# יהיה vs. היה



## senor_smile

I've just started learning hebrew three days ago, and I've been collecting resources like mad.  I must say though, in never actually studying a semetic language, I'm finding some interesting things.  I don't have an actual book on conjugation or grammar yet.  Anyway, I was trying to decipher a news site and came across the word יהיה(yiyeh).  at morfix's dictionary it yields היה, a form of the word to be, to exist.  However, which form is it?  I have found methods on the pa'al etc.  conjugations, but none showing any paradigm of any sort for the verb היה.  Also, any nuances of this interesting verb would be appreciated, especially since the verb to be is not commonly used.  

תודה רבה, 
Shaun


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## Macnas

יהיה is the masculine third person singular future form of היה, in order words, "he will be".

Here's how the verb is conjugated:

Past:
אני הייתי _ani hayíti_
אתה היית _ata hayíta_
את היית _at hayít_
הוא היה _hu hayá_
היא הייתה _hi haytá_
אנחנו היינו _anachnu hayínu_
אתם הייתם _atem hayítem_
אתן הייתן _aten hayíten_
הם\הן היו _hem/hen hayú

_Future:
אני אהיה _ani ehye_
אתה תהיה _ata tihye_
את תהיי _at tihyi_
הוא יהיה _hu yihye_
היא תהיה _hi tihye_
אנחנו נהיה _anachnu nihye_
אתם\אתן תהיו _atem/aten tihyu_
הם\הן יהיו _hem/hen yihyu

_Infinitive: להיות _lihyot_


In the present להיות is not used, but it's frequently used in the past and future. In the present you'll often see the pronouns הוא, היא, הם, הן standing in for the third person, agreeing with the gender and number of the subject.


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## senor_smile

wow, תודה רבה...  very helpful indeed.  

Shaun


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## Yoni

Indeed. One might also add that the pronoun is often omitted (and this is stylistically permissible, indeed is considered elegant) since the verb already contains this information, in addition to the tense - Hebrew is quite agglutinative.


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## senor_smile

It would seem that the exception to pronoun ommision would be in the present tense, right?  That being because the forms of the present tense aren't unique enough to signify person, only number and sex.


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## Yoni

Normally yes, but not with this verb because the present form is not used 

PS. In grammar it's called gender, not sex


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## Flaminius

Pronouns are not omitted in the present tense because Copula היה does not have present forms.


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## Yoni

No, they are not 'omitted': they are simply inapplicable, because there is nothing to omit them FROM ...


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## Gadyc

Phylosophy of the language:
"To be" exists in Hebrew but is not applicated. The only (?) time I can remember in the Bible refers to G-d - Exodus 9,3.
The philosophycal idea is that we, humans, as time dependent, have no real present. He pass through future to past. Even if you try devide one moment to its smaller resolution, you will have future that change to past.
G-d as infinite entity is also infinite in time. Thus, He exists only (?!) in present.
To be deepened. 
It is already for another forum, but how culture influences language is very instersting.


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## Yoni

That's not completely accurate. To be להיות is used all the time, and all the past and future forms הייתי אהיה תהיו ... are used all the time also. It is only the grammatical present tense that is not used.


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## senor_smile

Indeed, it would be gender not sex.  Thank you.  And, it would appear that I have found some people with whom I can ask questions about this new, extremely interesting language.  

Concerning lihyot, I would also say that it is definitely used all the time.  I have already encountered it in my Assimil course, in the first week's lessons.  What he meant, I believe, is indeed that present tense conjugated forms of lihyot are never used.


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