Lesson 2 | Qal Imperfect
[1] Form
We saw with the perfect form that letters are added to the end of the root to inflect the verb—except for 3ms. With the imperfect, a letter is prefixed to the beginning of the verb in all the forms—and sometimes a letter or two is also added to the end.
As we turn now to the paradigm, we will continue to choose example words which themselves appear many times in the Scriptures. Thus, besides learning models for the qal imperfect, you are also learning actual word forms that you will meet often as you read the Hebrew Bible. For both those reasons, take your time and learn them well!
qal imperfect for שָׁמַר
| 1cs | אֶשְׁמֹר | I will keep |
| 1cp | נִשְׁמֹר | we will keep |
| 2ms | תִּשְׁמֹר | you [sir] will keep |
| 2fs | תִּשְׁמְרִי | you [ma’am] will keep |
| 2mp | תִּשְׁמְרוּ | you all will keep |
| 2fp | תִּשְׁמֹרְנָה | [ladies] you all will keep |
| 3ms | יִשְׁמֹר | he will keep |
| 3fs | תִּשְׁמֹר | she will keep |
| 3mp | יִשְׁמְרוּ | they will keep |
| 3fp | תִּשְׁמֹרְנָה | [those ladies] will keep |
Memorize this paradigm! Start from the top and say the forms one after the other, noting the parsings and meanings as you do so. By memorizing this chart, you will not only be learning how to identify the qal imperfect forms of שָׁמַר, but also learning the basic qal imperfect form for other verbs—the only difference being the three letter root used in each word.
Note that the 2ms and 3fs forms are identical. Same goes for the 2fp and 3fp. This is true of the imperfect in all seven stems. In such cases, context is used to determine the author’s meaning.
Hebrew III Cheat SheetpdfPrint this reference out and keep it at hand throughout the course. It contains a summary of everything we will learn in this course.