Pa'al in the Present

Level 2

Many Pa’al verbs have a present pattern like כותב, כותבת, כותבים and כותבות. Other Pa’al verbs use different stems or shorter forms.

How It Works

A Common Model

כותב means writes or is writing. The feminine singular is כותבת, and the plurals are כותבים and כותבות. Keep the subject’s agreement when changing the sentence.

Learn Real Stems

לומד means learns or studies; שומע means hears. Their consonants and vowel patterns belong to the actual verb. Short verbs such as גר, lives, have forms such as גרה, גרים and גרות. Some final-root patterns also give feminine ה rather than ת.

Use Context

אני לומד can mean I study or I am studying. A time phrase makes the situation clearer. The binyan name is a way to group forms; it does not make every Pa’al verb active, simple or predictable in meaning.

Examples (4)

  1. דן כותב הודעה.

    Dan is writing a message.

    כותב is masculine singular.

  2. דנה לומדת עברית.

    Dana is studying Hebrew.

    לומדת is feminine singular.

  3. הם שומעים מוזיקה.

    They are listening to music.

    The plural form is שומעים.

  4. היא גרה כאן.

    She lives here.

    גרה is a shorter Pa’al stem.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Pa'al in the PresentLevel 2

Learn This First

Learn the actual Pa'al stems within the present agreement framework.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.