The Binyanim
Hebrew verbs are conjugated according to specific patterns called בִּנְיָנִים (binyanim - "constructions") where vowels and affixes are slotted into the (mostly) three-letter שורשים (shorashim - roots) from which the majority of Hebrew words are built.
There are seven basic binyanim. The traditional demonstration root is פ.ע.ל which has the basic meaning of "action" or "doing":
| active | reflexive | passive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| פָּעַל pa'al |
פִּעֵל pi'el |
הִפְעִיל hif'il |
הִתְפַּעֵל hitpa'el |
הֻפְעַל huf'al |
פֻּעַל pu'al |
נִפְעַל nif'al |
| causative | ||||||
| intensive | ||||||
| simple | ||||||
This chart's menorah-like shape is sometimes invoked in teaching the binyanim to help students remember which binyanim are active voice (left side) vs. passive voice (right side) and which binyanim are simple (outer-most menorah branches), intensive (second-outer-most) and causative (third-outer-most), and which binyan is reflexive (center).
Read more about this topic: Modern Hebrew Verb Conjugation