# Word stress in the past tense



## MarX

שלומ

Could you please help me with the stress of these words?
I've been looking for answer but nowhere is it shown where the stress is.


היא הבינה
אנחנו הבנו
אתם הבנתם
אתן הבנתן
הם/הן הבינו


Is there any rule to this at all?
It seems that the *-tem* and *-ten* ending are always stressed, aren't they?


----------



## MarX

Owh, I just found the answer for the verb forms. But the question remains about whether there's a rule for the stress in the past tense verbs.

I suppose:
*-tem* & *-ten* are always stressed
*-ti* is never stressed


----------



## elroy

The stress is on the penultimate syllable in all of those forms. 





MarX said:


> *-tem* & *-ten* are always stressed No, they never are.
> *-ti* is never stressed Correct.


 
Rules: 

-ti, -ta, -nu, -tem, ten: stress on penultimate syllable
-t and basic form (third person singular masculine): stress on final syllable
-a and -u: stress can be on penultimate or final syllable, depending on the verb


----------



## MarX

Thanks Elroy!

There must be something terribly wrong with this Langenscheidts textbook. 
First it gives _schwa sound_ in the transliteration, although it doesn't exist in Hebrew.
Second, I've checked the examples, and of all the past tense verbs, the endings of the 2. person plural (*-tem* & *-ten*) are stressed.

Perhaps I should send a letter to Langenscheidts.

Salam


----------



## Flaminius

The second person plural endings do get accent in the normative pronunciation of some verbs.  E.g., "you have studied" should be pronounced /lmad'tem/ and /lmad'ten/.  Modern Hebrew, however, has achieved a more regular verb paradigm by the colloquial /la'madtem/ and /la'madten/.


----------



## Nunty

But if you listen to someone who speaks beautiful Hebrew, you will find that he or she still stresses -tem/-ten in the those past tense verbs. I don't do it myself, but I love listening to it.


----------



## MarX

Hevánti. 

Thank you!


----------



## elroy

Nun-Translator said:


> But if you listen to someone who speaks beautiful Hebrew, you will find that he or she still stresses -tem/-ten in the those past tense verbs. I don't do it myself, but I love listening to it.


 Wow, I've never heard that.  I'm so used to the normal pronunciation that _hevantém_ sounds very strange to me.


----------



## Nunty

I guess you didn't grow up listening to the same radio shows as I. 
But even today if you listen to certain announcers or to radio shows about the Hebrew language like רגע של עברית (if that is still on), you can hear this beautifully precise way of speaking.


----------

