Classical · Biblical Hebrew
Finish the binyanim with the causative and reflexive themes, and classify nouns by their vowel-change patterns (declensions).
Ch. 17 — Paradigm of the Regular Verb (Hiph'il–Hithpa'el)Ch. 18 — Declensions of Nouns
Core concepts · 5
- Hiph'il: active causative, prefixed ה + long hireq (הִקְטִיל 'he caused to kill'); the jussive shortens it.
- Hoph'al: passive causative (הָקְטַל); Hithpa'el: reflexive of Pi'el (הִתְקַטֵּל), with sibilant metathesis (הִשְׁתַּמֵּר).
- That completes all seven: Qal, Niph'al, Pi'el, Pu'al, Hiph'il, Hoph'al, Hithpa'el.
- Nouns fall into declensions by how their vowels shift when the tone moves.
- Segholates (מֶלֶךְ, סֵפֶר, חֹדֶשׁ) are a key class; irregular nouns אָב/בֵּן/בַּת/אָח/אִשָּׁה/יוֹם/עִיר decline distinctively.
Vocabulary & signs · tap a word to hear, expand for how to say it
Hiph'il 'he caused to kill'
say: hiqṭîl
he destroyed (Hiph'il)
say: hishmîdh
he walked about (Hithpa'el)
say: hithhallēkh
king (segholate)
say: melekh
book (segholate)
say: sēpher
month (segholate)
say: ḥōdhesh
Exercises · answer in the app
Exercise 1 / 6
What does this mean?
Bridge to this week
Hiph'il is the causative you meet in sprint Week 6; here you add Hoph'al and Hithpa'el plus the declension patterns that explain why words like מֶלֶךְ shift vowels under suffixes — direct support for this week's suffix-driven past tense.
Teach Yourself Hebrew — R. K. Harrison (E.U.P.)
Pass this quick check to complete the lesson.
Quick check · 1 / 4