Hebrew’s Past Tense

(זְמַן עָבָר)

Each Hebrew verb has a basic three-letter root.

In the past tense, this root appears at or towards the beginning of the word, and then is followed by a special suffix (word ending) that lets the speaker and listener know exactly who has done the action.

Take, for example, the root ד.ב.ר. (d.b.r.), which is the core concept of speaking. To say in Hebrew, “I spoke” or “I have spoken”, you’d say, אֲנִי דִּבַּרְתִּי (ah-NEE dee-BAHR-tee).

You’ve got the root,

ד . ב . ר .,

PLUS the ending

–תי

(“I”).

The root of the word, ד.ב.ר. is at the beginning, and the suffix letting you know who did the action, “I”, is at the end.

Here’s a chart summarizing the various endings in the past tense and what they mean (using the root ד.ב.ר. in the intensive form).

Who is doing the action?	What is the suffix?	The new word	English translation
אֲנִי (I)	-תִּי	דִּבַּרְתִּי	I spoke, I have spoken
אֲנַחְנוּ (we)	-נוּ	דִּבַּרְנוּ	We spoke, we have spoken
אֲתָּה (you, a male)	-תָּ	דִּבַּרְתָּ	You spoke, you have spoken (David)
אֲתְּ (you, a female)	-תְּ	דִּבַּרְתְּ	You spoke, you have spoken (Rachel)
אֲתֶּם (you, males or mixed)	-תֶּם	דִּבַּרְתֶּם	You spoke, you have spoken (David and Rachel)
אֲתֶּן (you, females)	-תֶּן	דִּבַּרְתֶּן	You spoke, you have spoken (Rachel and Sarah)
הוּא (he)	No suffix	דִּבֵּר	He spoke, he has spoken
הִיא (she)	-ָה	דִּבְּרָה	She spoke, she has spoken
הֵם (they, masculine or mixed)	-וּ	דִּבְּרוּ	They spoke, they have spoken (David and Rachel)
הֵן (they, feminine)	-וּ	דִּבְּרוּ	They spoke, they have spoken (Rachel and Sarah)

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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