שמע shamá, “hear,” is pa'al, root ש־מ־ע. Its final ע makes it a ל״ע verb: the consonants remain visible, but the guttural changes the future vowel, the masculine and feminine present, and the infinitive. Lexically, Hebrew separates passive hearing from deliberate listening more clearly than English does.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | שָׁמַעְתִּי shamáti | אֶשְׁמַע eshmá |
| אתה | שָׁמַעְתָּ shamáta | תִּשְׁמַע tishmá |
| את | שָׁמַעְתְּ shamát | תִּשְׁמְעִי tishme'í |
| הוא | שָׁמַע shamá | יִשְׁמַע yishmá |
| היא | שָׁמְעָה sham'á | תִּשְׁמַע tishmá |
| אנחנו | שָׁמַעְנוּ shamánu | נִשְׁמַע nishmá |
| אתם · אתן | שְׁמַעְתֶּם · שְׁמַעְתֶּן shma'atém · shma'atén | תִּשְׁמְעוּ tishme'ú |
| הם · הן | שָׁמְעוּ sham'ú | יִשְׁמְעוּ yishme'ú |
| formal/literary feminine plural | — | תִּשְׁמַעְנָה tishmána |
| Form type | Forms | Register or use |
|---|---|---|
| present | שׁוֹמֵעַ shoméa · שׁוֹמַעַת shomá'at · שׁוֹמְעִים shom'ím · שׁוֹמְעוֹת shom'ót | neutral, everyday |
| imperative | שְׁמַע shma · שִׁמְעִי shim'í · שִׁמְעוּ shim'ú | marked outside fixed or elevated uses |
| infinitive | לִשְׁמוֹעַ lishmóa | neutral, written לשמוע |
| action noun | שְׁמִיעָה shmi'á | hearing; the faculty or act of hearing |
Everyday second-person plural past normally keeps the stem stress: שָׁמַעְתֶּם / שָׁמַעְתֶּן, shamátem / shamáten. The table also preserves the careful normative vocalization. Modern speech uses תשמעו / ישמעו for groups of every gender; תשמענה is (formal or literary).
לא שמעתי מה אמרת, היה פה רעש.
lo shamáti ma amárta, hayá po rá'ash
I didn't hear what you said; it was noisy here. (to a man)
שמעת על זה? דחו שוב את הפגישה.
shamáta al ze? dakhú shuv et hapgishá
Did you hear about it? They postponed the meeting again. (to a man)
What the final ע changes
Three visible effects come from the same articulatory fact: a guttural resists certain vowels and clusters beside it.
| Effect | שמע | Strong-verb comparison |
|---|---|---|
| future theme vowel becomes a | יִשְׁמַע yishmá | יִשְׁמֹר yishmór |
| furtive patach before final ע | שׁוֹמֵעַ shoméa · לִשְׁמוֹעַ lishmóa | כּוֹתֵב kotév · לִכְתּוֹב likhtóv |
| feminine present has a-a | שׁוֹמַעַת shomá'at | כּוֹתֶבֶת kotévet |
The furtive patach is written under the final ע but pronounced before it; it never carries stress. That is why shoméa and lishmóa end in -ea / -oa, not -eá / -oá. The plurals שומעים / שומעות have an ending after the ע, so there is no furtive vowel there.
אני שומעת מוזיקה כשאני מבשלת.
aní shomá'at múzika kshe'aní mevashélet
I listen to music while I cook. (f. speaker; ordinary background listening)
Hear, listen and obey
English hear and listen overlap, but Hebrew offers a useful three-way split. שמע normally reports auditory perception: a sound reaches you. It can also describe ordinary, unmarked consumption of music or a program. הקשיב ל־ foregrounds deliberate attention: “listen closely to.” שמע בקול־ is the governed expression “obey / do as someone says.” The ב is part of that last construction.
לא רק שמעתי אותה; הקשבתי לכל מילה.
lo rak shamáti otá; hikshávti lekhól míla
I didn't just hear her; I listened to every word.
הילד שמע בקול הרופאה ונשאר בבית.
hayéled shamá bekól harof'á venish'ár babáyit
The child did what the doctor told him and stayed home.
The argument frames organize what kind of information reached the hearer:
| Frame | Meaning | Model |
|---|---|---|
| שמע את + definite object | hear the actual sound, words or person | שמעתי את החדשות |
| שמע על | hear about a topic or event | שמעת על השינוי? |
| שמע מ־ | hear from a source or person | לא שמעתי ממנו |
| שמע בקול־ | obey someone | שמע בקול המורה |
שמעתי ממנה שהמשרד עובר לתל אביב.
shamáti miména shehamisrád ovér letél avív
I heard from her that the office is moving to Tel Aviv.
תשמע as a conversational tool
The true imperative is real, but everyday speakers usually use future-shaped תשמע, תשמעי, תשמעו to take the floor, introduce a suggestion, soften disagreement or demand attention. In this discourse use, “listen” is often a better English equivalent than literal “you will hear.” The short imperative שמע survives prominently in the fixed liturgical phrase שמע ישראל (liturgical) and in elevated language.
תשמע, יש לי רעיון שאולי יחסוך לנו זמן.
tishmá, yesh li ra'ayón she'uláy yakhsókh lánu zman
Listen, I have an idea that might save us time. (informal, to a man)
תשמעו, אני מבין אתכם, אבל אי אפשר להמשיך ככה.
tishme'ú, aní mevín etkhém, avál i efshár lehamshíkh kákha
Listen, I understand you, but we can't carry on like this. (informal, to a group)
נשמע: one spelling, two systems
Unpointed נשמע can be pa'al נִשְׁמַע nishmá, “we will hear,” or a form of nif'al להישמע, “be heard / sound.” The everyday expressions מה נשמע? and נשמע טוב belong to nif'al, not to the pa'al future. The dedicated נשמע card gives the full nif'al paradigm.
מה נשמע אצלך? הרבה זמן לא דיברנו.
ma nishmá etselkhá? harbé zman lo dibárnu
How are things with you? We haven't spoken in a long time. (to a man)
נשמע טוב, ניפגש ליד התחנה בשמונה.
nishmá tov, nipagésh leyád hatakhaná bishmóne
Sounds good; we'll meet by the station at eight.
Common Mistakes
1. Building the future with a cholam.
❌ מחר אני אשמוע את ההקלטה.
Incorrect as a future of שמע — final ע requires the a-future אשמע, with no ו.
✅ מחר אני אשמע את ההקלטה ואשלח לך הערות.
makhár aní eshmá et hahaklatá ve'eshlákh lekhá he'arót
Tomorrow I'll listen to the recording and send you comments. (to a man)
2. Distinguishing direct perception from “hear about.”
✅ שמעת את התאונה?
shamáta et hate'uná?
Did you hear the crash itself? (to a man; direct perception)
✅ שמעת על התאונה שהייתה הבוקר?
shamáta al hate'uná shehaytá habóker?
Did you hear about the accident this morning? (to a man)
3. Distinguishing a heard voice from obedience.
✅ הוא שמע את קול המדריך.
hu shamá et kol hamadríkh.
He heard the guide's voice. (direct perception)
✅ הוא שמע בקול המדריך ולא נכנס למים.
hu shamá bekól hamadríkh velo nikhnás lamáyim
He obeyed the guide and didn't go into the water.
Key Takeaways
- Final ע gives שומע / שומעת, the a-future ישמע, and infinitive לשמוע with a furtive patach.
- Use שמע את for a definite sound or words, שמע על for a topic, שמע מ־ for a source and שמע בקול־ for obedience.
- הקשיב ל־ highlights deliberate attention; שמע remains normal for passive hearing and unmarked listening.
- Conversational תשמע / תשמעי / תשמעו are future forms used as informal attention-getting commands.
- נשמע may be pa'al “we will hear” or nif'al “sounds / is heard”; context and pointing separate them.
Now practice Hebrew
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Pa'al with ח or ע as Third Radical (שלח, שמע, פתח)B1 — Verbs ending in ח or ע grow a vowel nobody put there: שׁוֹמֵעַ is shoméa and לִפְתּוֹחַ is liftóakh. The furtive patach is written under the guttural and pronounced before it, and it is the single most audible thing about this class.
- נשמע — to sound, to be heardB1 — Conjugate נשמע and distinguish evaluative sounding, literal audibility, the greeting מה נשמע, and the pa'al homograph.
- 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.
- Frozen Imperatives Israelis Keep: סע, תן, קח, שב, לךB1 — Memorize the compact true imperatives that remain natural in Israeli speech, their future competitors, and the discourse-marker uses of עזוב and שמע.
- אהב — to love, to likeA2 — Conjugate אהב in both future patterns and use the same everyday verb for loving people, liking things and enjoying activities.