Participles
Present participles are identical to present tense forms (the modern present tense actually having been derived from the ancient present participle): נרות בוערים /neˈʁot boʕaˈʁim/ (burning candles), הילדה מקסימה /ha-jalˈda maksiˈma/ (the girl is charming).
Only the pa'al binyan has a true past participle: from כתב k-t-b we have כתוב /kaˈtuv/, (writ, written). This gives Hebrew a limited ability to distinguish between a completed action, e.g.:
- הספרים כתובים /ha-sfaˈʁim ktuˈvim/ (the books have been written)
And, using the present tense of nif'al, which is often the passive of pa'al, a continuing action:
- הספרים נכתבים /ha-sfaˈʁim niχtaˈvim/ (the books are being written)
The passive participle is commonly used as an adjective, as in הפקודה הכתובה /ha-pkuˈda ha-ktuˈva/ (the written order).
The present tense of the pu'al and huf'al are used as passive participles for the pi'el and hif'il respectively, e.g. from hif'il האיר /heˈiʁ/ (lit) we get חדר מואר /ˈħedeʁ muˈaʁ/ (lit room).
Read more about this topic: Modern Hebrew Verb Conjugation