Free grammar · Unit 21 of 30

The infinitive of י verbs: לָשֶׁבֶת, לָרֶדֶת, לָלֶכֶת

Verbs whose present starts with י, like יוֹשֵׁב «sits», יוֹרֵד «goes down», יוֹדֵעַ «knows», drop that י in the infinitive and take a ת at the end: לָשֶׁבֶת, לָרֶדֶת, לָדַעַת. The tune never changes: la, then the two remaining letters with e, e, then t. La-she-vet, la-re-det.

הוֹלֵךְ «goes» sings with them, although it starts with ה: לָלֶכֶת. Two short ones keep the la and the ת but squeeze the middle: לָתֵת «to give», לָצֵאת «to go out». And watch out: verbs that start with נ, like נוֹסֵעַ, and לִישֹׁן «to sleep» keep the strong tune, li and o: לִנְסֹעַ, לִפֹּל, לִישֹׁן.

The page has the explanation, the table from present to infinitive and the first two exercises: «I want to sit here» and «she needs to go out now». The other four, including typing the verb yourself and matching the pairs, open with a free account.