שם sam, “put,” is pa'al, root שׂ־י־ם. The first radical is sin שׂ, so this verb is sam, not sham; the middle yod makes it a hollow ע״י verb. Its past looks almost exactly like the ע״ו verb קם, but the future, imperative and infinitive reveal a long i: אשים, שים, לשים.
Principal parts
| Part | Pointed ktiv male | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms past | שָׂם | sam | he put |
| ms present | שָׂם | sam | puts / is putting |
| 3ms future | יָשִׂים | yasím | he will put |
| imperative | שִׂים | sim | put! (to one man) |
| infinitive | לָשִׂים | lasím | to put |
| action noun | שִׂימָה | simá | putting, placement (formal) |
איפה שמת את המפתחות של המחסן?
éifo sámta et hamaftekhót shel hamakhsán?
Where did you put the storeroom keys? (to a man)
שים את זה על השולחן, אני אטפל בזה אחר כך.
sim et ze al hashulkhán, aní atapél bazé akhár kakh
Put it on the table; I'll deal with it later. (to a man)
Complete conjugation
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | שַׂמְתִּי sámti | אָשִׂים asím |
| אתה | שַׂמְתָּ sámta | תָּשִׂים tasím |
| את | שַׂמְתְּ sámt | תָּשִׂימִי tasími |
| הוא | שָׂם sam | יָשִׂים yasím |
| היא | שָׂמָה sáma | תָּשִׂים tasím |
| אנחנו | שַׂמְנוּ sámnu | נָשִׂים nasím |
| אתם / אתן | שַׂמְתֶּם / שַׂמְתֶּן sámtem / sámten | תָּשִׂימוּ tasímu |
| הם / הן | שָׂמוּ sámu | יָשִׂימוּ yasímu |
| Present agreement | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | שָׂם sam |
| feminine singular | שָׂמָה samá |
| masculine plural | שָׂמִים samím |
| feminine plural | שָׂמוֹת samót |
Modern plural futures תשימו / ישימו serve all genders. Dedicated feminine forms such as תשמנה are (literary). The true imperatives are שים sim, שימי sími, and שימו símu; all remain current, especially in fixed expressions such as שים לב.
שמנו את הכיסאות בחוץ כי לא היה מקום בסלון.
sámnu et hakis'ót bakhúts ki lo hayá makóm basalón
We put the chairs outside because there wasn't room in the living room.
תשימי מים על האש ואני אחתוך את הירקות.
tasími máyim al ha'ésh va'aní ekhtókh et hayerakót
Put some water on the stove and I'll chop the vegetables. (to a woman; ordinary future-command)
שם may be the densest unpointed spelling in Hebrew
The three-letter form שם has three basic readings before inflection even begins:
| Pointed | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| שָׂם | sam | he put / puts (m.sg.) |
| שֵׁם | shem | name |
| שָׁם | sham | there |
The verb is the only reading with sin שׂ; the noun and adverb have shin שׁ, but ordinary unpointed writing hides that dot distinction too. Word order and complements do most of the work.
הוא שם שם את השם שלי בטעות.
hu sam sham et hashém shelí beta'út
He put my name there by mistake. (three readings from the same bare spelling)
Inflection produces further collisions:
| Bare spelling | Verb reading | Other reading |
|---|---|---|
| שמים | שָׂמִים samím “put” (m.pl.) | שָׁמַיִם shamáyim “sky / heavens” |
| שמות | שָׂמוֹת samót “put” (f.pl.) | שֵׁמוֹת shemót “names”; שְׁמוֹת shmot, Exodus |
הילדות שמות את השמות שלהן בראש הדף.
hayeladót samót et hashemót shelahén berósh hadáf
The girls put their names at the top of the page. (two readings of שמות)
הטייסים שמים לב לעננים בשמים.
hatayásim samím lev le'ananím bashamáyim
The pilots pay attention to the clouds in the sky. (two readings of שמים)
The hollow contrast: שם versus קם
שם and קם have different middle radicals—י versus ו—but the vowel letter disappears from their past and present singular forms. Their pasts therefore look structurally identical. The future and infinitive reveal the class.
| ע״י: שׂ־י־ם “put” | ע״ו: ק־ו־ם “get up” | |
|---|---|---|
| 1s past | שַׂמְתִּי sámti | קַמְתִּי kámti |
| 1s future | אָשִׂים asím | אָקוּם akúm |
| infinitive | לָשִׂים lasím | לָקוּם lakúm |
| imperative | שִׂים sim | קוּם kum |
קמתי בשש ושמתי קפה על האש.
kámti beshésh vesámti kafé al ha'ésh
I got up at six and put coffee on the stove.
מחר אקום מוקדם ואשים את החבילה ליד הדלת.
makhár akúm mukdám ve'asím et hakhavilá leyád hadélet
Tomorrow I'll get up early and put the parcel by the door.
Where something is put
The thing placed is a direct object. The location phrase then chooses the preposition appropriate to the spatial relation:
| Frame | Typical relation | Model |
|---|---|---|
| שם ב־ | inside a container or place | שם חלב במקרר |
| שם על | on a surface | שם כוס על השולחן |
| שם ל־ | for a beneficiary | שם לי אוכל |
| שם בצד | set aside | שם את העניין בצד |
שמתי לך אוכל במקרר וקינוח על השיש.
sámti lekhá ókhel bamekarér vekinúakh al hasháyish
I put some food in the fridge for you and dessert on the counter. (to a man)
נשים את הוויכוח בצד עד שכולם יירגעו.
nasím et havikúakh batsád ad shekulám yerag'ú
We'll set the argument aside until everyone calms down.
Collocations that carry the verb
| Combination | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|
| שם לב ל־ / ש־ | noticed; paid attention to | neutral and extremely frequent |
| שם דגש על | placed emphasis on | neutral to formal |
| שם קץ ל־ | put an end to | (formal / journalistic) |
| שם סוף ל־ | put an end to | neutral |
| שם פס על | deliberately ignored; did not care about | (informal slang) |
שמתי לב שהיא לא הגיעה, אז שלחתי לה הודעה.
sámti lev shehí lo higí'a, az shalákhti la hoda'á
I noticed she hadn't arrived, so I sent her a message.
הדוח שם דגש על בטיחות העובדים.
hadúakh sam dégesh al betikhút ha'ovdím
The report places emphasis on worker safety. (formal written context)
The dictionary action noun שימה is (formal) and appears naturally in phrases such as שימת לב “attention / noticing.” Everyday Hebrew usually selects a more specific noun instead: הנחה for laying or putting something down, and השמה for placement, assignment or recruitment. These nouns belong to different verbal derivations even though English may translate all of them with “placing.”
שימת לב לפרטים הקטנים יכולה למנוע טעויות.
simát lev lapratím haktaním yekholá limnóa ta'uyót
Attention to small details can prevent mistakes. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- The root begins with sin: שׂ־י־ם, so the verb is sam, not sham.
- Learn שָׂם – שָׂמִים – יָשִׂים – לָשִׂים – שִׂים; the long i reveals the ע״י class.
- Bare שם is sam “put,” shem “name,” or sham “there”; שמים and שמות add further common collisions.
- The past of שם matches the shape of קם, but אשים / לשים contrast with אקום / לקום.
- Use ב־ and על or another suitable locative for placement; ל־ in שם לי אוכל marks a beneficiary. Learn שים לב as the standard “pay attention / notice” frame.
- שימה is formal; ordinary nominal choices are sense-specific, especially הנחה and השמה.
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Pa'al ע״י Hollow Verbs: שם, שר, רבB1 — ע״י verbs are ע״ו verbs with one substitution: a long i where the other class has a long u. Past and present are identical in shape, which means nothing on the page tells you whether a hollow verb gives אָקוּם or אָשִׂים — that has to be learned with the word.
- קם — to get upA2 — Conjugate the hollow verb קם, distinguish getting up from waking, and read its tense collisions, universe homograph and institutional extensions.
- Pa'al ע״ו Hollow Verbs: קם, גר, בא, טסB1 — Roots whose middle letter is ו lose it entirely — you hear two consonants, never three. The past is stressed on the stem and the future is built on a long u, which together produce the most useful stress contrast a Hebrew learner will meet: bá'a 'she came' against ba'á 'she comes'.
- Collocations with שם, החזיק and הפסיקB2 — שם לב is the collocation with the best paper trail in Hebrew — a biblical phrase, a fixed ל before its object, and a second life as the word on every warning sign. Around it sit the שם, החזיק and הפסיק families, with the sourcing on each stated plainly.