Free grammar · Unit 8 of 10
The past of strong verbs: כָּתַבְתִּי, לָמַדְתִּי, סָגַרְתִּי
In the past tense, unlike the present, a Hebrew verb has a form for each person. Strong verbs start from a three-letter stem with a, a, כָּתַב «he wrote», and add an ending that says who: כָּתַבְתִּי «I wrote», כָּתַבְתָּ and כָּתַבְתְּ «you wrote» to a man and to a woman, כָּתַבְנוּ «we wrote».
He is the bare stem, כָּתַב. She and they drop the second a: כָּתְבָה, כָּתְבוּ. For plural you, the first vowel moves: כְּתַבְתֶּם. Every strong pa’al verb sings the same tune, לָמַדְתִּי, סָגַרְתִּי, גָּמַרְתִּי: learn it once and you have them all.
This page has the explanation, a table of three verbs in every person and the first two exercises, «I wrote» and «she learned». The other four, including typing a verb yourself, open with a free account.
Step 8 of 10 · Explanation
Strong verbs: כָּתַבְתִּי, לָמַדְתִּי, סָגַרְתִּי
The strong verbs take the endings you already know from , on a stem of three letters with a, a: .
«I wrote», «you wrote» (m.), «you wrote» (f.), «we wrote».
The ending is the same; only the stem is longer.
4 more exercises in this unit
This page has the explanation and the first two exercises. The rest are in your free account, with every unit and the reading course, and the practice remembers your mistakes.
Continue with a free accountQuestions
- How is the Hebrew past tense formed?
- A stem plus an ending for each person: ־תִּי I, ־תָּ you (m.), ־תְּ you (f.), nothing for he, ־ָה she, ־נוּ we, ־תֶּם / ־תֶּן you (pl.), ־וּ they. For strong verbs the stem is a-a: כָּתַב.
- How do I tell the past from the present?
- By the vowels: כּוֹתֵב (o-e) is the present, כָּתַב (a-a) the past. And the past has a form for every person, the present only four.
- How do you say «I learned» in Hebrew?
- לָמַדְתִּי (lamadti). You do not need the pronoun: the ending ־תִּי already says «I».
And then?
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The units
- Unit 1 of 10The pronouns: אֲנִי, אַתָּה, אַתְּ, הוּא, הִיא
- Unit 2 of 10Nouns: masculine or feminine, one or many
- Unit 3 of 10Strong verbs: לוֹמֵד, לוֹמֶדֶת, לוֹמְדִים, לוֹמְדוֹת
- Unit 4 of 10The adjective follows the noun and copies it
- Unit 5 of 10«And» is a letter: וְ
- Unit 6 of 10ב for where you are, ל for where you go
- Unit 7 of 10Strong verbs: לִלְמֹד, לִכְתֹּב, לִסְגֹּר
- Unit 8 of 10Strong verbs: כָּתַבְתִּי, לָמַדְתִּי, סָגַרְתִּי
- Unit 9 of 10Pi’el: מְדַבֵּר, מְדַבֶּרֶת, מְדַבְּרִים, מְדַבְּרוֹת
- Unit 10 of 10Time words: הַיּוֹם, מָחָר, אֶתְמוֹל, בַּבֹּקֶר