Key Rule: The imperative has three common forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, and plural (same for both genders in casual speech). It is formed from the future tense by dropping the prefix.
| # | Meaning | M. Singular | F. Singular | Plural |
|---|
| 1 | write! | כְּתֹב (ktov) | כִּתְבִי (kit-VI) | כִּתְבוּ (kit-VU) |
| 2 | come! | בּוֹא (bo) | בּוֹאִי (BO-i) | בּוֹאוּ (BO-u) |
| 3 | sit! | שֵׁב (shev) | שְׁבִי (shvi) | שְׁבוּ (shvu) |
| 4 | go! | לֵךְ (lekh) | לְכִי (le-KHI) | לְכוּ (le-KHU) |
| 5 | give! | תֵּן (ten) | תְּנִי (tni) | תְּנוּ (tnu) |
| 6 | take! | קַח (kakh) | קְחִי (khi) | קְחוּ (khu) |
| 7 | listen! | שְׁמַע (shma) | שִׁמְעִי (shim-I) | שִׁמְעוּ (shim-U) |
| 8 | look! | הִסְתַּכֵּל (his-ta-KEL) | הִסְתַּכְּלִי (his-tak-LI) | הִסְתַּכְּלוּ (his-tak-LU) |
Circle the correct answer for each question.
1.How do you say 'come!' to a woman?
בּוֹא | בּוֹאִי | בּוֹאוּ | לָבוֹא
2.To soften a command, Israelis often use:
Past tense | Future tense | Infinitive | Present tense
3.How do you say 'don't go'?
לֹא לֵךְ | אַל תֵּלֵךְ | לֹא הוֹלֵךְ | אֵין לָלֶכֶת
4.שְׁבוּ is a command addressed to:
One man | One woman | A group | No one - it's past tense
Answers
1. בּוֹאִי
2. Future tense
3. אַל תֵּלֵךְ
4. A group