Chapter 14 — Peal Imperfect Parsing Drill

Basics of Biblical Aramaic, Van Pelt — Ch14: Peal Imperfect

Instructions

For each numbered verb form, enter the Root (3 consonants, Peal perfect 3ms), PGN (person / gender / number), and Translation in the input fields. Click ▶ Answer to reveal the answer key row. All forms are Peal imperfect.

# Form Root PGN Translation
1
יִכְתֻּב
כתב 3ms he will write
2
יֵאמַר
אמר 3ms he will say
3
יְקוּם
קום 3ms he will arise
4
יִפַּל
נפל 3ms he will fall
5
יֶהֱוֵא
הוה 3ms it will be / he will be
6
יִשְׁלַח
שׁלח 3ms he will send
7
תִּקְטֻל
קטל 3fs / 2ms she will kill / you (ms) will kill
8
יַעְבְּדוּן
עבד 3mp they (m) will serve / do
9
תִּבְנֵא
בנה 3fs / 2ms she/it will be built / you (ms) will build
10
יִסְגְּדוּן
סגד 3mp they (m) will bow down
11
נִזְכֻּר
זכר 1cp we will remember
12
יִנְתֵּן
יהב 3ms he will give (suppletive imperfect of יהב)
13
יִקְטֻל
קטל 3ms he will kill
14
יִשְׁמַע
שׁמע 3ms he will hear
15
אֶכְתֻּב
כתב 1cs I will write
16
תִּכְתְּבוּן
כתב 2mp you (mp) will write
17
תִּכְתְּבִין
כתב 2fs you (fs) will write
18
יִכְתְּבָן
כתב 3fp they (f) will write
19
תֵּאמְרוּן
אמר 2mp you (mp) will say
20
נֶהֱוֵא
הוה 1cp we will be

Reflection Questions

  1. Items 1 and 13 use the roots כתב and קטל (the abstract grammar root) for the same PGN. What tells you both are 3ms Peal imperfect, and how does the stem vowel differ from Hebrew?
  2. Items 2 and 19 share root אמר. What PGN is each, and what caused the prefix vowel change from יִ-/תִּ- to יֵ-/תֵּ-?
  3. Item 12 (יִנְתֵּן) is the Peal imperfect of יהב. Why doesn't it look like a normal imperfect of יהב? What phenomenon is at work?
  4. Compare item 4 (יִפַּל) with the Peal perfect of the same root (נְפַל). What happened to the first root consonant? How does this parallel Hebrew יִפֹּל?
  5. Items 16, 17, and 18 all come from root כתב but represent 2mp, 2fs, and 3fp. What suffix marks each, and how do these differ from the Hebrew Qal imperfect equivalents?