Stem Pu’al

Summary

The Pu’al stem is the passive form of the Pa’el, and it generally expresses the passive voice of the meaning of a verb in the Pa’el stem.

Article

The Pu’al stem is the passive form of the Pa’el formation in Biblical Aramaic. The Pu’al stem is usually indicated by a daghesh in the middle consonsant of the Verb and a qibbuts vowel under the first consonant. Generally speaking, the Pu’al stem expresses the passive voice of the meaning of a verb in the Pa’el stem. In English, passive action is expressed using the helping verb “to be.” In Biblical Aramaic, the passive nature of the verbal action is expressed by the Pu’al form of the verb itself without any helping verbs.

Note

It is recommended to always check a dictionary or lexicon for the meaning of a specific verb, because this stem may express many different kinds of action in different contexts.

Form

Paradigm

Pu’al Perfect Paradigm

Parsing	Aramaic	Transliteration	Gloss
masculine singular third person	כֻּתַּב	kuttabh	he/it was written down
feminine singular third person	כֻּתְּבַת	kuttebhath	she/it was written down
masculine singular second person	כֻּתַּבְתָּ	kuttabhta	you were written down
feminine singular second person	כֻּתַּבְתִּי	kuttabhtiy	you were written down
common singular first person	כֻּתְּבֵת	kuttebheth	I was written down
masculine plural third person	כֻּתַּבוּ	kuttabhu	they were written down
feminine plural third person	כֻּתַּבַה	kuttabhah	they were written down
masculine plural second person	כֻּתַּבְתּוּן	kuttabhtun	you were written down
feminine plural second person	כֻּתַּבְתֵּן	kuttabhten	you were written down
common plural first person	כֻּתַּבְנָא	kuttabhna’	we were written down

Pu’al Participle (passive voice) Paradigm

Parsing	Aramaic	Transliteration	Gloss
masculine singular	מְכַתַּב	mekhattabh	being written down
feminine singular	מְכַתְּבָה	mekhattebhah	being written down
masculine plural	מְכַתְּבִין	mekhattebhiyn	being written down
feminine plural	מְכַתְּבָן	mekhattebhan	being written down

Function

Expresses the passive voice of the Pa’el stem

For most verbs that appear in both the Pa’el and Pu’al stems in Biblical Aramaic, the Pu’al stem expresses the same kind of action as the Piel stem (usually resultative) but in passive voice. A good example is the verb בָּקַע. In the Pe’al stem, the verb בָּקַע means “to cut open” or “to break open” (simple action, active voice). But in the Pa’el stem, the verb בָּקַע means “to rip open” (intensive action, active voice). Thus, in the Pu’al stem, the verb בָּקַע means “to be ripped open” (intensive action, passive voice).