Hebrew’s Future Tense

(זְמַן עָתִיד)

Each Hebrew verb has a basic three-letter root.

In the future tense, this root appears in the middle or end of the word, after a prefix and, sometimes, before a suffix (word ending). The prefix and suffix let the speaker and listener know exactly who will be doing the action.

Take, for example, the root כ.ת.ב. (k.t.b.), which is the core concept of writing. Ask a woman in Hebrew, “Will you write?” you’d say, אֲתְּ תִּכְתְּבִי? (aht tikh-te-VEE?).

You’ve got the root,

כ . ת . ב .,

PLUS the prefix

ת -

(“you”) AND the suffix

–י

(“you”, feminine).

The root of the word, כ.ת.ב., follows the prefix, which lets you know who will do the action – “you”. You’ve also got a suffix, which, in this case, specifies that the “you” is one female.

Here’s a chart summarizing the various endings in the future tense and what they mean (using the root כ.ת.ב. in the simple form).

Who is doing the action?	What is the prefix?	Is there a suffix? What is it?	The new word	English translation
אֲנִי (I)	א-	no	אֶכְתּוֹב	I will write
אֲנַחְנוּ (we)	נ-	no	נִכְתּוֹב	We will write
אֲתָּה (you, a male)	ת-	no	תִּכְתּוֹב	You will write (David)
אֲתְּ (you, a female)	ת-	-ִי	תִּכְתְּבִי	You will write (Rachel)
אֲתֶּם (you, males or mixed)	ת-	-וּ	תִּכְתְּבוּ	You will write Rachel)
אֲתֶּן (you, females)	ת-	-וּ (-נָה)	תִּכְתְּבוּ (תִּכְתֹּבְנָה)	You will write (Rachel and Sarah)
הוּא (he)	י-	no	יִכְתּוֹב	He will write
הִיא (she)	ת-	no	תִּכְתּוֹב	She will write
הֵם (they, masculine or mixed)	י-	-וּ	יִכְתְּבוּ	They will write spoken (David and Rachel)
הֵן (they, feminine)	י- (ת-)	-וּ (-נָה)	יִכְתְּבוּ (תִּכְתֹּבְנָה)	They will write (Rachel and Sarah)

A way to remember this…

Note the patterns:

Second person : Look at the strongest sound in each of the second-person pronouns: אתה, את, א ת ם, אתן. It’s the ת sound.

Whenever speaking to “you” (one male, one female, or several people), there is a ת at the beginning.
First person : When speaking for oneself using אני, or on behalf of several people using אנחנו, there is only a prefix.

This prefix is related to the corresponding pronoun: אני אכתוב and א נחנו נכתוב.
Endings : The י- suffix indicates one female. The וּ- suffix indicates more than one person.

Recommendations:

You can use Hebrew-Verbs.co.il to predict conjugations and test yourself to see whether you’re getting the hang of it.

You can also check out the classic guidebook, 501 Hebrew Verbs .

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