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Before learning the structure of Biblical Hebrew verbs we need to understand a few grammatical terms used to describe parts of a sentence. In the phrase "Jacob cut a tree" the verb is "cut." A verb describes action. The word "Jacob" is the subject of the verb, or the one who is performing the action. The word "tree" is the object of the verb, or the one the action is being imparted upon.

Hebrew verbs work much in the same manner. The Hebrew translation of "Jacob cut a tree" would be קצר יעקב עץ (qatsar ya'aqov ets). The word קצר (qatsar) is the verb meaning to "cut" (more literally "to cut short" such as cutting off a branch or to harvest). The word יעקב (ya'aqov) is Jacob and is the subject of the verb. Also notice that in Hebrew the subject of the verb follows the verb rather than precedes it like in English. The word עץ (ets) is the object of the verb and means "a tree" (there is no Hebrew word for "a," instead it is implied).

Each Hebrew verb identifies;

1. Person (first, second or third) of the subject of the verb
2. Gender (masculine or feminine) of the subject of the verb
3. Number (singular or plural) of the subject of the verb
4. Tense (perfect or imperfect) of the verb
5. And sometimes the gender and number of the object of the verb

This PDF file is a list of the 100 most frequent Biblical Hebrew verb roots. You will notice that no vowel pointings are associated with these verbs. This is because the vowel pointings of a verb will depend on its conjugation (subject, tense, mood and voice). For pronuncing these unconjugated verbs simply use the "ah" vowel between each consonant. For instance, the verb קצר (Q-Ts-R) would be qatsar. I recommend making flash cards for each of these. Write the Hebrew on one side and the English on the other. Take them with you everywhere and when you have time pull them out and go through them to build your Hebrew vocabulary.

In the following lessons we will explore these various forms of Hebrew verbs.

The subject of the verb can be identified by a proper name, such as Jacob, or a pronoun such as in the phrase "he cut a tree" where the pronoun "he" is the subject of the verb. Instead of using a pronoun for the subject of the verb, the various conjugations of the Hebrew verb identify the subject of the verb. In the chart below are a few examples of verb conjugations for the verb qatsar.

The phrase קצרתי עץ (qatsarti ets) would mean "I cut a tree," קצרו עץ (qatsru ets) would mean "They cut a tree" and the phrase קצרה עץ (qatsrah ets) would mean "she cut a tree."

The subject of the verb within each conjugation identifies person (first, second or third), gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). The conjugation of the verb in קצרה עץ (qats'rah ets) identifies the subject as third person, feminine, singular - she. In קצרו עץ (qatsru ets) the subject is identified as third person, masculine plural - they (masc).

It is also common in Biblical Hebrew to include a noun or proper noun for the subject of the verb. In the sentence קצרה שרה עץ (qats'rah Sarah ets) the verb qats'rah identifies the subject of the verb as third person, feminine, singular. The proper noun Sarah specifically identifies the subject of the verb. Also note that in Hebrew subject of the verb follows the verb, unlike English where it precedes the verb.

Each Hebrew verb also identifies the tense of the verb. In English a verb can have three tenses - past, present or future. Examples of these would be "You cut a tree" (past), "You are cutting a tree" (present) and "You will cut a tree" (future). Biblical Hebrew only has two tenses - perfect and imperfect. While the three verb tenses in English are related to time, Biblical Hebrew verb tenses are related to action. The perfect tense is a completed action while the imperfect tense is an incomplete action.

As we have learned, the verb קצרתי identifies the subject of the verb as first person - "I" but, it also identifies the verb as "perfect tense," a completed action - "I cut." When the verb is written as אקצר the subject of the verb is also first person - "I" but, the tense is now "imperfect tense," an incomplete action and can be translated as "I am cutting a tree" (an action that has begun but not yet completed) or "I will cut a tree" (an action that has not yet begun).

Below is a chart for a few verb conjugations in the perfect and imperfect tense. Notice that when the added letters are at the end of the verb they are in the perfect tense but when they are at the beginning (and maybe at the end as well) they are in the imperfect tense. This can help you easily identify the tense of the verb.

These conjugations are the same for any verb (though there are some exceptions which we will cover in another lesson). The chart below are the same conjugations as the chart above for the verb דבר (dabar) meaning to "speak."

Below is a more detailed chart for all the conjugations for the verb qatsar in the perfect and imperfect tenses. By memorizing the various letters added to the root verb one can easily learn to identify the meaning of a verb. This chart is available in a PDF file. While additional verb forms will be learned in the upcoming lessons, about 90% of the verbs in the Hebrew Bible will use the forms listed in this chart.

The letter ו (vav) is used as a prefix meaning "and." For instance, the word ועץ (v'ets) means "and a tree." This prefix can also be added to a verb such as in the sentence וקצרתי עץ (uqartsiy ets) which would mean "and I cut a tree." but, because the vav is prefixed to the verb it reverses the tense of the verb so, וקצרתי עץ would actually be "and I will cut a tree" (imperfect tense).

The sentence אקצר עץ (eq'tsar ets) means "I will cut a tree" but ואקצר עץ (ve'e'qatsar ets) means "and I cut a tree."

However, this is not a hard and fast rule. While the letter vav usually reverses the tense of the verb, it is not always the case and only the context of the phrase within the text will determine if the tense is reversed or not.

One other note, the negative particle לֹא (lo) precedes a verb to negate its action such as in the phrase לא קצר יעקב עץ which would be translated as "Jacob did not cut a tree."

The object of the verb can be identified by a noun, proper name or a pronoun. In the sentence "Jacob helped a man" the noun "man" is the object of the verb. In "Jacob helped John" the proper name "John" is the object and in "Jacob helped him" the pronoun "him" is object of the verb. The object of the verb works the same way in Hebrew such as in the sentences עזר יעקב יוחנן (azar Ya'aqov Yohhanan) meaning "Jacob helped John." When the object of the verb is identified by a pronoun it may be written in two different ways. The word אתו (oto) means "him" and can be used for the object of the verb such as in the sentence עזר יעקב אתו (azar Ya'aqov oto) meaning "Jacob helped him." Or the suffix ו (o), also meaning "him," may be attached to the end of the verb such as in the sentence עזרו יעקב (azaro Ya'aqov) also meaning "Jacob helped him."

It is not uncommon for the verb, subject of the verb and the object of the verb to be written as one word in Hebrew. The Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24) begins with the word יברכך (yevarekhekha) which is the verb ברכ (barak), meaning "to bless" with the prefix י (ye) identifying the subject of the verb as third person, masculine, singular - he and the suffix ך (kha) identifying the object of the verb as second person, masculine, singular - you. Therefore, the one word יברכך means "he will bless you."

Below is a list of the pronoun suffixes attached to a verb for the object of the verb. (These pronouns are also used as suffixes for nouns as well.)

Another great resource is the website Learn Hebrew Verbs.

Learn the Ancient Pictographic Hebrew Script (Lessons) Easy lessons to learn how to read the the ancient pictographic Hebrew script, also called Paleo-Hebrew.

How to Type in Hebrew (Article) Instructions in how to set up your keyboard to type in Hebrew characters.

How to Write Hebrew (Article) Instructions in how to hand-write the modern Hebrew alphabet.