Verbs: Past

We've learned all three active binyanim (pa'al, pi'el, and hif'il) in the present tense, so now for the past tense.

General Notes

There is no difference between "I did", "I have done", and "I had done" in Hebrew, as they are all the same form.

The present tense in Hebrew only differentiates between masculine/feminine and singular/plural. The past tense, meanwhile, differentiates the person (I, you, or it) as well, just like in English. It's simple; take the "he" form and add the ending, which is the same for each of these pronouns regardless of what binyan it belongs to:

Also, unless you're using the third person (he, she, it, they), it is common practice to leave out the pronoun, as the verb ending already gives that information.

Verb Roots

Like other verb tenses, the past tense has a different stem than the present tense. The best part: you already know it. The names for the different binyanim match the distribution of vowels in the verb's past tense form. All you need to do is replace the consonants of the binyan's name with the consonants of the verb you want and you're good to go!

Pa'al

Pi'el

Hif'il

To Be and To Have

These verbs don't exist in the present tense, but they do appear in the past tense:

In the case of "to have", use the "he/she was" or "they were" form appropriate to the object that was owned (not the owner!).

Lesson 1

• עבר – past
• היינו – we were
• היה – he was
• הייתי – I was
• הייתה – she was
• הייתָ – you were (s.f.)
• הייתְ – you were (s.m.)

Lesson 2

• ראה – saw
• הייתם – you were (pl.m.)
• הייתן – you were (pl.f.)
• אהב – liked, loved
• מצא – found
• שתה – drank
• חזר – returned
• הלך – went
• רצה – wanted

Lesson 3

• מעולם – never
• עזב – left
• אכל – ate
• אמר – said
• נפל – fell
• עשה – did
• שמע – heard
• חשב – thought

Lesson 4

• -מאז ש – since
• בא – came
• שם – put
• גדַל – grew
• היו – they were
• עבד – worked
• רץ – ran
• שבר – broke

Lesson 5

• הפך – became
• קפץ – jumped
• לקח – took
• קרא – read
• נתן – gave
• ידע – knew
• כתב – wrote
• שר – sang
• גנב – stole

Lesson 6

• ניסה – tried
• דיבר – talked
• בישל – cooked
• איבד – lost
• ביקש – asked for
• סיפר – told
• שיחק – played

Lesson 7

• חיכה – waited
• סיים – finished
• שיקר – lied
• ניצח – won
• בזבז – wasted
• שילם – paid
• קינא – was jealous

Lesson 8

• הקשיב – listened
• התחיל – began
• קנה – bought
• הכיר – knew
• הגיע – arrived
• הראה – showed
• החליט – decided

Lesson 9

• האמין – believed
• הבין – understood
• הזמין – ordered
• הרגיש – felt