ישב — to sit, to be seated | Hebrew Grammar

ישב yasháv means “sit,” “be seated” and, in some contexts, remain or spend time in a place. It is a pa'al verb with root י־ש־ב. The initial י survives in the past and present but becomes a vowel in the future and disappears from the imperative and infinitive. That alternation produces several common forms that look identical without vowels.

Principal parts

Part	Pointed ktiv male	Reading	Meaning
3ms past	יָשַׁב	yasháv	he sat / was seated
ms present	יוֹשֵׁב	yoshév	sits / is sitting
3ms future	יֵשֵׁב	yeshév	he will sit
infinitive	לָשֶׁבֶת	lashévet	to sit
verbal noun	יְשִׁיבָה	yeshivá	sitting; meeting/session; yeshiva

אני יושב ליד החלון, איפה את?

aní yoshév leyád hakhalón, éifo at?

I'm sitting by the window—where are you? (m. speaker to a woman)

ישבנו בבית קפה שעתיים ודיברנו על הכול.

yashávnu beveit kafé sha'atáyim vedibárnu al hakól.

We hung out in a café for two hours and talked about everything. (informal)

Conjugation

Person	Past	Future
אני	יָשַׁבְתִּי yashávti	אֵשֵׁב eshév
אתה	יָשַׁבְתָּ yashávta	תֵּשֵׁב teshév
את	יָשַׁבְתְּ yashávt	תֵּשְׁבִי teshví
הוא	יָשַׁב yasháv	יֵשֵׁב yeshév
היא	יָשְׁבָה yashvá	תֵּשֵׁב teshév
אנחנו	יָשַׁבְנוּ yashávnu	נֵשֵׁב neshév
אתם / אתן	יָשַׁבְתֶּם / יָשַׁבְתֶּן yashávtem / yashávten	תֵּשְׁבוּ teshvú
הם / הן	יָשְׁבוּ yashvú	יֵשְׁבוּ yeshvú

Present agreement	Form
masculine singular	יוֹשֵׁב yoshév
feminine singular	יוֹשֶׁבֶת yoshévet
masculine plural	יוֹשְׁבִים yoshvím
feminine plural	יוֹשְׁבוֹת yoshvót

The normal conversational forms ישבתם / ישבתן are initial-stressed yashávtem / yashávten, as printed in the table. Careful formal recitation also has final-stressed yeshavtém / yeshavtén. Modern Hebrew uses תשבו / ישבו for plural groups of every gender; dedicated feminine תשבנה forms are (formal or literary).

מחר נשב יחד ונעבור על כל הסעיפים.

makhár neshév yákhad vena'avór al kol hase'ifím.

Tomorrow we'll sit together and go over all the clauses.

הם ישבו בשורה הראשונה, אז שמרו להם מקום.

hem yeshvú bashurá harishoná, az shimrú lahém makóm.

They'll sit in the front row, so save them a place.

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Unpointed ישב is past yasháv, “he sat,” or future yeshév, “he will sit.” Unpointed ישבו is past yashvú or future yeshvú. Time words and sentence context do the work that vowels would do.

Imperative and irregular infinitive

The true imperative is שֵׁב shev to one man, שְׁבִי shví to one woman and שְׁבוּ shvú to a group. These are entirely current. They can be welcoming, neutral or sharp depending on intonation, so English sit down does not by itself tell you the social force.

שב, הכנתי לך קפה.

shev, hekhánti lekhá kafé.

Sit down, I made you coffee. (to a man; welcoming)

שבו איפה שנוח לכם, אנחנו כבר מתחילים.

shvú éifo shenóakh lakhém, anákhnu kvar matkhilím.

Sit wherever you're comfortable; we're about to start. (to a group)

The infinitive לשבת lashévet drops the initial י and adds final ת. Several very old, high-frequency pa'al verbs show related irregular infinitives, but their vowels must be learned individually: לָשֶׁבֶת lashévet · לָלֶכֶת lalékhet · לָרֶדֶת larédet · לָדַעַת ladá'at · לָצֵאת latsét. Compare ישן, “sleep,” whose infinitive לִישׁוֹן lishón keeps the yod. These principal parts must be learned verb by verb; the pa'al initial-י page organizes the larger class.

אין איפה לשבת, כל השולחנות תפוסים.

ein éifo lashévet, kol hashulkhanót tfusím.

There's nowhere to sit; all the tables are occupied.

הילד עייף אבל לא רוצה לישון.

hayéled ayéf avál lo rotsé lishón.

The boy is tired but doesn't want to sleep.

Sitting, sitting down and spending time

ישב can describe both a seated state and the event of taking a seat. When the transition itself matters—choosing a place, settling deliberately—התיישב “sat down/settled” makes it explicit. English normally insists on sit versus sit down; Hebrew often lets context supply that distinction.

היא התיישבה לידי והתחילה לספר מה קרה.

hi hityashvá leyadí vehitkhíla lesapér ma kará.

She sat down next to me and started telling me what happened.

כל הערב ישבתי על הספה ולא עשיתי כלום.

kol ha'érev yashávti al hasapá velo asíti klum.

I sat on the sofa all evening and did nothing.

In (informal) speech, ישבנו בבית קפה can mean more than body position: “we sat/hung out at a café.” The duration and social activity make that reading natural. This is not a separate conjugation or a slang replacement for the core meaning.

Prepositions and fixed uses

Physical support commonly takes על: יושב על כיסא. A containing or institutional place takes ב־: יושב במשרד, ישב בכלא. Position relative to something takes ליד, and company takes עם.

הוא ישב בכלא שלוש שנים אחרי המשפט.

hu yasháv bakéle shalósh shaním akharéi hamishpát.

He spent three years in prison after the trial. (neutral; ישב means served time)

יושב ראש yoshév rosh is the lexical title “chairperson/chair.” Its feminine counterpart is יושבת ראש. Here יושב is part of a fixed compound, not an assertion that the chairperson is physically sitting.

יושבת הראש פתחה את הישיבה בעשר בדיוק.

yoshévet harósh patkhá et hayeshivá be'éser bediyúk.

The chair opened the meeting at exactly ten. (formal institutional context)

The noun ישיבה therefore spans “sitting,” an institutional “meeting/session,” and a yeshiva, a Jewish religious academy. Context usually distinguishes the senses immediately.

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For location, learn the noun together with its preposition: על כיסא, במשרד, ליד החלון, עם חברים. English “sit at/in/on” does not map word for word onto Hebrew.

Key Takeaways

Learn יָשַׁב – יוֹשֵׁב – יֵשֵׁב – לָשֶׁבֶת as one principal-parts set.
Initial י becomes a vowel in the future and disappears in שב and לשבת.
Unpointed ישב / ישבו can be past or future; pronunciation and context distinguish them.
ישב can express a seated state or sitting down; התיישב foregrounds the deliberate transition.
Fixed uses include יושב ראש, ישב בכלא, and the social ישבנו בבית קפה.

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