Lesson 3 | Verbs—imperfect
Form
The imperfect paradigm
We saw with the perfect form that a letter or two was added to the end of the root to inflect the verb. 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 appears 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 |
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.
Weak form: hollow verbs
As with the qal perfect, the qal imperfect looks a bit different when the second letter of the root is a י or ו. Notice two things: (1) at times the second letter drops out, and (2) the vowels are almost completely different.
qal imperfect for בּוֹא
| 1cs |
אָבוֹא |
I will come |
| 1cp |
נָבוֹא |
we will come |
| | |
| 2ms |
תָּבוֹא |
you [sir] will come |
| 2fs |
תָּבֹאִי |
you [ma’am] will come |
| 2mp |
תָּבֹאוּ |
you all will come |
| 2fp |
תָּבֹאנָה |
[ladies] you all will come |
| | |
| 3ms |
יָבוֹא |
he will come |
| 3fs |
תָּבוֹא |
she will come |
| 3mp |
יָבוֹאוּ |
they will come |
| 3fp |
תָּבֹאנָה |
[those ladies] will come |
Weak form: weak final letter
In the imperfect, as was with the perfect, the final weak letter of the root is lost when the form adds letters on to the end. הָיָה is the most frequent example of this. (Another common qal imperfect with a weak third letter is עָשָׂה.)
qal imperfect for הָיָה
| 1cs |
אֶהְיֶה |
I will be |
| 1cp |
נִהְיֶה |
we will be |
| | |
| 2ms |
תִּהְיֶה |
you [sir] will be |
| 2fs |
תְּהִי |
you [ma’am] will be |
| 2mp |
תִּהְיוּ |
you all will be |
| 2fp |
תִּהְיֶינָה |
[ladies] you all will be |
| | |
| 3ms |
יִהְיֶה |
he will be |
| 3fs |
תִּהְיֶה |
she will be |
| 3mp |
יִהְיוּ |
they will be |
| 3fp |
תִּהְיֶינָה |
[those ladies] will be |
Weak form: weak first letter
Since the imperfect features a letter prefix, some words with a weak first letter in their root lose that initial root letter. We same some because you will note that הָיָה (above) did not lose its initial ה. But many words do. Common examples are לָקַח ,נָתַן and הָלַךְ.
qal imperfect for נָתַן
| 1cs |
אֶתֵּן |
I will give |
| 1cp |
נִתֵּן |
we will give |
| | |
| 2ms |
תִּתֶּן |
you [sir] will give |
| 2fs |
תִתְּנִי |
you [ma’am] will give |
| 2mp |
תִּתְּנוּ |
you all will give |
| 2fp |
|
|
| | |
| 3ms |
יִתֵּן |
he will give |
| 3fs |
תִּתֶּן |
she will give |
| 3mp |
יִתְּנוּ |
they will give |
| 3fp |
|
|
**Note: The 2fp and 3fp are left blank because those forms of נָתַן never appear in the Hebrew Bible.
On the next step we learn our fourth worship song of the course.