Review of Perfect and Imperfect

This is basically a cut and paste from an earlier post.

Note:
The perfects indicate completed action and so would be translated normally as past action.

The imperfects indicate incomplete action and so would be translated normally as future action.

The vav conversive will essentially "flip" the past to future or the future to past in your translation.

The perfects follow the vowel patterns for the PAL nomenclature

Qal ("a" vowels)
Niphal ("i-a" vowel pattern)

Piel ("i-e" vowel pattern)
Pual ("u-a" vowel pattern)

Hiphil ("i-i" vowel pattern)
Hophal ("o-a" vowel pattern)

Hitpael (first syllable begins with ה and "i" vowel ands end with ת)

Imperfects have a prefix. Here are my observations:
1.)Prefix with a hireq is a Qal or a Niphal
(If the next vowel is an "a" vowel it's a Niphal anything else is Qal -note: the Hitpael also starts with hireq under the prefix, but it is pretty hard to mistake the "hit" or "yit" sound of the Hitpael)

2.)Prefix with a sheva is a Piel or a Pual
(It's pretty hard to miss the "u" vowel of the Pual or the "a" vowel of the Piel - both will double the middle radical as well)

3.)Prefix with a pathah is a Hiphil

4.)Prefix with a Qamets is a Hophal
(The next radical will have a sheva making it a closed syllable and thus a Qamets hatuph - "o" vowel)

5.)An aleph prefix is always 1cs
A nun prefix is always 1cp - note: this is in the imperfects
A yod prefix is always 3m ( with a וּ suffix it is plural)
The נה suffix is feminine plural (it could be 2nd or 3rd person)