What is Pu'al?
Pu'al is the passive counterpart of Pi'el. Where Pi'el describes an intensive or causative action being performed, Pu'al describes that same action being received. It is less common in everyday spoken Hebrew, appearing more frequently in written, formal, and literary contexts — as well as in news and religious texts.
If Pi'el is "to teach" (לְלַמֵּד), then Pu'al is "to be taught" (לֻמַּד). If Pi'el is "to pay" (לְשַׁלֵּם), then Pu'al is "to be paid" (שֻׁלַּם).
Quick recognition: The vowel under the first root letter is a u sound — specifically a קֻבּוּץ (kubbutz) — and the middle root letter has a dagesh. In the present tense a מְ prefix appears, just like Pi'el, but the first vowel under the root is u rather than a.
Full Conjugation — ד-ב-ר (was spoken, לְדֻבַּר)
| Person | Past (עָבָר) | Present (הוֹוֶה) | Future (עָתִיד) |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִי | דֻּבַּרְתִּי | מְדֻבָּר (m) / מְדֻבֶּרֶת (f) | אֲדֻבַּר |
| אַתָּה | דֻּבַּרְתָּ | מְדֻבָּר | תְּדֻבַּר |
| אַת | דֻּבַּרְתְּ | מְדֻבֶּרֶת | תְּדֻבְּרִי |
| הוּא | דֻּבַּר | מְדֻבָּר | יְדֻבַּר |
| הִיא | דֻּבְּרָה | מְדֻבֶּרֶת | תְּדֻבַּר |
| אֲנַחְנוּ | דֻּבַּרְנוּ | מְדֻבָּרִים (m) / מְדֻבָּרוֹת (f) | נְדֻבַּר |
| אַתֶּם | דֻּבַּרְתֶּם | מְדֻבָּרִים | תְּדֻבְּרוּ |
| אַתֶּן | דֻּבַּרְתֶּן | מְדֻבָּרוֹת | תְּדֻבְּרוּ |
| הֵם / הֵן | דֻּבְּרוּ | מְדֻבָּרִים (m) / מְדֻבָּרוֹת (f) | יְדֻבְּרוּ |
8 Common Pu'al Forms
| Pu'al Form | Pi'el Source | English |
|---|---|---|
| דֻּבַּר | דִּבֵּר | was spoken |
| לֻמַּד | לִמֵּד | was taught |
| נֻקָּה | נִקָּה | was cleaned |
| כֻּבַּד | כִּבֵּד | was honored |
| שֻׁלַּם | שִׁלֵּם | was paid |
| צֻיַּר | צִיֵּר | was drawn / painted |
| סֻפַּר | סִפֵּר | was told / narrated |
| כֻּסָּה | כִּסָּה | was covered |