ verbs in the imperfect even though they do not have a nun as their first root consonant:
  • לקח – The root "לקח" behaves as a patach פ"נ verb in the imperfect, with the "ל" dropping and being marked by a dagesh, as seen in the table.
  • יצ verbs – A group of verbs whose first two root letters are yud and tzade (including: יצר, יצק, יצת) also follow this paradigm, with the yud dropping and being marked by a dagesh. The stem vowel is either a cholam (אֶצֹּק) or patach (תִּצַּת).
• ו"ו ההיפוך – There are no changes to the imperfect forms when this class of verbs is conjugated in the consecutive imperfect (ו"ו ההיפוך) form.
• Imperatives – There are two paradigms of פ"נ imperatives, one long and one short:
  • When פ"נ verbs which take cholam stem vowel are turned into imperatives, the "נ" resurfaces, making: נְפֹל, נִפְלִי, נִפְלוּ, נְפֹלְנָה‎.None of these forms appear in Tanakh, but the parallel form "נְצֹר" does.
  • Those פ"נ verbs which take patach stem vowels have short imperatives: סַע, סְעִי, סְעוּ, סְעֶינָה. [Those which are also ל"א verbs have expected changes: שָׂא, שְׂאִי, שְׂאוּ, שֶׂאנָה.

• Imperfect pattern – Click here for the imperfect conjugation patterns of פ"י verbs, those whose first root consonant is a yud
• Two paradigms – Here, too, there are two main paradigms (compare them here), with most פ"י verbs taking a thematic tzere, and a select few stative verbs taking a thematic patach (ישן, ירש, יעץ, יקץ, יבש). In both paradigms, however, the second and third person feminine plural forms take a stem patach.
• The tzere paradigm – See a table with variations of this paradigm here.
• Characteristics – In this paradigm, the first root letter (the yud) drops out in all forms,It is not marked by a dagesh, as it does not assimilate, but is lost totally. and the prefix vowel is a tzere.
• פ"י + פ"א – Verbs of this paradigm which have an aleph in the third root position (e.g. יצא) have a slightly different form for the second and third person feminine plural forms where the aleph is silent, and the stem vowel switches to a segol (תֵּצֶאנָה).
• III-Gutturals – Verbs of this paradigm which have a guttural (ע or ח) in the third root position take a stem patach (תֵּדַע).See above that often gutturals prefer patachs.
• Pseudo פ"י verb – The root "הלך" exceptionally acts as a פ"י verb of this type in the imperfect (תֵּלֵךְ), as seen in the table.
• The patach paradigm – See a table with variations of this paradigm here.
• Characteristics – In this paradigm the initial yud of the verbal root is preserved (but not vocalized) and the prefix vowel is a chirik.
• פ"י + פ"א – Verbs of this paradigm which have an aleph in the third root position (ירא) combine characteristics of both paradigms, with the aleph becoming silent and the stem vowel lengthening to a kamatz.
• ו"ו ההיפוך – When פ"י verbs are written in the consecutive imperfect (with a ו"ו ההיפוך),there are slight changes to some of the forms:
• Tzere imperfects undergo a retraction of the stress to the second syllable (the prefix) in the first person plural, second person, masculine singular, and both third person, singular forms. This leads to the shortening of the stem vowel to a segol (וַנֵּרֶד,וַתֵּרֶד,וַיֵּרֶד).With the shift in stress, the stem syllable is now closed and unaccented, and thus must take a short vowel. One exception is the root "יצא" which, despite the shift in stress, maintains its tzere.Since in this case the final syllable closes with a vowel letter (alpeh), it is an open, unaccented syllable which can take long vowels.
• In contrast, patach imperfects generally exhibit no change. One exception is the root "ידע" which undergoes the above shift in stress, but with no change in vocalization.As the stem vowel is already short, there is no need for further reduction.
• Imperatives – The roots of this class take short imperatives: שֵׁב, שְׁבִי, שְׁבוּ, שֵׁבְנָה. The stative patach verbs are mostly not attested to in the imperative in Biblical Hebrew, but where they do (ירש), they follows the tzere paradigm: "רֵשׁ".

• Imperfect pattern – Click here for the imperfect conjugation patterns of hollow verbs, those whose second root consonant is either a vav or yud.
• Three paradigms – These roots, follow one of three paradigms, each with a different stem vowel: shuruk (most ע"ו roots), chirik-yud (ע"י roots), and cholam (a small group of ע"ו roots).
• Prefix vowel – All three forms take a kamatz under the prefix.
• Note that in the shuruk paradigm, there are two alternative forms for the second/third person feminine plural.
• ו"ו ההיפוך – There is a difference in the imperfect form of these roots when used with the ו"ו ההיפוך. In the first person plural, second person, masculine singular, and both third person, singular forms, the accent shifts to the prefix syllable. This causes reduction of the original stem:
• In general, a shuruk will reduce to a kamatz katan (וַיָּקׇם).
• A chirik-yud will reduce to a segol (וַיָּשֶׂם)
• Many roots with a guttural in the final position will reduce to a patach (וַתָּשַׁר, וַיָּנַח)‎.This is characteristic of gutturals in general.
• Imperatives – The imperatives are mostly as expected, as follows:
• Shuruk hollow imperatives: קוּם, קוּמִי, קוּמוּ, קֹמְנָה‎Note that the second person, plural, feminine form is based on the "תָּקֹמְנָה" imperfect form.
• Cholam hollow imperatives: בּוֹא, בּוֹאִי, בּוֹאוּ, בֹּאנָה.
• Chirik hollow imperatives: שִׂים, שִׂימִי, שִׂימוּ, שֵׂמְנָה‎The feminine plural from does not appear in Tanakh, so this is not certain.

• Imperfect pattern – Click here for the imperfect conjugation patterns of geminate verbs (ע"ע), those which have a doubled root letter. [Note that none of the geminate roots occur frequently enough in Tanakh to provide a complete paradigm for any one root; thus the forms presented in the chart are a compilation.]
• Two Variations – Geminate verbs show a lot of variety in the way their imperfects are formed. There are two different types of inflection patterns, each subdividing into distinct paradigms for dynamic and stative verbs.
• Type I – This pattern subdivides into two paradigms: one for dynamic verbs taking a cholam stem vowel (יָסֹב) and one for stative verbs taking a patach stem vowel (יֵקַל). The former take a kamatz prefix and the latter a tzere prefix.
• Assimilation – In both patterns, the doubled letter is lost in all inflections, and marked by a dagesh in forms which end with a suffix (תָּסֹבִּי , תֵּקַלִּי).
• Stress – The accent (except in second and third person plural feminine forms) remains on the stem
• Type II – Geminates also take a second pattern, being conjugated like פ"נ verbs, with either a cholam or patach stem vowel (יִדֹּם or יִתַּם). Both take a chirik prefix and a dagesh in the first root letter.
• As above, here too, the doubled root letter is lost in inflection and marked by a dagesh and the stress remains on the stem.
• Note: Though we have demonstrated the two conjugation types using distinct verbs, often the same root will exist in both. Thus, for example, יִסֹּב is found alongside יָסֹב
• ו"ו ההיפוך – In the cholam variation of the Type I pattern, there is a difference in the imperfect form of these roots when used with the ו"ו ההיפוך. In the first person plural, second person, masculine singular, and both third person, singular forms, the accent shifts to the prefix syllable. This causes reduction of the original cholam stem to a kamatz katan (וַנָּסׇב).
• Imperatives – These are built off the imperfect forms with cholam imperfects transforming into: סֹב, סֹבִּי, סֹבּוּ, סֹבְנָה / סֻבֶּינָה and patach imperfects becoming: תַּם, תַּמִּי, תַּמּוּ, תַּמְנָה.

• Review – Infinitive constructs are verbal nouns which refer to the act of doing the verb (the act of eating, sleeping etc.) Infinitives are not inflected for person, number, or gender and thus take but one form for each root in every binyan. In the kal binyan, the form taken by strong verbs is somewhat uniform, with the first root consonant taking a vocal sheva (or chataf) and the second a cholam, קְטֹל. As such, the form is similar or identical to the masculine, singular imperative.
• Weak verbs – Infinitive constructs of weak verbs are also similar or identical to their masculine imperative forms. See the table for the form taken by each class of weak verbs (contrasted with the imerative).
• ל"א – These verbs follow the "קְטֹל" pattern of strong verbs: מְצֹא, קְרֹא.
• פ"א – These verbs also follow the "קְטֹל" pattern of strong verbs, except that the initial sheva is replaced by a chataf patach: אֲכֹל, אֲמֹר.
• ל"ה – These verbs take a vocal sheva under the first consonant, drop the tzere-heh ending of the imperative, and replace it with "ות", forming: בְּנוֹת, נְטוֹת. When the first consonant is a guttural, the sheva becomes a chataf-patach as in: עֲלוֹת. The root "היה" takes a chataf segol, becoming: הֱיוֹת.
• פ"י – Dynamic verbs of this class are usually similar in form to the short imperative, with the initial yud of the root dropping. A "ת" suffix is added and the verbs take a double segol: שֶׁבֶת, לֶדֶת or, in the case of III-gutturals, a double patach: דַּעַת. When the root ends in aleph, the aleph is silent and the vowel lengthens to a tzere: צֵאת. Stative verbs of this class are not well attested to in the infinitive construct but some appear to take the "קְטֹל" form used by strong verbs: יְרֹא,
• פ"נ – Verbs of this class follow one of two paradigms in the imperfect and imperative, those with a thematic cholam and those with a thematic patach. In the infinitive construct, the former follow the form used for strong verbs: נְפֹל, while the latter might take either that form (נְגֹעַ) or a a shortened form, with a double segol/patach and "ת" suffix (גַעַת, גֶשֶׁת). If the final root consonant is aleph, the shortened infinitve form takes a tzere: שֵׂאת or שְׂאֵת. The root נתן becomes either "נְתֹן" or "תֵּת".
• ע"ו – The infinitives of these verbs are identical to the imperative: קוּם, שִׂים, בּוֹא.
• ע"ע – The infinitives of these verbs are identical to the imperative: סֹב.

• Review – Biblical Hebrew participles are verbal adjectives, being constructed from a verb, but functioning and looking like adjectives. As such, participles are not conjugated by person, but only by gender and number, with four forms for each (masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural).
  • Active participles of strong verbs follow the pattern: שׁוֹפֵט, שׁוֹפֶטֶת / שֹׁפְטָה, שׁוֹפְטִים, שׁוֹפְטוֹת.
  • Passive participles of strong verbs follow the pattern: כָּתוּב, כְּתוּבָה, כְּתוּבִים, כְּתוּבוֹת.
• Weak verbs: active participles – The active participle patterns of weak verbs are almost identical to their strong counterparts, with changes only in the ל"א, ל"ה, and ע"ו classes of roots, many of which are expected. See the accompanying table, here.
• ל"א verbs – In the feminine singular of ל"א verbs, the aleph becomes silent, and the vowel under the second root letter is lengthened to a tzere.
• ל"ה verbs – The masculine, singular follows the pattern "בּוֹנֶה", with the standard tzere shortened to a segol. The feminine singular follows the pattern "בּוֹנָה" similar to the secondary form (שֹׁפְטָה) sometimes found by strong verbs. In plural forms, the heh drops before the suffixes are added.
• ע"ו verbs – These verbs take the stem of their third person perfect forms, making: בָּא, בָּאָה, בָּאִים, בָּאוֹת. The stress in all forms is on the final syllable. [This allows one to differentiate between the feminine, singular participle and the otherwise identical perfect form which has penultimate stress. For example, compare the word "באה" in Bereshit 29:6 (where it is a participle) and in Bereshit 29:9 (where it is a perfect) and see Rashi there.]
• Weak verbs: passive participles – The passive participle patterns of weak verbs are generally identical to that of their strong counterparts. Note, though, that in the "ל"ה" class of verbs, the heh is replaced by yud:See above, that the heh of such roots is a vowel letter and the original root might have had a yud which resurfaces in many forms. בָּנוּי, בְּנוּיָה, בְּנוּיִים, בְּנוּיוֹת.

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