Hebrew Verb Tenses

Another aspect of Hebrew verbs is that they identify the tense in which the verb is being used. On the other hand, there are less verb tenses in Hebrew than there are in English.

By way of simple explanation, you have three possible tenses in English. A verb can be used in the past tense ('I sang'), the present ('I am singing') or in a future tense ('I will sing'). As you can see, all of the tenses used in English are related to time.

However, in Hebrew, you have only two tenses, the perfect and imperfect. Furthermore, they are not related to time, having far more to do with the action taking place. The perfect tense describes actions have already been completed, whereas the imperfect tense refers to those actions which have not.

For example, 'qatsarti ets' tells you that 'I cut a tree'. The verb therefore refers to the subject, but also indicates that this is a verb being used in the perfect tense, as the action took place in the past and is therefore completed.

If however the verb was written אקצר ('eq-tsor') it would still be first person ('I'). However, in this case, it would more accurately translate as 'I am cutting' (i.e. present tense) or 'I will cut' (i.e. future tense). As the action is still ongoing or has not yet started, this represents an imperfect use of the verb.

Continuing with the same verb, the chart in the following screenshot gives you an indication of the differences between the perfect and imperfect tenses:

Note from this example that when the added letters that differentiate between the various usages are added at the end of the verb, it usually indicates that it is being used in the perfect tense. On the other hand, if the additional letters are added before the verb (and sometimes after as well), this suggests the imperfect tense.

The way the verb is conjugated in this particular example is common for the majority of verbs although there are exceptions. Nevertheless, by learning how the verb is conjugated, you should be able to identify the different verb forms when you are reading.

Another example based on the verb 'dabar' ('to speak') is shown in the following table:

One thing that you need to note when it comes to establishing the tense of a verb is the inclusion of a Vav () as a prefix.

When this happens, it often suggests that and has been added to the front of the word. For example, ועץ ('v'ets') means 'and a tree'.

The Vav could also be added as a prefix to a sentence like וקצרתי עץ ('uqartsiy ets') which you might imagine would create 'and I cut a tree'.

However, in this situation, the addition of a Vav actually reverses the tense of the verb being used. Consequently, instead of using the perfect tense to describe an accomplished action, this would become imperfect to produce 'I am cutting a tree' or 'I will cut a tree'.

Unfortunately, this does not happen in every case and there is no hard and fast rule as for when it will. Instead, it is the context of the verb and the sentence that indicates whether the meaning has been reversed from perfect in perfect, or vice versa, or not.

One final thing to note is that when the negative particle 'lo' (לֹא) appears before the verb, it changes the meaning from positive to negative. In other words, it would switch 'I cut a tree' to 'I did not cut a tree'.

Introduction to Reading Hebrew
The first basics
The Hebrew AlephBet
The Letters of the AlephBet
Aleph
Bet (Beyt)
Gimmel
Dalet
Hey
Vav
Zayin
Chet
Tet
Yod
Kaf
Lamed
Mem
Nun
Samekh
Ayin
Pey (Fey)
Tsade (Tsadik)
Qof
Resh
Shin
Tav
The Significance of the Alephbet
The Basics of Hebrew Verbs
The Hebrew Verb Subject
The Hebrew Verb Object
Hebrew Verb Tenses
Hebrew Verb Voices and Moods
Hebrew Verb Participles
The Infinite Verb Version
Hebrew Nouns
Hebrew Noun Constructs
Using Prefixes With Nouns
Hebrew Pronouns
Hebrew Plural Nouns
Hebrew Adjectives
Identifying Hebrew Questions
Adverbs, Prepositions and Conjunctions
Hebrew Reading Conclusion