(teeḥ-tohv; [you] will write) (MS)
תִּכְתְּבִי (teeh-tuh-vee; [you] will write) (FS)
יִכְתֹּב (yeeḥ-tohv; [he] will write)
תִּכְתֹּב (teeḥ-tohv; [she] will write)
נִכְתֹּב (neeḥ-tohv; [we] will write)
תִּכְתְּבוּ (teeḥ-tuh-voo; [you] will write) (MP/FP)
יִכְתְּבוּ (yeeḥ-tuh-voo; [they] will write) (MP/FP)
COMMAND PERFORMANCE
To make a command (the imperative mood), you can choose among three forms: “you” (MS), “you” (FS), and “you” (MP/FP). Believe it or not, many Modern Hebrew speakers consider this tense to be quite rude — like something an army commander or strict teacher would say. Generally speaking, you should avoid the command tense. Use the future tense instead, because it’s perceived to be more polite. But if you really want to, you can conjugate the command form like this:
כתוב (kuh-tohv; [you] Write!) (MS)
כִּתְבֵי (keet-vee; [you] Write!) (FS)
כִּתְּבוּ (keet-voo; [you] Write!) (MP/FP)
Looking at some common verbs
The beauty of the Hebrew verb lies in its versatility as well as its simplicity. In Table 2-8, I include some common Hebrew verbs listed in their present tense, masculine singular form.
TABLE 2-8 Some Common Present-Tense Verbs
| Hebrew | Pronunciation | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| הוֹלֵךְ | hoh-lehch | goes, walks |
| קוֹרֵא | koh-reh | reads |
| כּוֹתֵב | koh-tehv | writes |
| מַחֲלִיה | mahḥ-leet | decides |
| מַדְלִיק | mahd-leek | lights |
| מַרְגִּישׁ | mahr-geesh | feels |
| מְדַבֵּר | meh-dah-behr | speaks |
| מִתְלַבֵּשׁ | meet-lah-behsh | gets dressed |
| מִצְהָרֵף | meetz-tah-rehf | joins in |
| נִכְנַס | neech-nahs | enters |
| נוֹסֵעַ | noh-seh-ah | travels |
| יוֹשֵׁב | yoh-shehv | sits |
Detecting adverbs
Like English, most Hebrew adverbs are similar to adjectives — just with different endings. When you use an adjective as an adverb, you don't conjugate it; it stays in the masculine singular form. Here are a couple of examples:
הוּא כּוֹתֵב יָפֶה (hoo koh-tehv yah-feh; He writes nicely.)
הִיא כּוֹתֶבֶת יָפֶה (hee koh-teh-veht yah-feh; She writes nicely.)
Note that although the pronoun and the verb conjugation changes — in this case from masculine singular to feminine singular — the adverb remains unchanged.
A third way to make an adverb is to take an adjective and add the suffix ut (oot) to make a noun. Then you add the prefix בְּשִׂמְחָה (buh; in or with) to make the adverb. עָדִין (ah-deen; gentle), for example, becomes עֲדִינוּת (ah-dee-noot; gentleness), and with a prefix בַּ, it becomes בעדינות (buh-ah-dee-noot; gently).
A fourth way to make an adverb is to add the word בְּאֹפֶן (buh-oh-fehn; in the way of) in front of an adjective. אוֹהוֹמָתִי (oh-toh-mah-tee; automatic), for example, becomes בְּאֹפֶן אוֹהוֹמָתִי (buh-oh-fehn oh-toh-mah-tee; automatically).
Table 2-9 lists some common adverbs.
TABLE 2-9 Common Adverbs
| Hebrew | Pronunciation | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| בְּאֹפֶן סֵדֶר | buh-oh-fehn sah-deer | regularly |
| בְּסֵדֶר | buh-seh-dehr | okay |
| בְּשִׂמְחָה | buh-sim-chah | gladly |
| בְּסוֹדִיּוּת | buh-soh-dee-yoot | secretly |
| בִּמְהִירוּת | bim-hee-root | quickly, speedily |
