Hebrew Preformatives

Listed below are the most common preformatives and prefixes that occur on Hebrew verbs. Memorizing the preformative and the associated verbal stem will greatly increase one's ability to properly and quickly recognize the verbal stem when one encounters a verb in the Hebrew text. Making flash cards of these preformatives may prove to be very beneficial, see the vocab pack I created at Quisition.

Imperfect Preformatives

יְ - Piel, Pual

יֵ - Qal (I-Yod), Niphal (with compensatory lengthening)

יִ - Qal, Niphal

יִי - Qal (I-Yod)

יַ - Qal (I-Guttural), Hiphil

יֶ - Qal (I-Guttural)

יָ - Qal (Biconsonantal), vowel is qamets

יָ - Hophal, vowel is qamets hatuf

יֻ - Hophal

יׄ - Qal (I-Aleph)

יִתְ - Hithpael

Prefixes

נִ - Niphal Perfect, Niphal Participle

הִ - Niphal Imperative, Hiphil Perfect

מְ - Piel Participle, Pual Participle

מַ - Hiphil Participle

מֻ - Hophal Participle

מָ - Hophal Participle, vowel is qamets hatuf

הָ - Hophal Perfect, vowel is qamets hatuf

הֻ - Hophal Perfect

מִתְ - Hithpael Participle