In short

You already build the pa’al future (lesson 37) as prefix + stem (+ small ending): the person is carried by א / ת / י / נ (a/t/y/n) in front, and only the 2f.sg ־י (-i) and the plural ־ו (-u) add anything at the back. The three derived binyanim — pi’el, hif’il and hitpa’el — reuse that exact prefix set and those exact endings. Nothing new to learn there.

What changes from binyan to binyan is only one thing: the vowel on the prefix and the shape of the stem behind it. Pi’el gives ידבר (yedaber, “he’ll speak”), hif’il gives יזמין (yazmin, “he’ll order/invite”), hitpa’el gives יתלבש (yitlabesh, “he’ll get dressed”). Learn each binyan’s 3m.sg peg, re-prefix it for the rest, and watch two traps in particular — the hif’il ה that drops, and the pa’al i-prefix you must not carry into pi’el. Strong (שלמים, shlemim) roots only here.

The rule

• The prefixes and endings are the pa’al future set — reused unchanged. Every binyan marks person with the same four prefix letters — א (1sg), ת (2nd person + 3f.sg), י (3m.sg + 3rd plural), נ (1pl) — and the same two endings, ־י (2f.sg) and ־ו (plural). What you swap per binyan is the prefix vowel and the stem in between.

• Pi’el: an e-prefix, not pa’al’s i. The stem is ־דבר־ (-daber) and the ת / י / נ prefixes take e: תדבר (tedaber), ידבר (yedaber), נדבר (nedaber). This is the payload — do not carry over pa’al’s i (yidber is wrong; it is yedaber). The 1sg prefix opens to a: אדבר (adaber). Before a vowel ending the theme e drops: תדבר → תדברי (tedaber → tedabri), ידבר → ידברו (yedaber → yedabru).

• Hif’il: an a-prefix, an i-theme with its yod — and the ה DROPS. In the present you already say מזמין (mazmin, not mahzmin), and the future does the same: the prefix simply replaces the ה. So present מזמין / past הזמין / future יזמין (yazmin) — never יהזמין (yehazmin). The prefix vowel is a throughout: אזמין (azmin), תזמין (tazmin), יזמין (yazmin), נזמין (nazmin). And unlike the past (where 1st/2nd person lost the i and its yod — הזמנתי, hizmanti), the future keeps the theme-yod everywhere: azmin, tazmini, yazminu — always written with the י. Write יזמין, not יזמן (yazmen).

• Hitpa’el: an i-prefix that keeps the ת. The prefix is the person letter fused onto a ת: יתלבש (yi-t-labesh), תתלבש (ti-t-labesh, with two tavs), נתלבש (nitlabesh). The vowel is i on ת / י / נ and e on the 1sg: אתלבש (etlabesh). Like pi’el, the theme e drops before a vowel ending: תתלבשי (titlabshi), יתלבשו (yitlabshu). Don’t let the ת fall out (yilabesh is wrong; it is yitlabesh).

• Sibilant metathesis carries into the future. When the first root letter is a sibilant (ש / ס / צ / ז), the ת of the hitpa’el prefix swaps places with it — exactly as in the present and past — and the swap stays in the future. After צ and ז the ת also changes as it moves: it becomes ט after צ (יצטרך, yitztarech, “he’ll have to”) and ד after ז (יזדמן, yizdamen, “it’ll come up”) — never *יצתרך, never *יזתמן. With ש and ס the ת is unchanged: ש־מ־ש → להשתמש → ישתמש (yishtamesh, “he’ll use”); ס־ד־ר → להסתדר → יסתדר (yistader, “he’ll manage”). Write the swapped order, never יתשמש.

• תדבר / תזמין / תתלבש are each two people at once. With no niqqud, the ת-prefix form is both the 2m.sg “you (m) will…” and the 3f.sg “she will…” — תדבר is tedaber for both. The pronoun tells them apart (אתה תדבר vs. היא תדבר), just as in the pa’al future.

• No literary feminine-plural. Colloquial and standard MIH have no תדברנה / תזמנה: the masculine-plural ידברו / יזמינו / יתלבשו covers women too. The old ־נה feminine-plural is literary-only — teach and use the ־ו plural for both genders.

Forms & patterns

Pi’el — root ד־ב־ר (speak), infinitive לדבר (ledaber), 3m.sg ידבר (yedaber):

Hif’il — root ז־מ־ן (invite / order), infinitive להזמין (lehazmin), 3m.sg יזמין (yazmin):

The theme i (with its yod) survives in every person here — the opposite of the past, where only the 3rd person kept it.

Hitpa’el — root ל־ב־ש (get dressed), infinitive להתלבש (lehitlabesh), 3m.sg יתלבש (yitlabesh):

The prefix vowel — the one thing that differs per binyan (3m.sg peg + 1sg):

The hif’il ה across the tenses — present in past & infinitive, gone in present & future:

Sibilant metathesis in hitpa’el (the swap stays in the future):

Examples

Common mistakes

• הוא יִדבר (yidber) -> הוא ידבר (yedaber) - pi’el takes an e-prefix; don’t carry over pa’al’s i-prefix. It is yedaber, never *yidber.
• יהזמין (yehazmin) -> יזמין (yazmin) - the hif’il ה drops in the future (as in the present מזמין); the prefix simply replaces it.
• יזמן (yazmen) -> יזמין (yazmin) - keep the theme-yod in the future; unlike the past (הזמנתי, hizmanti), the future writes the י in every person.
• תדברנה (literary fem. plural) -> תדברו / ידברו (tedabru / yedabru) - MIH has no feminine-plural future; the ־ו plural covers women too.
• אני ידבר -> אני אדבר (adaber) - 1sg uses the א-prefix; *ידבר (yedaber) is “he will speak”.
• הוא ילבש (yilabesh) -> הוא יתלבש (yitlabesh) - hitpa’el keeps its ת after the prefix: yi-t-labesh, not a bare stem.
• יתשמש / התשמש -> ישתמש (yishtamesh) - a sibilant-initial hitpa’el swaps the ת with the ש (metathesis) in the future too; write the swapped order.

Tips

• Build every form as prefix + stem (+ ending). The א / ת / י / נ letters and the ־י / ־ו endings are the pa’al set from lesson 37 — only the prefix vowel and the stem change per binyan.
• Memorize the 3m.sg peg for each: ידבר (yedaber), יזמין (yazmin), יתלבש (yitlabesh). Re-prefix that shape and the whole paradigm falls out.
• The prefix vowel is the payload: pi’el e (yedaber), hif’il a (yazmin), hitpa’el i (yitlabesh). Fixing these three stops most errors.
• The hif’il ה vanishes in the future exactly as in the present (מזמין → יזמין); it only lives in the infinitive (להזמין) and the past (הזמין).
• Unlike the past, hif’il keeps its theme-yod in every person of the future: azmin, tazmini, yazminu — always with the י.
• Before ־י and ־ו the pi’el/hitpa’el theme e drops: תדבר → תדברי / תדברו, יתלבש → יתלבשו (titlabshu).
• Sibilant-first hitpa’el swaps the ת (metathesis) in the future too: ישתמש (yishtamesh), יסתדר (yistader). Never write the letters in plain root order.
• Use the 2nd-person future as a soft request, just like pa’al: תסביר לי בבקשה (tasbir li bevakasha, “please explain to me”). The true imperative is lesson 38.