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Intermediate

Past Tense (Pa'al)

Personal suffixes

Past uses personal suffixes

Endings mark person, gender and number.

📊 Past of כתב
Pronoun Hebrew Translit
ani כתבתי katavti
ata כתבת katavta
at כתבת katavt
hu כתב katav
hi כתבה katva
anachnu כתבנו katavnu
hem כתבו katvu
💬 Examples
כתבתי
katavti
I wrote
📝 -ti = I
כתב
katav
he wrote
📝 Bare 3rd-masculine form
Subject pronouns are often dropped

The ending already shows the person (especially 1st/2nd).

💬 Examples
הלכתי הביתה
halachti ha-bayta
I went home
📝 Pronoun 'ani' omitted
אכלנו
achalnu
we ate
📝 -nu shows 'we' without אנחנו
Negate the past with לא

לא before the verb.

💬 Examples
לא כתבתי
lo katavti
I didn't write
📝 לא + past verb
הוא לא בא
hu lo ba
He didn't come
📝 Simple past negation