2. Table of Contents
Before You Begin ...................... 3
Abbreviations ............................ 6
Using פִּעֵלverbs ....................... 7
Recognizing פִּעֵלverbs .......... 16
Forming פִּעֵלverbs ................ 33
Credits ..................................... 58
3. Before You Begin …
… ensure that you recognize the
various inflections of the &לverbs.
… ensure that you understand how
שְׁו(אand דָּגֵשׁinteract with guttural
consonants and with .ר
4. Also, remember that certain
patterns can create predictable
variations. This slideshow focuses
on core patterns. It does not
illustrate every possible variation.
6. Abbreviations
1, 2, 3 indicate grammatical person
m, f, c indicate grammatical gender
s, p indicate grammatical number
R1, R2, R3 indicate root letters
7. Using פִּעֵלVerbs
The פִּעֵלis the third most
frequently used בִּנ2י(ןin the 5תַּנ7״
(after the &לand ,)הִפְעִיל
appearing over 6,450 times.
8. Like the ,&לthe פִּעֵלoperates
in the active voice.
9. In cases where Biblical Hebrew
uses the same שֹׁ<שׁin both the
&לand the ,פִּעֵלthe &לtends
to be declarative and the פִּעֵל
to be factitive.
12. In other cases, a שֹׁ<שׁmay be
represented in both &לand
,פִּעֵלwith no obvious semantic
relationship between the two
forms.
13. Some שִׁיםEָ שׁmay appear only
in the ,פִּעֵלnot in the &לat all.
Example: “ צִוָּהto command”
14. So you might use the פִּעֵלas a
factitive verb (if the שֹׁ<שׁalso
appears in )&לor as a
declarative verb (if the שֹׁ<שׁ
doesn’t appear in the .)&ל
15. For most verbs, it’s probably
better just to learn “this שֹׁ<שׁ
means so-and-so in the ”פִּעֵל
than to try to derive the ’פִּעֵלs
sense from the same שֹׁ<שׁin
the .&ל
16. Recognizing פִּעֵלVerbs
In many cases, a דָּגֵשׁin R2 is
your key to recognizing a .פִּעֵל
Each conjugation does have
special considerations, though.
17. Recognizing the פִּעֵלPerfect
If a verb follows the suffix
pattern, has an i-class vowel
under R1, and has a דָּגֵשׁin R2,
it’s probably a פִּעֵלperfect.
18. קטֵלִּ
R1’s i-vowel
The suffix דּב ה
ְר
ָּ ִ and the דָּגֵשׁ
indicates
שׁלַחְ תִּי
ּ ִ
in R2 indicate
a perfect.
a .פִּעֵל
שׁלַמְתֶּםּ ִ
19. נ חַם ִ
A guttural in
The suffix 5Oבּ ֵ R2 may or may
indicates
תִּיNַבּעִ not change
a perfect.
R1’s vowel.
תֶּןNַ ח
ִמ
20. Alert! When R2 is a guttural, use R1’s
vowel to distinguish the פִּעֵלperfect
from the &לperfect.
חַשׁ
ָכּ 3ms &לperfect “to grow lean”
חֵשׁ
ִכּ 3ms פִּעֵלperfect “to deny”
21. Recognizing the פִּעֵלImperfect
If a verb has an imperfect prefix,
check for a שְׁו(אin the prefix, an a-
vowel under R1, and a דָּגֵשׁin R2. If
you see those, you have a פִּעֵל
imperfect.
22. חלֵק
ַּ
ְי The prefix’s ,שְׁו(א
The affixes תּדבֵר
ּ ְַ
the a-vowel, and
indicate an
תּ ב ִי
כ ַ ְס
ּ ְ the דָּגֵשׁin R2
imperfect.
תּ שְׁלוּ indicate a .פִּעֵל
ּ ְ
ַ ב
23. Recognizing the פִּעֵלImperative
The פִּעֵלimperative looks just
like the פִּעֵלimperfect, but
without the prefix.
If R3 is ,הR2’s vowel may lengthen in the imperative.
24. If it looks like a פִּעֵלperfect,
but R1 has an a-vowel, it’s
probably a פִּעֵלimperative.
25. Recognizing the פִּעֵלInfinitives
The פִּעֵלinfinitive* and adverbial
infinitive** look exactly like the
2ms פִּעֵלimperative.
* Or “infinitive construct.” ** Or “infinitive absolute.”
26. Exception: If R3 is ,הthe 2ms
imperative and the adverbial
ֶ
infinitive end in ,–הbut the
infinitive ends in .–וֹת
27. Recognizing the פִּעֵלParticiple
The ms פִּעֵלparticiple looks just
like the 3ms פִּעֵלimperfect, but
with a מas the prefixed letter.
28. Summary
You see an unfamiliar verb.
Might it be a ?פִּעֵל
29. Remember that a פִּעֵלwill have a דָּגֵשׁ
in R2* and will start with one of these:
• no prefix
• an imperfect prefix with a שְׁו(א
• a prefixed ְמ
* Unless R2 is a guttural.
30. If your probable פִּעֵלhas no prefix,
check R1.
• If R1 has an i-vowel, it’s a פִּעֵלperfect.
• If R1 has an a-vowel, it’s a פִּעֵל
infinitive, imperative, or adverbial
infinitive (listed by frequency).
31. If your probable פִּעֵלhas
an imperfect prefix, it’s
obviously an imperfect.
If your probable פִּעֵלhas a
ְ מprefix, it’s a participle.
32. And that’s all it takes
to recognize most
פִּעֵלverbs!
33. Forming פִּעֵלVerbs
If you compose sentences in
Biblical Hebrew, eventually
you’ll need to use the .פִּעֵלThis
is pretty easy to do, if you watch
out for gutturals and .ר
34. Forming the פִּעֵלPerfect
Start by applying the
appropriate sufformative to
the root, to show person,
gender, and number.
35. Now consider the three root
letters in your word. If all three
are strong (not gutturals or ,)ר
forming the piel is easy: …
36. … simply vocalize R1 with
a חִי<קand lengthen
(double) R2 with a .דָּגֵשׁ
37. Of course, you still need
to vocalize R2, and how
you do this depends on
the sufformative.
38. • If your verb has no sufformative (it’s
3ms), vocalize R2 with a יOֵ.צ
• If your verb has a sufformative that’s a
vowel (3fs or 3cp), give R2 a vocal .שְׁו(א
• If your verb has a sufformative that
begins with a consonant (all other
cases), vocalize R2 with a חS.פַּת
39. If your verb has a guttural in R3,
or a guttural or רin R2, the
vowels will be a little different.
Your best bet is to look the שׁׂ<שׁ
up in a lexicon to see how its פִּעֵל
is vocalized, rather than trying to
apply rules to figure it out.
40. That said, here are a few
typical patterns for פִּעֵל
forms with weak root
letters.
41. • If R2 is הor חor ,עit will refuse the
.דָּגֵשׁSuch an R2 might take יOֵ צlike
strong פִּעֵלforms, or חS פַּתinstead.
• If R2 is אor ,רit will refuse the ,דָּגֵשׁ
and R1 and R2 will both usually take
a יOֵ.צ
• If R3 is a חor ,עR2 will usually take
a חS.פַּת
42. Do not be upset if you find
exceptions to these general
patterns, and remember that
sufformatives can affect the
vowel patterns as well.
43. Forming the פִּעֵלImperfect
Start by applying the
appropriate preformative and
sufformative to the root, to
show person, gender, and
number.
47. R2’s vowel is the most
variable vowel in the פִּעֵל
imperfect. It’s usually a
יOֵ ,צbut …
48. • If the sufformative starts
with a vowel sound (2fs, 3mp,
2mp), give R2 a vocal .שְׁו(א
• If R3 is חor ,עR2 will
probably want a חS.פַּת
• If R3 is ,הfollow the normal
third-( הor )ל״הpattern.
49. If your verb has a guttural in R3,
or a guttural or רin R2, use a
lexicon to confirm the proper
vocalization.
50. Forming the פִּעֵלImperative
To form the פִּעֵלimperative,
simply form a second-person
imperfect, then remove the
preformative.
51. Forming the פִּעֵלInfinitives
In most cases, you form the
פִּעֵלinfinitive* and adverbial
infinitive** just like you form
the פִּעֵלimperative.
* Or “infinitive construct.” ** Or “infinitive absolute.”
53. If R3 is ,הreplace the הwith וֹת
when forming the infinitive
(this is very common in other
יםX בִּנ2י(נas well). The adverbial
infinitive remains identical to
the imperative.
54. If R3 is a חor ,עyou form the
adverbial imperative by giving
R2 a יOֵ צand R3 a ח גְּנוּבָהS*.פַּת
* Or “furtive patach.”
55. Forming the פִּעֵלParticiples
To form the masculine singular
פִּעֵלparticiple, simply prefix ְמ
to the imperative form.
56. To form the feminine
singular participle, append
אֶלֶתto the masculine
-
singular participle.
57. To form the masculine and
feminine plural participles, give
R2 a vocal שְׁו(אand append the
normal suffixes for plural nouns.
58. 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.
Grammatical terminology used in this presentation follows
R. Holmstedt and J. Cook, Biblical Hebrew: An Illustrated
Introduction (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2013).