סיפר sipér, “tell, relate, narrate,” is regular pi'el, root ס־פ־ר. Its middle פ carries pi'el's dagesh and is pronounced hard p throughout the active paradigm: sipér, mesapér, yesapér, lesapér. The verb usually presents content as a story, account, or developed piece of information, rather than as one quoted utterance.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | סִיפַּרְתִּי sipárti | אֲסַפֵּר asapér |
| אתה | סִיפַּרְתָּ sipárta | תְּסַפֵּר tesapér |
| את | סִיפַּרְתְּ sipárt | תְּסַפְּרִי tesaprí |
| הוא | סִיפֵּר sipér | יְסַפֵּר yesapér |
| היא | סִיפְּרָה siprá | תְּסַפֵּר tesapér |
| אנחנו | סִיפַּרְנוּ sipárnu | נְסַפֵּר nesapér |
| אתם / אתן | סִיפַּרְתֶּם / סִיפַּרְתֶּן sipártem / sipárten | תְּסַפְּרוּ tesaprú |
| הם / הן | סִיפְּרוּ siprú | יְסַפְּרוּ yesaprú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מְסַפֵּר mesapér · מְסַפֶּרֶת mesapéret · מְסַפְּרִים mesaprím · מְסַפְּרוֹת mesaprót | neutral |
| imperative | סַפֵּר sapér · סַפְּרִי saprí · סַפְּרוּ saprú | live; future commands are also common |
| infinitive | לְסַפֵּר lesapér | neutral |
| action noun | סִיפּוּר sipúr | story, tale, account |
| pu'al participle | מְסוּפָּר mesupár | told, related; it is told |
Careful סיפרתם / סיפרתן has final stress, sipartém / sipartén; ordinary conversation retracts it as in the table. Dedicated feminine plural תספרנה is (formal or literary). Pi'el's past yod distinguishes סיפר from unpointed ספר, which can be séfer “book,” sapár “barber,” or an imperative in several verb paradigms.
הוא סיפר לנו על הטיול ולא הפסיק לצחוק.
hu sipér lánu al hatiyúl velo hifsík litskhók.
He told us about the trip and couldn't stop laughing.
ספרי לי מה קרה אחרי שיצאתם מהמסעדה.
saprí li ma kará akharéi sheyetsátem mehamis'adá.
Tell me what happened after you left the restaurant. (to a woman)
Hearer with ל־, content in three shapes
The hearer takes ל־: סיפרתי לך, סיפרה לי, סיפרנו להם. The content can be a topic with על, a proposition with ש־, or the cognate direct object סיפור. These slots can combine because they answer different questions—who heard, and what was told.
| Role | Frame | Model |
|---|---|---|
| hearer | ל־ + person | סיפרתי לך |
| topic | על + topic | סיפרתי על הטיול |
| proposition | ש־ + clause | סיפרתי שהיא עוברת דירה |
| story | direct object | סיפרתי סיפור |
סיפרתי לך על זה אתמול, אתה באמת לא זוכר?
sipárti lekhá al ze etmól, atá be'emét lo zokhér?
I told you about it yesterday; do you really not remember? (to a man)
היא סיפרה לי שהיא עוברת דירה בסוף החודש.
hi siprá li shehí ovéret dirá besóf hakhódesh.
She told me she's moving at the end of the month.
ספר לי סיפור קצר לפני שאתה מכבה את האור.
sapér li sipúr katsár lifnéi she'atá mekhábe et ha'ór.
Tell me a short story before you turn off the light. (to a man)
With a work of art as subject, סיפר can take the story directly: הסרט מספר את סיפורה של…. The hearer is absent because the clause describes what the film narrates.
הסרט מספר את סיפורה של משפחה אחת במשך שלושה דורות.
haséret mesapér et sipurá shel mishpakhá akhát beméshekh shloshá dorót.
The film tells the story of one family over three generations.
סיפר, אמר and דיבר
סיפר narrates or develops an account. אמר reports words or a single proposition. דיבר describes the activity of speaking or conversing. This is a lexical contrast across registers, not a ladder from casual to formal: all three are ordinary words, but their argument frames and viewpoint differ.
הוא אמר שהרכבת מאחרת, ואז סיפר לנו מה קרה בתחנה.
hu amár sheharakévet me'akhéret, ve'áz sipér lánu ma kará batakhaná.
He said the train was late, then told us what had happened at the station.
דיברנו שעה, אבל הוא לא סיפר לי למה עזב.
dibárnu sha'á, avál hu lo sipér li láma azáv.
We talked for an hour, but he didn't tell me why he left.
The אמר reference card contrasts addressee ל־, content ש־, and conversational להגיד. אל תספר לאף אחד is therefore “don't tell anyone,” whereas אל תגיד את המילה הזאת focuses on saying a particular word.
אל תספר לאף אחד עד שנדבר עם המשפחה.
al tesapér le'af ekhád ad shenedabér im hamishpakhá.
Don't tell anyone until we speak to the family. (to a man)
Impersonal plural מספרים ש־ means “people say / it is said that” and often presents circulating information rather than an identified storyteller. It is common in conversation and journalistic scene-setting, though a sourced report should identify its source.
מספרים שהיא עוזבת, אבל היא עוד לא הודיעה כלום.
mesaprím shehí ozévet, avál hi od lo hodi'á klum.
They say she's leaving, but she hasn't announced anything yet.
The same verb can mean cut hair
Dictionaries also record pi'el סיפר for cutting hair. The barber can לספר מישהו, though everyday speakers very often use hitpa'el להסתפר from the client's viewpoint: “get one's hair cut.” The professional is ספר סַפָּר sapár, and מספרה mispará is a hair salon.
הספר סיפר אותו קצר מדי, והוא ממש לא מרוצה.
hasapár sipér otó katsár midái, vehú mamásh lo merutsé.
The barber cut his hair too short, and he's really unhappy.
אני צריך להסתפר לפני החתונה של אחותי.
aní tsaríkh lehistapér lifnéi hakhatuná shel akhotí.
I need to get a haircut before my sister's wedding. (m. speaker)
Finally, unpointed מספר is verb מְסַפֵּר mesapér “tells” or noun מִסְפָּר mispár “number.” Ktiv male מסופר is passive מְסוּפָּר mesupár, “told/related,” with a vav that the active participle lacks.
Key Takeaways
- The middle פ stays hard p throughout active pi'el: sipér, mesapér, lesapér.
- The hearer takes ל־; content takes על, a ש־ clause, or direct-object סיפור.
- סיפר develops an account, אמר reports an utterance, and דיבר describes speaking.
- The same pi'el verb also means cut hair; הסתפר means get a haircut and ספר is a barber.
- Unpointed מספר is mesapér “tells” or mispár “number”; מסופר is passive mesupár.
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