Lesson 8 | Infinitives
[1] Infinitive-Constructs
There are two types of infinitives, distinguished both by their forms and their functions: infinitive-construct and infinitive-absolute. We’ll begin with the more common type.
Similar to English
An infinitive is a uninflected form of a verb, often used together with a finite verb. For example, note the infinitive in the sentence, “I want to go home.” This typical English usage of the infinitive (i.e. a verb with the word “to” before it) is very similar to the infinitive-construct in Hebrew. As the English infinitive includes the preposition “to” before the verb, so too Hebrew infinitive-constructs often are prefixed with the preposition ל (which means “to”). However, the infinitive-construct in Hebrew can also connect to other prepositions like ב or כ (both of which can be translated “when” when preceding an infinitive).
Since infinitives are uninflected (they do not have a person, gender, or number), there is only one form of the infinitive for each stem. Besides that, infinitives in the hophal and pual stems are so rare that they have not been included in the chart below.
infinitive-construct
| qal |
לִשְׁפֹּט |
to judge / judge |
| piel |
לְדַבֵּר |
to speak / speak |
| hiphil |
לְהַבְדִּיל |
to distinguish / distinguish |
| niphal |
לְהִמָּלֵט |
to flee / flee |
| hithpael |
לְהִתְפַּלֵּל |
to pray |
Remember, infinitive-constructs might connect to a different preposition or not be connected to a preposition at all. (The ל preposition has been included in the paradigm above simply because this is the most common way you will find them.)
Also, an infinitive-construct may have a pronominal suffix. If the infinitive-construct has the prefix preposition ל attached to it, the suffix is probably the direct object of the verbal action. Otherwise, it is probably the subject of the verbal action.
Finally, notice that the vowels in the infinitive-construct forms above are identical to the imperfect forms, but without the prefix. The only wrinkle is the ה prefix for the niphal infinitive (just as with the niphal imperative).
(1) III-ה verbs drop the final qamatz + ה and add וֹת- instead.
So בָּנָה becomes בְּנוֹת.
(2) I-נ and I-י verbs drop the נ or י in first-root position and add a ת to the end of the word.
So נָשָׂא becomes שְׂאֵת, and יָדַע becomes דַּעַת.