In short

You already build the pa’al present (binoni) — כותב (kotev), כותבת (kotevet), כותבים (kotvim), כותבות (kotvot). The three derived binyanim — פיעל (pi’el), הפעיל (hif’il) and התפעל (hitpa’el) — form their present the same way: four forms, agreeing in gender + number only, never person. Everything you learned in lesson 6 about how the binoni behaves carries straight over.

What changes is the shape. Each derived binyan has its own vowel skeleton, but they share one loud giveaway: every derived present form opens with מ (m-). Pa’al starts on the first root letter (כותב); the derived binyanim stack a מ in front (מדבר, מדליק, מתלבש). Hear or see that מ and you know at once the verb is not pa’al. This lesson covers strong (fully regular) roots only.

The rule

• All three derived binyanim mark the present with a מ prefix. Read the vowel right after that מ to tell them apart: me- is pi’el (מדבר, medaber), ma- is hif’il (מדליק, madlik), mit- is hitpa’el (מתלבש, mitlabesh). Pa’al adds no such prefix (a pa’al present starts with מ only when its root does, as מוכר (mocher, “sells”) does), so the prefix is your fastest recognition cue.

• Pi’el — the pattern meCaCeC. Slot the root into me·Ca·CeC: from ד־ב־ר (d-b-r, “speak”) you get מדבר (medaber). Feminine singular adds ־ת (-et): מדברת (medaberet). The plurals take ־ים / ־ות and, exactly as in pa’al, the singular “e” drops: מדברים (medabrim), מדברות (medabrot). Another: ל־מ־ד in pi’el is מלמד (melamed, “teaches”), not the pa’al לומד (lomed, “learns”) — same root, different binyan, different meaning.

• Hif’il — the pattern maCCiC, and watch the feminine. From ד־ל־ק (d-l-k, “light/kindle”) the m.sg is מדליק (madlik, “turns on”). Here the feminine singular does not take ־ת: it ends in ־ה (-a) — מדליקה (madlika), never madleket. The plurals are מדליקים (madlikim) and מדליקות (madlikot), and because hif’il’s stressed “i” is stable, nothing drops. Likewise ר־ג־ש → מרגיש (margish, “feels”), מרגישה (margisha), מרגישים (margishim), מרגישות (margishot).

• Hitpa’el — the pattern mitCaCeC, and it is reflexive in flavour. From ל־ב־ש (l-b-sh, “dress”) comes מתלבש (mitlabesh, “gets dressed”). Feminine singular adds ־ת: מתלבשת (mitlabeshet). Plurals drop the “e” like pi’el: מתלבשים (mitlabshim), מתלבשות (mitlabshot). Also ר־ג־ש in hitpa’el is מתרגש (mitragesh, “gets excited”) — same radicals as the hif’il מרגיש, but a different binyan and meaning.

• A sibilant-initial hitpa’el root metathesizes the ת. When the first root letter is a sibilant — ס, שׁ, שׂ — the ת of the מת prefix swaps places with it. So ש־מ־ש (“use”) is not mit-shamesh but משתמש (mishtamesh); ס־ד־ר (“arrange, manage”) is not mit-sader but מסתדר (mistader). The מ stays put; only the ת slides in behind the sibilant. The sibilants צ and ז swap too, and the ת also changes its sound: מצטער (mitzta’er, “is sorry”), מזדקן (mizdaken, “grows old”).

• Otherwise it is business as usual from lesson 6. The binoni agrees in gender and number, never person — one form covers “I / you / he”. The subject pronoun therefore stays obligatory (אני מדבר and הוא מדבר are the same word), there is no copula, and one form means both “speaks” and “is speaking”.

Forms & patterns

Spot the prefix — the three derived binyanim vs. pa’al (m.sg shown):

Pi’el (meCaCeC) — f.sg -et, “e” drops in the plural:

Hif’il (maCCiC) — f.sg is -a (not -et), nothing drops:

Hitpa’el (mitCaCeC) — f.sg -et, “e” drops in the plural:

Hitpa’el with a sibilant first radical — the ת metathesizes (מ stays, ת moves behind the sibilant):

Examples

Common mistakes

• הוא דבר עברית -> הוא מדבר עברית (hu medaber ivrit) - never drop the מ; every derived present verb opens with it, and without the prefix you are left with a bare root, not a verb.
• היא מדלקת אור -> היא מדליקה אור (hi madlika or) - hif’il feminine singular ends in -a (madlika), not -et; there is no “madleket”.
• הוא מתשמש במחשב -> הוא משתמש במחשב (hu mishtamesh ba-machshev) - a sibilant-initial hitpa’el root metathesizes: the ת of the prefix trades places with the ש (mit-shamesh → mishtamesh).
• אני מתסדר בעבודה -> אני מסתדר בעבודה (ani mistader ba-avoda) - same metathesis with ס — the ת slips in behind it (mit-sader → mistader), never *mit-sader.
• הם מדברות -> הם מדברים (hem medabrim) - gender still has to agree: הם is masculine plural, so it takes the m.pl form.
• הם מדברים (medaberim) -> הם מדברים (medabrim) - in pi’el and hitpa’el the singular “e” drops in the plural, exactly as in pa’al (kotev → kotvim); say medabrim, not medaberim.
• אני הוא מדבר עברית -> אני מדבר עברית (ani medaber ivrit) - no copula with a verb; the binoni is the whole predicate, so never wedge a הוא / היא in front of it.

Tips

• The מ is your radar. Pa’al present has no prefix (kotev); a present verb that starts with מ is almost always pi’el, hif’il or hitpa’el. Read the vowel after it — me-, ma-, mit- — to name the binyan.
• Feminine singular splits by binyan: pi’el and hitpa’el take ־ת (medaberet, mitlabeshet), but hif’il takes ־ה / -a (madlika). Don’t level them into one ending.
• Plurals reduce in pi’el and hitpa’el — the singular “e” drops: medaber → medabrim, mitlabesh → mitlabshim. Hif’il keeps its “i”: madlik → madlikim, nothing drops.
• For a sibilant-initial hitpa’el (ס, שׁ, שׂ), swap the ת behind the sibilant and drill the result as one word: mishtamesh, mistader. That way the metathesis becomes automatic and you never say *mit-shamesh.
• Same radicals can live in different binyanim — ר־ג־ש gives מרגיש (margish, “feels”) in hif’il but מתרגש (mitragesh, “gets excited”) in hitpa’el; ל־מ־ד gives pa’al לומד (learns) vs. pi’el מלמד (teaches). Learn the binyan, not just the root.
• All of lesson 6 still applies: agree in gender + number only (never person), keep the subject pronoun, use no copula, and remember one form covers both “speaks” and “is speaking”.
• This is strong roots only. Roots with a guttural or a missing radical shift these vowels; those weak-root (gzarot) patterns come later.