The purpose of this software is to provide Hebrew language students with an efficient and enjoyable way of practicing verb conjugations.
Expo snack: https://snack.expo.io/@jtalz97/6d38ef Video demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4e4S_Nu378
Oxford Languages defines [verb] conjugation as “changing the form of (a word) to express a particular grammatical function or attribute, typically tense, mood, person, number, case, and gender.”
This basic skill equips learners with the ability to identify and manipulate verbs in nearly every context.
Picture this: you are a new Hebrew learner and have never seen the verb התנדב before. You're reading a story in the paper about people coming from all over the world to volunteer in Israel's military. You catch sight of the word, look it up and remember its translation... volunteered. Later on, after being so inspired by the newspaper article you decide that you will volunteer for the military as well. You march back to your apartment, look your Israeli roommate square in the eye and say,
"אני התנדב לצה"ל".
wait... that's not right. Your kind roommate proceeds to show his admiration for your decision but explains to you that in order to use that verb in the way you intend, you should learn verb conjugations.
Hebrew verb conjugation is taught and reviewed at almost every academic level. The first step is to enroll in a Hebrew learning program, like an Ulpan. There you will learn the basics. With relation to verb conjugations, you will likely fill out many tables defining which conjugations apply to which pronouns. Click here to find our recommended list of Hebrew learning Ulpans.
Next, install hebroots to practice and ingrain the concept of verb conjugations in your mind.
Firstly, the hebroots Explore feature provides a search engine which will take any form of any verb as input and present its corresponding conjugation table in return. For instances where duplicates exist, the different options are provided. For example, if a user searches the verb "שיפר", they will be presented with the conjugation tables corresponding to "לשפר".
Next, the hebroots learn feature provides lessons explaining each conjugation pattern, for example, Pi'el in Past tense.
Hebroots can be an excellent tool to consider recommending to your students. It should be thought of as a helper tool. Hebroots offers a way to search the full conjugations of most verbs, with or without vowel notation, and an interactive way of practicing them. Basic access is free but group pricing can be arranged for additional features.
If you're interested in contacting or collaborating please contact josh.tal27@gmail.com
In the future, hebroots can be expanded to support more languages that require a conjugative understanding. It can also support more translation languages. In the meantime, a translation API might suffice. Additionally, more than just verb conjugation but number conjugation, gender, and other topics are being looked into.
Before starting, there is one concept which must be understood - ROOTS (hence the name hebroots).
The vast majority of words in the Hebrew language can be boiled down to a three-consonant root word that contains the essence of the word's meaning. For example, the first word of the Torah is "bereishit", meaning in the beginning. The root is Resh-Alef-Shin, which means head or first. (See Hebrew Alphabet to learn the letters). It is the same root as the "Rosh" in "Rosh Hashanah" (first of the year, i.e., Jewish New Year).
Author: https://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/root.htm
Hebrew Verbs can be classified into any one of the seven binyanim (בניינים (Each binyan portrays a particular aspect of the shoresh (שורש" (root". The word binyan in Hebrew means "a building" or "structure". The idea is that we can build all verbs by obeying certain rules, and that Hebrew Verbs have structure. Binyan comes from the three-letter shoresh: bet-nun-hey (בנה (which is related to another shoresh: bet-yud-nun (בין (which means "understanding". Through structure we can understand Hebrew verbs.
Author: Lon T, Cherryholmes
Source: https://tzion.org/devarim/The%20Seven%20Binyanim.pdf
Every verb in Hebrew has a 3-4 letter root which is essentially what I like to call the variable inputted into the conjugation formula in each instance. This will become more clear as we move along. Basically what you need to know is that the dashes (-) below are placeholders and when the methods mentioned are applied in practice, they are replaced with roots.
The typical approach to learning verb conjugations involves:
- Selecting a verb pattern. Hebrew verbs can belong to one of 7 patterns…
| Pattern | Phonetic | Aspect | Infinitive Form | Example (כ.ת.ב) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פעל | Pa’al | simple active | - ל - - ו | לכתוב |
| פיעל | Pi’el | intensive active | - - - ל | לכתב |
| הפעיל | Hiph’il | causative active | - לה - - י | להכתיב |
| התפעל | Hitpa’el | reflexive, cooperative | - - - להת | להתכתב |
| הופעל | Huph’al | passive of no. 3 | אין | הוכתב |
| פועל | Pu’al | passive of no. 2 | אין | כותב |
| נפעל | niph’al | passive of no. 1, simple active | - - - להי | להיכתב |
- Reviewing how the verb pattern is conjugated in one or all of the 4 tenses (Past, Present, Future, Imperitive) as pertaining to each Subjective Personal Pronoun (I, you, he, she, we, they) with example.
Ex.
Pattern: Pi’el
Tense: Past
Infinitive form: ---ל
Example: לדבר (to speak)
| Example (ד.ב.ר) | ConjugationText | Pronoun | Translation (pronoun + conjugation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| דיברתי | י--תי- | אני | I spoke |
| דיברת | י--ת- | אתה | You (m.) spoke |
| דיברת | י--ת- | את | You (f.) spoke |
| דיבר | י--- | הוא | He spoke |
| דיברה | י--ה- | היא | She spoke |
| דיברנו | י--נו- | אנחנו | We spoke |
| דיברו | י--ו- | הם | They (m.) spoke |
| דיברו | י--ו- | הן | They (f.) spoke |
| דיברתם | י--תם- | אתם | You all (m.) spoke |
| דיברתן | י--תן- | אתן | You all (f.) spoke |
- Recognize the power of verb conjugation.
If you know the verb pattern Pi’el, and how to say “I spoke with the teacher” then you immediately also know how to say “They spoke with the teacher,” which in Hebrew has a conjugative difference.
English - the verb remains the same
- I spoke with the teacher
- They spoke with the teacher
Hebrew - the verb changes with the pronoun - אני דיברתי עם המורה
- הם דיברו עם המורה