FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS of the CLASSICAL HEBREW VERB

Chapter 3
MOOD
‘Mood’ in grammar is not easy to define, but the specific mood indicates the way a verb is being used, i.e. to
express a statement, or a wish, or a command, or to consider the action in abstract and so on.
A specific verb in a specific instance may be finite (i.e. limited by person, number and/or gender) or infinite
(not so limited). Of the infinite forms, there is the infinitive (which will be discussed much later); the gerund,
which is a verbal noun; and the participle, which is a verbal adjective. Although perhaps it should not be, the
participle is usually classed with the infinites.
Of the finite forms, there is the indicative, used for making a simple statement; the imperative, used for
giving a command (or making a request); and other moods which vary from language to language. In Hebrew it
is convenient to lump all these other moods together under the name of ‘subjunctive’, and this will be explained
when we reach it.
As we mentioned earlier, in the conjugation or inflexion of a Hebrew verb there are no tenses, but there are
‘aspects’ which are a bit similar. These will be considered in the next chapter; they apply only to the indicative.