Like every Hebrew present tense, the hif'il present has four forms and marks gender and number only — no person. What is new here is the shape: the ה of הִתְחִיל is gone, a מ stands in its place, and the stem carries a long i spelled with a yod.
The four forms
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | מַתְחִיל · מתחיל matkhíl | מַתְחִילִים · מתחילים matkhilím |
| feminine | מַתְחִילָה · מתחילה matkhilá | מַתְחִילוֹת · מתחילות matkhilót |
The pattern is מַקְטִיל: מ with a patach, the first root letter with a silent shva, then the long i. Three more verbs on the same frame:
| Root | m. sg. | f. sg. | m. pl. | f. pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ס־ב־ר explain | מַסְבִּיר masbír | מַסְבִּירָה masbirá | מַסְבִּירִים masbirím | מַסְבִּירוֹת masbirót |
| ר־ג־שׁ feel | מַרְגִּישׁ margísh | מַרְגִּישָׁה margishá | מַרְגִּישִׁים margishím | מַרְגִּישׁוֹת margishót |
| ז־מ־ן invite, order | מַזְמִין mazmín | מַזְמִינָה mazminá | מַזְמִינִים mazminím | מַזְמִינוֹת mazminót |
One thing to notice before you meet it by surprise: the feminine singular ends in ־ָה, not in ־ֶת. Pa'al gives כּוֹתֶבֶת, pi'el gives מְדַבֶּרֶת, hitpa'el gives מִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת — all with the segolate ־ֶת that pulls the stress back. Hif'il has none of that, so masbirá and margishá are ordinary מלרע words, stressed on the last syllable like everything else.
הסרט מתחיל ברבע לתשע, כדאי שנצא עכשיו.
haséret matkhíl beréva letésha, kedái shenetsé akhsháv
The film starts at a quarter to nine — we should get going.
אני מרגישה לא טוב, אני חושבת שאני חוזרת הביתה.
aní margishá lo tov, aní khoshévet she'aní khozéret habáyta
I'm not feeling well — I think I'm going home. (f. speaker)
המדריכים מסבירים את הכללים לפני שמתחילים.
hamadrikhím masbirím et haklalím lifnéi shematkhilím
The instructors explain the rules before they start.
המורות מסבירות את זה אחרת בכל כיתה.
hamorót masbirót et ze akhéret bekhól kitá
The teachers explain it differently in each class.
The test: a yod before the last root letter
Here is the recognition rule this page exists for. A present-tense verb that opens with מ and carries a long i, written with a yod, immediately before its last root letter is a hif'il. מתחיל, מסביר, מרגיש, מזמין, מכניס, מגיע — all hif'il, all with that yod.
It is worth stating the test that way rather than as "the stressed vowel is an i", because the stress moves. In the masculine singular the i is final and therefore stressed — matkhíl, masbír, mevín — but as soon as an ending is added the beat goes to the ending: matkhilá, matkhilím, masbirót. The yod stays put; the accent does not.
Now the two sub-classes, which change the prefix and leave the yod alone.
Hollow roots (ע״ו and ע״י) put a tsere on the מ in the masculine singular and a plain shva in the other three:
| Root | m. sg. | f. sg. | m. pl. | f. pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ב־י־ן understand | מֵבִין mevín | מְבִינָה meviná | מְבִינִים meviním | מְבִינוֹת mevinót |
| כ־ו־ן prepare | מֵכִין mekhín | מְכִינָה mekhiná | מְכִינִים mekhiním | מְכִינוֹת mekhinót |
| ק־ו־ם set up | מֵקִים mekím | מְקִימָה mekimá | מְקִימִים mekimím | מְקִימוֹת mekimót |
פ״י roots — those whose first radical was historically a ו — put a cholam-vav there instead:
| Root | m. sg. | f. sg. | m. pl. | f. pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| י־ר־ד take down, drop off | מוֹרִיד moríd | מוֹרִידָה moridá | מוֹרִידִים moridím | מוֹרִידוֹת moridót |
| י־ד־ע inform | מוֹדִיעַ modía | מוֹדִיעָה modi'á | מוֹדִיעִים modi'ím | מוֹדִיעוֹת modi'ót |
אתה מבין למה היא כועסת?
atá mevín láma hi ko'éset?
Do you get why she's angry? (to a man)
אני לא מבינה מה הוא רוצה ממני.
aní lo meviná ma hu rotsé miméni
I have no idea what he wants from me. (f. speaker)
אני מוריד את הילדים בגן בשמונה ורץ לעבודה.
aní moríd et hayeladím bagán bishmóne veráts la'avodá
I drop the kids at nursery at eight and run to work. (m. speaker)
Every other מ־ present, side by side
Five of the seven binyanim build their present with a מ, so the letter narrows the field without deciding it. The stem does the deciding:
| Form | Reading | Binyan | What settles it |
|---|---|---|---|
| מַתְחִיל | matkhíl | hif'il | מַ + silent shva + long i |
| מְדַבֵּר | medabér | pi'el | a…e, middle radical doubled |
| מִתְלַבֵּשׁ | mitlabésh | hitpa'el | a whole מִתְ syllable, then a…e |
| מְסוּדָּר | mesudár | pu'al | u in the stem |
| מוּזְמָן | muzmán | huf'al | מוּ + a — no i anywhere |
| מוֹרִיד | moríd | hif'il | מוֹ + long i |
| מֵבִין | mevín | hif'il | מֵ + long i |
Read the last three rows together. מוריד and מוזמן both open מו in ordinary writing, and nothing about that opening tells you which binyan you are in — moríd is hif'il "takes down", muzmán is huf'al "is invited". Only the stem vowel decides, and only the yod is visible on the page.
The spelling
Each of מתחיל, מסביר, מרגיש and מזמין carries exactly one yod, and it is the stem's i. There is nothing to spell at the front: the prefix vowel is a patach in מַתְחִיל, a tsere in מֵבִין, a cholam in מוֹרִיד — never an i, so there is no front vowel for a yod to spell and no מיתחיל. Nor is the *i you may remember from the past tense (hitkhíl, hisbír) written there, because a silent shva follows it. Both halves of that are set out on the Academy's ktiv male rules.
The one thing that can put a yod at the front is a root that begins with one. מֵיטִיב meitív "does good by" and מֵינִיקָה meiniká "is breastfeeding" are hif'il presents written מיטיב and מיניקה, because their roots are י־ט־ב and י־נ־ק — the yod is a root letter that happens to land next to the prefix, not a spelling of the prefix vowel.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping the dictionary form in the present. Word lists cite hif'il verbs as הרגיש / להרגיש, and the ה simply does not survive into the present tense.
❌ אני הרגיש לא טוב כל הבוקר
Incorrect — הרגיש is the past, 'he felt', and also the headword you looked up. The present replaces the ה with a מ: אני מרגיש (m.) / אני מרגישה (f.).
✅ אני מרגיש לא טוב כל הבוקר, אולי אני מתחיל להצטנן.
aní margísh lo tov kol habóker, ulái aní matkhíl lehitstanén
I've been feeling off all morning — I think I'm coming down with something. (m. speaker)
2. Using the huf'al participle where the hif'il one is needed. מוזמן is everywhere — on invitations, in "אתם מוזמנים" — so learners reach for it first and then give it an object.
❌ אני מוזמן אותך למסיבה בשבת
Incorrect — מוזמן is the passive, 'is invited', and a passive cannot take a direct object. Inviting someone is מזמין: אני מזמין אותך.
✅ אני מזמין אותך למסיבה בשבת, תביא את מי שבא לך.
aní mazmín otkhá lamsibá beshabát, taví et mi shebá lekhá
I'm inviting you to the party on Saturday — bring whoever you like. (m. to m.)
3. Letting the gender lapse halfway through the sentence. The present marks it, so every verb and adjective in the clause has to agree with the same speaker.
❌ אני מרגיש לא טוב, אני צריכה ללכת הביתה
Incorrect — מרגיש is masculine and צריכה is feminine, so the sentence has two different speakers in it. A woman says מרגישה … צריכה; a man says מרגיש … צריך.
✅ אני מרגישה לא טוב, אני צריכה ללכת הביתה.
aní margishá lo tov, aní tsrikhá lalékhet habáyta
I'm not feeling well, I need to go home. (f. speaker)
4. Keeping the beat on the stem once an ending is added. The present is the one tense where it moves — the past, the future and the imperative all hold it back.
❌ מסבירה
masbíra
Incorrect — masbirá, with the stress on the ending, like matkhilá and margishá. The stem-stressed reading belongs to the future: tasbíri, yasbíru.
✅ היא מסבירה את זה יותר טוב ממני.
hi masbirá et ze yotér tov miméni
She explains it better than I do.
Key Takeaways
- Four forms on the shape מַקְטִיל: מַתְחִיל · מַתְחִילָה · מַתְחִילִים · מַתְחִילוֹת — gender and number, no person.
- The recognition test is the yod before the last root letter, not the stress: מתחיל, מסביר, מרגיש, מזמין, מכניס all have it.
- The feminine singular ends in ־ָה, never ־ֶת — so masbirá is מלרע, unlike medabéret and kotévet.
- The stress moves onto the ending in the present (matkhilá, matkhilím) — and the present is the only place it does. The past and the future hold it on the stem (hitkhíla, tatkhíli, yatkhílu).
- Two sub-classes change the prefix and keep the yod: hollow מֵבִין · מְבִינָה · מְבִינִים · מְבִינוֹת, and פ״י מוֹרִיד, מוֹדִיעַ with a cholam-vav.
- A מו־ opening is ambiguous: moríd is hif'il, muzmán is huf'al, and only the stem vowel separates them.
- מת at the front is not hitpa'el. מתחיל, מתאים and מתמיד are hif'il verbs with ת as their first radical: matkhíl, not mitlabésh.
Now practice Hebrew
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- בניין הפעיל: Causative and Much MoreA2 — Hif'il is the third of the everyday active binyanim, and the one whose ה prefix keeps vanishing: it is there in הִתְחִיל, gone in מַתְחִיל and יַתְחִיל, back again in לְהַתְחִיל. Its other signature is a long i in the stem — and its reputation as 'the causative' will mislead you within a week.
- Hif'il Past: התחלתי, הסברת, הרגישA2 — Nine cells, the same personal endings as every other binyan, and one thing of its own: the stem vowel swings between a long i and a patach on a rule you can see at a glance — third person keeps the i, everyone else shortens it. This is also one of only three places where the hif'il ה is visible at all.
- Where Did the ה Go? להתחיל, יתחיל, מתחילB1 — One slot at the front of a hif'il verb, and three different letters competing for it. The ה holds the slot in the past, the infinitive and the imperative; מ takes it in the present and a person letter takes it in the future — and whatever wins inherits the ה's vowel.
- Hitpa'el Present: מתלבש, מסתכל, מתרגשA2 — Four forms, one syllable of prefix, and a stress pattern English speakers get wrong on the first try — plus the מ־ table that finally separates מתלבש from מתחיל, which is the pair learners actually fail on.
- Stress Shifts Inside a Verb ParadigmB1 — Hebrew stress is final almost everywhere, and the verb paradigm is the main place it moves: katáv but katávti, kotév but kotévet, and the hollow verbs where the beat alone separates bá'a 'she came' from ba'á 'she comes'.