Pa’al is the most basic and common binyan in Hebrew. In the past tense, it expresses direct, active actions performed by the subject. These verbs are the backbone of Hebrew and appear constantly in everyday speech.
Structure of Pa’al in Past Tense
- No prefix
- Vowel Pattern: a-a (as in כָּתַב – “he wrote”)
The base form is: פָּעַל – using פ.ע.ל as the placeholder root
Conjugation Table (Using כ.ת.ב – “to write”)
| Person & Gender | Hebrew Form | Transliteration | English Meaning |
| אני | כָּתַבְתִּי | katavti | I wrote |
| אתה | כָּתַבְתָּ | katavta | You (m) wrote |
| את | כָּתַבְתְּ | katavt | You (f) wrote |
| הוא | כָּתַב | katav | He wrote |
| היא | כָּתְבָה | katvah | She wrote |
| אנחנו | כָּתַבְנוּ | katavnu | We wrote |
| אתם/אתן | כָּתַבְתֶּם/ן | katavtem/katavten | You (pl) wrote |
| הם/הן | כָּתְבוּ | katvu | They wrote |
Common Pa’al Verbs in Past Tense
| Verb (Past) | Transliteration | Meaning |
| כָּתַב | katav | wrote |
| לָמַד | lamad | studied |
| עָבַד | avad | worked |
| שָׁמַר | shamar | guarded / kept |
| קָרָא | kara | read / called |
Tip for Learners
Pa’al verbs in the past tense are straightforward and consistent. They’re easy to recognize by their simple vowel patterns and lack of prefixes. Mastering Pa’al in the past tense gives you access to hundreds of essential verbs. 