A brief introduction to the הִפְעִיל stem in Biblical Hebrew.

1. Biblical Hebrew
Getting to Know ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Verbs
by Chris Heard

2. Table of Contents
Abbreviations .............................. 3
Getting Ready .............................. 4
Using ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Verbs ..................... 9
The Basic Patterns .................... 14
Recognizing ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Verbs ........ 16
Credits ........................................ 37

3. Abbreviations
1, 2, 3 indicate grammatical person
m, f, c indicate grammatical gender
s, p indicate grammatical number
R1, R2, R3 indicate root letters
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4. Getting Ready
Before we start getting to
know the ‫ ,הִפְעִיל בִּנ*י)ן‬let’s
run a few preflight checks.
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5. Do you remember how a Hebrew
verb changes to form the various
combinations of person, gender,
and number, as well as perfect
and imperfect?
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6. If you answered
“yes,” you’re ready
for the ‫!הִפְעִיל בִּנ*י)ן‬
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7. Remember that certain patterns
can create predictable variations.
This slideshow focuses on core
patterns. It does not illustrate every
possible variation.
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8. Furthermore, this slideshow
is intended to supplement,
not replace, classroom
instruction and practice.
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9. Using ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Verbs
The ‫ הִפְעִיל‬is the second most
frequently used ‫ בִּנ*י)ן‬in the .‫תַּנ0״‬
(after ‫ .)3ל‬The .‫ תַּנ0״‬contains over
9,300 instances of verbs in ‫.הִפְעִיל‬
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10. Verbs in ‫ הִפְעִיל‬are active, and
often transitive (taking direct
objects).
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11. Verbs in ‫ הִפְעִיל‬often describe
some sort of change that the
subject imposes on an object.
Therefore, you may hear the
‫ הִפְעִיל‬described as “causative.”
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12. When the same ‫ שֹׁ5שׁ‬is used in
both ‫ 3ל‬and ‫ ,הִפְעִיל‬the ‫3ל‬
version often means “to do
such-and-such” and the ‫הִפְעִיל‬
version means “to make
[someone] do such-and-such.”
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13. However, this is only a trend,
not a hard-and-fast rule, so
you should learn each verb’s
particular use in the ‫.הִפְעִיל‬
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14. The Basic Patterns
Memorize the following basic
patterns first, and then we’ll
go through the specifics.
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15. .‫הִשְׁלִי‬ He threw (3ms perfect)
.‫י0שְׁלִי‬ He will throw (3ms imperfect)
.ֵ‫הַשְׁל‬ Throw! (ms imperative)
.‫הַשְׁלִי‬ To throw (infinitive)
.‫מַשְׁלִי‬ Throwing (ms participle)
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16. Recognizing ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Verbs
You can tell from the name
“‫ ”הִפְעִיל‬that the most noticeable
sign of this ‫ בִּנ*י)ן‬is a prefixed –‫.ה‬
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17. However, that –‫ ה‬won’t be
visible in the imperfect and
participle forms, so you’ll need
to learn a few other ‫ הִפְעִיל‬traits.
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18. Alert! When a ‫ הִפְעִיל‬verb
has no suffix or a vowel as
a suffix, its R2 will have a
distinctive ‫.חִי5ק מָלֵא‬
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19. However, when a ‫ הִפְעִיל‬verb has
a suffix that starts with a consonant,
R2’s distinctive ‫ חִי5ק מָלֵא‬will
become a different vowel, usually
a ‫ פַּת=ח‬in the perfect and a ‫ צֵ@י‬in
other forms.
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20. Therefore, you mustn’t rely
on R2’s distinctive ‫חִי5ק מָלֵא‬
to identify ‫ הִפְעִיל‬verbs.
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21. Recognizing the ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Perfect
If you see a verb with a
perfect suffix and a –ִ‫ה‬
prefix, it’s probably a
‫ הִפְעִיל‬perfect.
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22. Just make sure the prefix
is really –ִ‫ ה‬and not –B‫ ,הִת‬to
avoid confusing the ‫הִפְעִיל‬
with the ‫פַּעֵל‬B‫.הִת‬
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23. The ‫ הִפְעִיל‬perfect’s prefix
usually appears as –ִ‫ ,ה‬but
can also be –ֵ‫( ה‬if R2 is ‫ )ו‬or
–ֶ‫( ה‬if R2 is ‫.)י‬
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24. ‫ר ב‬Gִ‫ה‬
‫ י‬ ִ
The prefixed ‫ה‬
The suffix ‫הֵשׁ ב‬‫ י‬ ִ with an i-class
indicates
‫הִלְבּ שׁ ה‬
ָ
‫ י‬ ִ vowel indicates
a perfect.
a ‫.הִפְעִיל‬
‫הִשְׁל כ וּ‬
‫ י‬ִ
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25. ְ‫רבְ תּ‬Gִ‫ה‬
ַ
The prefixed ‫ה‬
The suffix ‫הִ שׁ מְתֶּם‬
ַ‫ְכּ‬ with an i-class
indicates
ָ‫הִלְבּשְׁתּ‬
ַ vowel indicates
a perfect.
a ‫.הִפְעִיל‬
‫הִשְׁלַכְתִּי‬
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26. Recognizing the ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Imperfect
If a verb has an imperfect prefix with
an a-class vowel (usually ‫ )פַּת=ח‬and R2
has an i-class vowel (usually ‫חִי5ק מָלֵא‬
or ‫ ,צֵ@י‬depending on the suffix), you
have a ‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperfect.
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27. ‫י ַבְדּ ל‬
‫ י‬ ִ
The affixes ‫ַ י‬
‫ר ב‬G‫תּ‬ ִ The prefix’s ‫פַּת=ח‬
indicate an and R2’s i-vowel
imperfect. ‫ י‬
‫תּפְר חִי‬ ִ ַ indicate a ‫.הִפְעִיל‬
‫י אֲמ נ וּ‬
‫ַ י‬
ִ
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28. Recognizing the ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Imperative
If a verb starts with –ַ‫ ה‬but
otherwise looks like a 2fs, 2mp,
or 2fp ‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperfect, it’s a
‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperative with the
same gender and number.
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29. Almost the same goes for the ms
imperative, but in addition to the –ַ‫ה‬
prefix, the ms imperative has a ‫צֵ@י‬
where the 2ms imperfect has ‫:חִי5ק מָלֵא‬
‫ט ל‬Gַ‫תּ‬
‫ ִי‬ 2ms ‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperfect
‫טל‬Gַ‫ה‬
ֵ ms ‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperative
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30. Alert! The ‫פְעַל‬O‫ נ‬imperative also
starts with a prefixed -ִ‫ ,ה‬but the
forms are otherwise distinctive:
‫הִקטֵל‬
ָּ ms ‫פְעַל‬O‫ נ‬imperative
‫ט ל‬Gִ‫ה‬
‫ ִי‬ 3ms ‫ הִפְעִיל‬perfect
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31. Recognizing the ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Infinitives
The ‫ הִפְעִיל‬infinitive* looks just like the
3ms ‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperfect with a –ַ‫ ה‬instead
of the normal imperfect prefix.
* Or “infinitive construct.”
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32. The ‫ הִפְעִיל‬adverbial infinitive* looks
just like the ms imperative. You’ll
have to use context to tell them apart.
Try imperative first; they’re almost
three times as common in the .‫.תַּנ0״‬
* Or “infinitive absolute.”
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33. Recognizing the ‫ הִפְעִיל‬Participle
The ms ‫ הִפְעִיל‬participle resembles the
3ms ‫ הִפְעִיל‬imperfect, but with a –‫מ‬
instead of the imperfect prefix.
‫ט ל‬Gַ‫ה‬
‫ ִי‬ 3ms imperfect
‫ט ל‬Gַ‫מ‬
‫ ִי‬ ms participle 33

34. The mp and fp participles take
the familiar plural endings ‫ ים‬
ִ–
and ‫. –וֹת‬
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35. The fs participle is a little bit
different from the others. Its R2
has a ‫ סְגוֹל‬instead of ‫,חִי5ק מָלֵא‬
and it takes the suffix ‫. ת‬
ֶ–
‫ט ל‬Gַ‫מ‬
‫ ִי‬ ms participle
‫מַ ת‬
ֶ‫טל‬G
ֶ fs participle
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36. Summary
‫ט ל‬Gִ‫3 ה‬ms perfect
‫ ִי‬
‫ט ל‬G0‫3 י‬ms imperfect
‫ ִי‬ In all of these
‫טל‬Gַ‫ ה‬ms imperative
ֵ forms, look for
‫ט ל‬Gַ‫ ה‬infinitive
‫ ִי‬ the prefix and
‫טל‬Gַ‫ ה‬adv. infinitive
ֵ R2’s i-vowel.
‫ט ל‬Gַ‫ מ‬ms participle
‫ ִי‬ 36

37. Credits
Dead Sea photo by Wikimedia Commons
contributor Xta11. Used under a CC-SA
license.
All other content by Dr. Chris Heard,
Associate Professor of Religion, Pepperdine
University. Released under a CC-BY license.
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