דיבר dibér, “speak, talk,” is a strong pi'el verb, root ד־ב־ר. Its middle radical ב carries the pi'el dagesh and remains /b/ throughout: דיבר, מדבר, לדבר are dibér, medabér, ledabér, never forms with /v/. What changes visibly is the past stem's written י, not the identity of that middle consonant.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | דִּיבַּרְתִּי dibárti | אֲדַבֵּר adabér |
| אתה | דִּיבַּרְתָּ dibárta | תְּדַבֵּר tedabér |
| את | דִּיבַּרְתְּ dibárt | תְּדַבְּרִי tedabrí |
| הוא | דִּיבֵּר dibér | יְדַבֵּר yedabér |
| היא | דִּיבְּרָה dibrá | תְּדַבֵּר tedabér |
| אנחנו | דִּיבַּרְנוּ dibárnu | נְדַבֵּר nedabér |
| אתם / אתן | דִּיבַּרְתֶּם / דִּיבַּרְתֶּן dibártem / dibárten | תְּדַבְּרוּ tedabrú |
| הם / הן | דִּיבְּרוּ dibrú | יְדַבְּרוּ yedabrú |
| Form | Paradigm | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מְדַבֵּר medabér · מְדַבֶּרֶת medabéret · מְדַבְּרִים medabrím · מְדַבְּרוֹת medabrót | neutral |
| imperative | דַּבֵּר dabér · דַּבְּרִי dabrí · דַּבְּרוּ dabrú | direct; future commands are common in speech |
| infinitive | לְדַבֵּר ledabér | neutral and frequent |
| action noun | דִּיבּוּר dibúr | speech, speaking |
The specifically feminine plural future תְּדַבֵּרְנָה tedabérna is (formal or literary); ordinary Hebrew uses תדברו. Pi'el past writes its i with י in ktiv male: דיברתי, דיברה, דיברו. Present, future, infinitive, and imperative have no such vowel and therefore no yod: מדבר, ידבר, לדבר, דבר.
נדבר אחר כך, אני באמצע פגישה.
nedabér akhár kakh, aní be'emtsá pegishá.
We'll talk later; I'm in the middle of a meeting.
על מה דיברתם?
al ma dibártem?
What did you talk about? (to a group)
Person, topic, and language
The complement identifies a different participant in the speech event.
| Frame | Role | Model |
|---|---|---|
| דיבר עם | person one conversed with | דיברתי עם המנהל |
| דיבר על | topic discussed | דיברנו על הפרויקט |
| דיבר + language | language spoken | אני מדבר עברית |
| דיבר אל | addressed someone | דיבר אל הקהל |
The neutral person frame is עם, often inflected as איתי, איתך, איתו. This איתו is the preposition “with,” not accusative את. דיבר אל means “addressed, spoke toward” and is comparatively (formal, literary, distant, or confrontational) rather than the ordinary reciprocal conversation frame.
דיברתי עם המנהל, והוא אישר את הבקשה.
dibárti im hamenahél, vehu ishér et habakashá.
I spoke with the manager, and he approved the request.
אני לא מדבר על זה בטלפון.
aní lo medabér al ze bateléfon.
I don't talk about that on the phone. (m. speaker)
היא מדברת ארבע שפות ועובדת כמתורגמנית.
hi medabéret árba safót ve'ovédet kimeturgemánit.
She speaks four languages and works as an interpreter.
הנשיא דיבר אל האומה בשידור חי.
hanasí dibér el ha'umá beshidúr khai.
The president addressed the nation live. (formal)
English “speak English” may look like a direct object, but Hebrew language names are normally bare: מדבר עברית, not a definite accusative phrase. A marked phrase such as את העברית של סבא שלי is possible when a specific variety is being contrasted; it is not the basic language frame.
Speech, conversation, and saying
דיבר names the activity or conversation. אמר presents words or content, while סיפר narrates. Thus דיברנו שעה says the conversation lasted an hour; אמרתי לו ש־ reports a proposition. The אמר reference develops that division.
הוא דיבר בטלפון שעה ולא אמר לי עם מי.
hu dibér bateléfon sha'á velo amár li im mi.
He talked on the phone for an hour and didn't tell me with whom.
דבר איתי אחרי השיעור.
dabér ití akharéi hashi'úr.
Talk to me after class. (direct command to a man)
The true imperative is normal when brevity or authority fits. Everyday advice often uses future תדבר / תדברי / תדברו, and negative commands always use אל plus that future.
אל תדבר שטויות; תבדוק קודם.
al tedabér shtuyót; tivdók kódem.
Don't talk nonsense; check first. (to a man)
מדבר, מדובר, and fixed collocations
Unpointed מדבר is present מְדַבֵּר medabér “speaks” or noun מִדְבָּר midbár “desert.” Article and syntax usually decide: הוא מדבר is verbal; המדבר הגדול is a noun phrase.
Pu'al participle מדובר is written with ו and appears in impersonal מדובר ב־, “it concerns / what is involved is.” It is not another present form of active דיבר.
מדובר בשינוי קטן, לא בתוכנית חדשה.
medubár beshinúy katán, lo betokhnít khadashá.
We're talking about a small change, not a new plan. (formal/impersonal)
לדבר לעניין means speak to the point. Plural דיבורים can mean talk, chatter, or empty words according to context. דיבר גבוהה גבוהה means spoke grandly or high-flownly (literary or derisive).
Singular דיבור often names the faculty, manner, or act of speech—כושר דיבור, צורת דיבור, חופש הדיבור. Plural דיבורים is lexical rather than a routine count plural: depending on tone it can mean conversations, rumors, or “mere talk.” This noun contrast explains why an English plural such as “speeches” does not automatically translate as דיבורים; a prepared public speech is usually נאום.
בוא נדבר לעניין ונחליט מה עושים.
bo nedabér la'inyán venakhlít ma osím.
Let's get to the point and decide what to do. (to a man)
Key Takeaways
- Pi'el דיבר keeps middle ב as /b/ throughout: dibér, medabér, ledabér.
- Write י only in the past stem: דיברתי, but מדבר, ידבר, לדבר, דבר.
- Use עם for a conversational partner, על for a topic, and a bare language name.
- דיבר אל is marked compared with neutral דיבר עם.
- Bare מדבר is “speaks” or “desert”; מדובר ב־ is the pu'al impersonal “it concerns.”
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- The Pi'el Verbs You Meet FirstB1 — Seventeen pi'el verbs carry most of a beginner's first months — and the hard part is not their conjugation, which is uniform, but the preposition each one insists on.
- Verbs Governed by על: חשב על, ויתר על, הסתכל עלB2 — Learn common Hebrew verbs whose topic, protected object, repeated item, or target is introduced by על.
- עם: WithA1 — עם is company — a person, a dog, or the milk in your coffee. It is not the 'with' of tools, which is ב־. And it hides the strangest paradigm in the language: 'with me' is איתי, a word that shares not one letter with עם.
- אמר — to sayA1 — A complete reference for אמר, including its cholam future, אומר stress collision, spoken הגיד replacements, government, and contrasts with סיפר and דיבר.