What are the binyanim?

The binyanim (literally buildings) are the seven verb patterns or conjugation templates of Hebrew. Every verb root is conjugated through one or more binyanim, each adding a layer of meaning such as passive, causative, or reflexive on top of the basic action carried by the three-consonant root.

Are all seven binyanim used for every root?

No. Most roots appear in only a few of the seven binyanim. The pattern that a given root uses, and the precise meaning it carries there, is partly lexicalized and must be learned per root rather than fully predicted from the template.

How do active and passive binyanim pair up?

Three pairs relate active to passive: Pa'al's passive is Nif'al, Pi'el pairs with Pu'al, and Hif'il pairs with Huf'al. Pu'al and Huf'al are almost always passive and rarely appear in the imperative or infinitive. Hitpa'el stands apart as the reflexive/reciprocal pattern.

What does the vowel pattern do?

Each binyan imposes a fixed vowel pattern and sometimes prefixes (ni-, hit-, hi-) or a doubled middle consonant (Pi'el, Pu'al, Hitpa'el). Slotting the same three root letters into different vowel-and-affix templates produces the different binyanim, which is why they share a root but differ in shape and sense.

Why is the example verb in the third masculine singular past?

The third-person masculine singular of the past tense is the citation form of a Hebrew verb, the way an English verb is cited by its infinitive. Showing each binyan in that form lets you compare the seven templates on equal footing using one familiar slot.

Hebrew Binyanim Reference

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Hebrew builds verbs by slotting a three-consonant root into one of seven templates called binyanim (“buildings”). Each binyan carries a grammatical voice and a typical shade of meaning — active, passive, intensive, reflexive, or causative. This tool drops your root into all seven so you can compare them at a glance.

How it works

The seven binyanim and their roles:

Pa'al    (Qal)   active, basic action        — katav  "he wrote"
Nif'al           passive/reflexive of Pa'al  — nikhtav "it was written"
Pi'el            intensive / active           — kitev  "he addressed/wrote up"
Pu'al            passive of Pi'el             — kutav  "it was dictated"
Hitpa'el         reflexive / reciprocal       — hitkatev "he corresponded"
Hif'il           causative / active           — hikhtiv "he dictated"
Huf'al           passive of Hif'il            — hukhtav "it was dictated"

Three pairs link an active binyan to its passive (Pa’al/Nif’al, Pi’el/Pu’al, Hif’il/Huf’al), while Hitpa’el is the reflexive. Each template fixes the vowels and may add a prefix (ni-, hit-, hi-) or double the middle root letter (Pi’el, Pu’al, Hitpa’el). The same root therefore takes on different shapes and meanings depending on the binyan.

Example and notes

Using the root k-t-v (“write”): Pa’al katav is plain “he wrote”; Hif’il hikhtiv is causative “he dictated” (caused to be written); Nif’al nikhtav is passive “it was written”; Hitpa’el hitkatev is reciprocal “he corresponded.” Not every root fills all seven slots, and the meaning in each binyan is partly lexicalized — so always confirm the actual sense of a specific root in a dictionary. The forms shown are the third-person masculine singular past, the standard citation form for a Hebrew verb.