Common Irregular Pa'al Verbs in Hebrew

In Brief

Six extremely common Pa'al verbs—הלך (go/walk), בא (come), נתן (give), לקח (take), אכל (eat), and ישב (sit)—do not all keep the shape you might expect from their dictionary form. At A1, learn each verb as a small family: its infinitive and four present forms. In the present tense, the form agrees with the subject's gender and number, not with first, second, or third person.

Overview

These verbs appear everywhere in everyday Hebrew: going home, coming to work, giving someone an object, taking a bus, eating lunch, and sitting down. They belong to Pa'al (also called Qal), one of Hebrew's main verb patterns, but their roots contain letters that cause visible stem changes. A root is the usual three-consonant core that connects related words; for example, ה־ל־ך connects forms such as הולך, הלכתי, and ללכת.

This is an A1 topic because the present forms are needed almost immediately. The beginner goal is practical rather than historical: recognize the six families and choose the right masculine/feminine and singular/plural form. You do not need to derive every form from an abstract rule.

English creates two special traps here. First, English distinguishes “I eat” from “I am eating,” while Hebrew normally uses the same present form for both: אני אוכל can mean either one, depending on context. Second, Hebrew marks gender in present-tense verbs: an English sentence such as “You are coming” has different Hebrew forms depending on who “you” is.

How It Works

The beginner rule: four present forms

Hebrew present-tense Pa'al verbs have four forms. They agree with the subject (the person or thing doing the action) in gender and number.

Subject type	Typical pronouns	Form needed
Masculine singular	אני (male speaker), אתה, הוא	masculine singular
Feminine singular	אני (female speaker), את, היא	feminine singular
Masculine or mixed plural	אנחנו, אתם, הם	masculine plural
Feminine plural	אנחנו, אתן, הן	feminine plural

There is no separate present form for “I,” “you,” and “he/she.” For example, אני הולך, אתה הולך, and הוא הולך all use הולך when the subject is masculine singular. A female speaker says אני הולכת.

The six present-tense families

Meaning	Dictionary past form / root label	Infinitive (“to …”)	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Masculine/mixed plural	Feminine plural
go, walk	הלך	ללכת	הולך	הולכת	הולכים	הולכות
come	בא	לבוא	בא	באה	באים	באות
give	נתן	לתת	נותן	נותנת	נותנים	נותנות
take	לקח	לקחת	לוקח	לוקחת	לוקחים	לוקחות
eat	אכל	לאכול	אוכל	אוכלת	אוכלים	אוכלות
sit	ישב	לשבת	יושב	יושבת	יושבים	יושבות

The second column uses the conventional third-person masculine singular past form—the form commonly used to name a Hebrew verb in dictionaries and grammar discussions. In actual conversation, the infinitive (the “to …” form) is often the easiest form for an English-speaking learner to treat as the vocabulary entry.

What changes in each family

הלך → ללכת → הולך

הלך is commonly translated as both “walk” and “go.” Its forms look quite different: the infinitive is ללכת, while the present stem is הולכ־. The final ך becomes כ when a suffix follows because these are two written shapes of the same letter: הולך, but הולכת and הולכים.

In ordinary Hebrew, אני הולך הביתה usually means “I'm going home,” not necessarily “I'm walking home.” To specify walking, Hebrew can use ללכת ברגל (“go on foot”).

בא → לבוא → בא

The masculine singular present form בא is identical in unpointed spelling to the dictionary past form. Context tells you whether it means “comes/is coming” or “came.” The feminine and plural forms expand normally: באה, באים, באות.

נתן → לתת → נותן

The root נ־ת־נ contains a repeated נ, but the infinitive contracts to לתת, not a guessed form such as *לנתן. The present forms use נותנ־: נותן, נותנת, נותנים, נותנות. It is best to memorize לתת–נותן as a pair.

לקח → לקחת → לוקח

The infinitive לקחת is close to the dictionary form, but the present changes to לוקח. The final ח remains visible throughout: לוקחת, לוקחים, לוקחות.

אכל → לאכול → אוכל

The infinitive adds a visible ו: לאכול. The present also has ו in ordinary unpointed spelling: אוכל, אוכלת, אוכלים, אוכלות. With vowel points, masculine singular “eats” is אוֹכֵל. Unpointed אוכל can also be the noun “food”; sentence structure and context normally make the meaning clear.

ישב → לשבת → יושב

The infinitive is לשבת, while the present forms use יושב־: יושב, יושבת, יושבים, יושבות. Hebrew often uses this verb where English uses either “sit” or “be sitting.”

Building a basic sentence

The usual neutral order is:

subject + present verb + complement

A complement is simply the information completing the thought—an object, destination, place, or time.

• אני לוקחת את האוטובוס. — “I take the bus.” (female speaker)
• הם יושבים בחוץ. — “They are sitting outside.”
• אנחנו באים מחר. — “We are coming tomorrow.” (mixed or masculine group)

Hebrew has no present-tense equivalent of English “am/is/are” before these verbs. Say היא אוכלת, not a structure corresponding word for word to “she is eats.”

Giving and taking objects

With לתת, the thing given is often marked by את when it is definite, and the recipient is introduced with ל־ (“to”):

• אני נותן את הספר לדנה. — “I give the book to Dana.”
• תן לי את זה. — “Give me that.”

A direct object is the person or thing directly affected by the action. Hebrew places את before a definite direct object, such as הספר (“the book”) or זה (“this/that”), but not normally before an indefinite one: אני לוקח ספר (“I am taking a book”).

Examples in Context

Hebrew	English	Note
אני הולך הביתה.	I'm going home.	Male speaker; הולך often means “go,” not only “walk.”
אני הולכת לעבודה ברגל.	I walk to work.	Female speaker; ברגל makes walking explicit.
הילדים הולכים לבית הספר.	The children are going to school.	Masculine plural also covers a mixed group.
נועה באה איתנו.	Noa is coming with us.	Feminine singular.
אתם באים למסיבה?	Are you coming to the party?	Addressing men or a mixed group.
בוא הנה!	Come here!	Masculine singular command.
אני נותנת לו את המפתח.	I'm giving him the key.	Female speaker; לו means “to him.”
תן לי את זה.	Give me that.	Masculine singular command.
אנחנו לוקחים את האוטובוס בבוקר.	We take the bus in the morning.	Mixed or masculine group.
קחי מטרייה—יורד גשם.	Take an umbrella—it's raining.	Feminine singular command.
דניאל אוכל ארוחת בוקר בבית.	Daniel eats breakfast at home.	Masculine singular.
אנחנו אוכלות יחד.	We are eating together.	All-female group.
סבתא יושבת ליד החלון.	Grandma is sitting by the window.	Feminine singular.
שבו כאן, בבקשה.	Sit here, please.	Plural command.
מי בא לארוחת ערב?	Who is coming to dinner?	בא is masculine singular when the person's identity is unknown or generic.

Common Mistakes

Using one present form for every subject

• Wrong: היא הולך הביתה.
• Right: היא הולכת הביתה.
• Why: The present verb agrees with a feminine singular subject, so הולכת is required.

Copying English person agreement

• Wrong idea: expecting a special present form of אוכל for “I” versus “he.”
• Right: אני אוכל and הוא אוכל for masculine singular subjects; אני אוכלת and היא אוכלת for feminine singular subjects.
• Why: Hebrew present forms distinguish gender and number, not grammatical person.

Guessing the infinitive from the visible past form

• Wrong: לנתן, לישב, להלך
• Right: לתת, לשבת, ללכת
• Why: These frequent verbs have stem changes. Learn the infinitive together with the present family rather than constructing it by analogy.

Adding “to be” before a present verb

• Wrong: אני הוא אוכל.
• Right: אני אוכל.
• Why: Hebrew does not add הוא/היא as an auxiliary corresponding to English “am/is/are.” The present verb stands on its own.

Forgetting את with a definite object

• Wrong: אני לוקח הספר.
• Right: אני לוקח את הספר.
• Why: A definite direct object normally takes את. Compare indefinite אני לוקח ספר (“I'm taking a book”).

Translating הולך too narrowly

• Misleading: assuming אני הולך לעבודה must mean “I'm walking to work.”
• Better reading: אני הולך לעבודה usually means “I'm going to work.”
• Why: In many contexts הלך expresses general movement or going. Add ברגל when “on foot” matters.

Usage Notes

Simple and progressive meanings

Modern Hebrew has one ordinary present set where English has both a simple and a progressive form. היא אוכלת עכשיו means “She is eating now,” while היא אוכלת כאן כל יום means “She eats here every day.” Time words and context provide the distinction.

Gender in real conversation

A speaker's gender affects first-person singular forms: a man says אני בא, while a woman says אני באה. For plural groups, standard Hebrew uses the masculine plural for a mixed group: אנחנו באים. An all-female group can use אנחנו באות. In informal speech, masculine plural forms are sometimes heard more broadly, but learners should recognize and practice the standard contrasts.

Pronouns are often useful at this level

Because one present form can match several persons, the subject pronoun often removes ambiguity: בא alone can mean “he is coming,” while אני בא means “I am coming” from a male speaker. Hebrew can omit a subject when context makes it obvious, but present-tense pronouns are not automatically dropped in the way they often are in past and future forms.

Everyday commands

Several of these verbs have very frequent short command forms:

Infinitive	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Plural	Meaning
ללכת	לך	לכי	לכו	go
לבוא	בוא	בואי	בואו	come
לתת	תן	תני	תנו	give
לקחת	קח	קחי	קחו	take
לשבת	שב	שבי	שבו	sit

Commands can sound abrupt without friendly intonation or a softener such as בבקשה (“please”). Forms such as בוא and תן לי are nevertheless extremely common in ordinary speech.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following systems at A1, but seeing the relationships will make later study easier.

Past stems

The six verbs also show changes in the past. The first-person singular forms are הלכתי (I went), באתי (I came), נתתי (I gave), לקחתי (I took), אכלתי (I ate), and ישבתי (I sat). Notice especially נתן → נתתי: one of the root's two נ letters is no longer visible. Unlike the present, past forms mark person, so the verb itself gives more information about who acted.

Future stems

Common first-person singular future forms are אלך, אבוא, אתן, אקח, אוכל, אשב. These are worth recognizing, but they belong to the future-tense system and should be learned as complete paradigms later. Unpointed אוכל is especially ambiguous: according to context it can represent present “(he/I masculine) eat,” future “I will eat,” or the noun “food.” In normal sentences, surrounding words resolve the ambiguity.

Infinitives after another verb

The infinitive frequently follows verbs expressing desire, ability, or necessity:

• אני רוצה ללכת. — “I want to go.” (male speaker)
• היא יכולה לבוא. — “She can come.”
• צריך לתת לו זמן. — “You/one needs to give him time.”

The infinitive does not change for gender or number. The first verb, when present, carries the relevant agreement.

Lexical extensions

High-frequency verbs often develop meanings that cannot be predicted by translating one English word at a time. לקחת can mean “take” transportation (לקחת אוטובוס), and לשבת can describe being seated or remaining in a place. Learn these as whole phrases. Also remember that direction matters: לבוא is movement toward the speaker or reference point (“come”), while ללכת is movement away or general going (“go”).

Practice Tips

1. Learn in four-form rows. Say הולך–הולכת–הולכים–הולכות, then repeat with the other five verbs. Attach one familiar person to each form rather than memorizing endings in isolation.
2. Pair each infinitive with one present form. Use quick cards such as לתת → נותן, לקחת → לוקח, and לשבת → יושב. This directly targets the stem changes that cause mistakes.
3. Retell one routine with gender changes. Start with דני בא, לוקח אוכל ויושב; then replace Dani with Dana and change the forms to באה, לוקחת, אוכלת, יושבת. Finally make the subject plural.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Pa'al) — explains the basic four-way gender and number agreement used by all six verbs.