קרא kará means “read,” “call,” or “name.” Its root ק־ר־א belongs to the pa'al ל״א class: final א stays in every written form but is usually quiescent, or silent, in Israeli pronunciation. That silent letter shapes the vowels and creates several look-alikes that a practical reference card must keep apart.
Principal parts
| Part | Pointed ktiv male | Reading | Core meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms past | קָרָא | kará | he read / called |
| ms present | קוֹרֵא | koré | reads / is reading; calls |
| 3ms future | יִקְרָא | yikrá | he will read / call |
| infinitive | לִקְרוֹא | likró | to read / call |
| verbal noun | קְרִיאָה | kri'á | reading; call, summons or shout |
אני קורא עיתון כל בוקר בדרך לעבודה.
aní koré itón kol bóker badérekh la'avodá
I read a newspaper every morning on the way to work. (m. speaker)
Conjugation
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | קָרָאתִי karáti | אֶקְרָא ekrá |
| אתה | קָרָאתָ karáta | תִּקְרָא tikrá |
| את | קָרָאת karát | תִּקְרְאִי tikre'í |
| הוא | קָרָא kará | יִקְרָא yikrá |
| היא | קָרְאָה kar'á | תִּקְרָא tikrá |
| אנחנו | קָרָאנוּ karánu | נִקְרָא nikrá |
| אתם | קְרָאתֶם kratém | תִּקְרְאוּ tikre'ú |
| אתן | קְרָאתֶן kratén | תִּקְרְאוּ tikre'ú |
| הם / הן | קָרְאוּ kar'ú | יִקְרְאוּ yikre'ú |
| formal/literary feminine plural; not used in speech | — | תִּקְרֶאנָה tikréna |
| Present agreement | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | קוֹרֵא koré |
| feminine singular | קוֹרֵאת korét |
| masculine plural | קוֹרְאִים kor'ím |
| feminine plural | קוֹרְאוֹת kor'ót |
Careful formal recitation has final-stressed קְרָאתֶם / קְרָאתֶן. Everyday speech normally says קָרָאתֶם / קָרָאתֶן, karátem / karáten. Modern plural תקראו / יקראו serves every gender; תקראנה is (formal or literary) and not used in ordinary conversation.
קראתי את ההודעה שלך בדרך הביתה.
karáti et hahoda'á shelkhá badérekh habáyta
I read your message on the way home. (to a man)
תקראי את זה בבקשה ותגידי לי מה דעתך.
tikre'í et ze bevakashá vetagídi li ma da'tékh
Please read this and tell me what you think. (to a woman)
Why the silent א still matters
The final א takes no dagesh and closes no syllable. In קָרָאתִי, the sequence is ka-rá-ti: the א stays on the page but is not pronounced as a separate consonant. A strong verb such as כָּתַבְתִּי katávti closes the stressed syllable with its third radical; קרא does not.
The same class effect appears in the feminine present. Strong כתב has כּוֹתֶבֶת kotévet, with segol, but קרא has קוֹרֵאת korét, keeping tsere before the silent א. The pa'al ל״א page shows the same pattern in מצא and יצא, and ל״א across the binyanim tracks the radical outside pa'al.
Imperative and non-finite forms
| Addressee | Imperative |
|---|---|
| one man | קְרָא kra |
| one woman | קִרְאִי kir'í |
| group | קִרְאוּ kir'ú |
The true imperative is natural in instructions and direct requests. Conversational future תקרא / תקראי / תקראו often feels less clipped. The infinitive is לִקְרוֹא likró, unpointed לקרוא; the verbal noun קריאה can be a reading, a summons, a call or a shout, depending on context.
קרא את ההוראות לפני שאתה מפעיל את המכשיר.
kra et hahora'ót lifnéi she'atá maf'íl et hamakhshír
Read the instructions before you turn on the device. (to a man)
Reading: direct object and ב־ source
What is read is a direct object. A definite object takes את: קראתי את הספר; an indefinite one does not: קראתי ספר. Use ב־ when the language, book or source is treated as the medium in which someone reads: קורא בעברית, קראתי על זה בספר.
היא קוראת בעברית בלי מילון, אבל כותבת לאט.
hi korét be'ivrít bli milón, avál kotévet le'át
She reads in Hebrew without a dictionary, but writes slowly.
קראתי על המחקר הזה בעיתון הבוקר.
karáti al hamekhkár hazé be'itón habóker
I read about that study in the morning paper.
Calling, summoning and naming
With ל־ + person, קרא can mean “call to / summon”: קרא לי “call me,” קראו לנו “they called us.” This is not telephone התקשר ל־; it is calling out, asking someone to come or summoning them.
קראו לנו להיכנס לחדר הרופא.
kar'ú lánu lehikanés lakhadár harofé
They called us in to the doctor's office.
קרא לי כשתגיע לכניסה, ואני ארד.
kra li kshetagía laknisá, va'aní eréd
Call out to me when you reach the entrance, and I'll come down. (to a man)
For naming, קרא has the basic sense “give a name.” Everyday Hebrew asks a person's name with impersonal plural איך קוראים לך?, literally “How do they call you?” The answer uses the same frame: קוראים לי דנה. Hebrew does not need a present-tense verb built on שם “name” in this exchange.
איך קוראים לך? קוראים לי דנה.
eikh kor'ím lakh? kor'ím li dána
What's your name? My name is Dana. (to a woman)
איך קוראים לזה בעברית?
eikh kor'ím lazé be'ivrít?
What is this called in Hebrew?
קרא and קרה: read/call or happen?
Unpointed קרא and קרה, קורא and קורה, יקרא and יקרה differ only in the final letter. Past 3ms and present ms are even homophonous: both pairs are kará and koré. Other cells separate by vowel or ending. The related קרה reference card gives the full “happen” paradigm.
| קרא — read/call | קרה — happen | What distinguishes them |
|---|---|---|
| מָה קָרָאת? ma karát? | מָה קָרָה? ma kará? | final t: “What did you read?” / “What happened?” |
| הוּא קוֹרֵא hu koré | זֶה קוֹרֶה ze koré | same sound; subject and syntax |
| יִקְרָא בְּקוֹל yikrá bekól | יִקְרֶה מַשֶּׁהוּ yikré máshehu | a “will read” vs e “will happen” |
מה קרה? שמעתי רעש מהמטבח.
ma kará? shamáti rá'ash mehamitbákh
What happened? I heard a noise from the kitchen.
מה קראת? את נראית ממש מופתעת.
ma karát? at nir'ét mamásh muftá'at
What did you read? You look really surprised. (to a woman)
הוא קורא בקול בזמן שזה קורה בחוץ.
hu koré bekól bizmán shezé koré bakhúts
He's reading aloud while it's happening outside.
נקרא: one spelling, one sound, two analyses
Pa'al future 1pl נִקְרָא nikrá means “we will read.” Nif'al present masculine singular נִקְרָא nikrá, from להיקרא, means “is called” or “is read.” Pointing and pronunciation do not separate them; word order and the surrounding arguments do.
הספר נקרא מסע צפונה, והוא יצא השנה.
haséfer nikrá masá tsafóna, vehu yatsá hashaná
The book is called Journey North, and it came out this year.
נקרא את הספר יחד ואז נדבר עליו.
nikrá et haséfer yákhad ve'áz nedabér aláv
We'll read the book together and then talk about it.
Key Takeaways
- Learn קָרָא – קוֹרֵא – יִקְרָא – לִקְרוֹא as one ל״א set; final א stays written but is usually silent.
- Feminine present is קוֹרֵאת korét, not the strong-verb כותבת vowel pattern.
- Reading takes a direct object; ב־ can mark a language, book or source. Calling/summoning and naming use ל־.
- איך קוראים לך? / קוראים לי… is the ordinary name exchange.
- Context separates קרא from קרה and pa'al נקרא “we will read” from nif'al נקרא “is called / read.”
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Pa'al ל״א: מצא, קרא, יצאB1 — Where ל״ה loses its final letter the moment an ending arrives, ל״א keeps its א in every single form and simply stops pronouncing it. That one difference reverses the feminine present — מוֹצֵאת, not a ־ָה form — and produces the קרא/קרה collision, which is not the one most books describe.
- קרה — to happenA2 — Conjugate קרה, build event-subject clauses with an affected ל־ phrase, and keep ‘happen’ distinct from קרא ‘read/call.’
- ל״א Across the BinyanimC1 — Nothing is lost in this class: the א is written throughout, although it is usually quiescent at the end of the stem. Before consonantal past endings, the open syllable preserves the class's long vowel, producing the recurring sequence מִילֵּאתִי, הִמְצֵאתִי, נִמְצֵאתִי, הִתְמַלֵּאתִי.
- Dialogue: Meeting Someone for the First TimeA1 — Twelve lines between two strangers in a queue at a conference desk, then the grammar behind them: why half the sentences have no verb at all, why your age needs the word בן or בת, and why every second word changes depending on who is talking to whom.