"Spot the Niphal" — Passage Exercise

Chapter 25 — Niphal Weak

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A 15-verb parsing exercise drawn from Genesis 3, 6, and 21, with 3 distractor verbs (Part C) from the same passages. Students first answer "Is it Niphal?" for every highlighted verb before parsing conjugation, PGN, root, weak class, and semantic function (Passive / Reflexive / Middle / Simple Action). Distractors are Qal forms (וַתֵּרֶא, עָשָׂה, וַיִּגְדַּל) drawn from the identical corpus. Genesis 3 has reflexive and middle uses (III-ה and I-guttural roots); Genesis 6 has Niphal-only forms and passive (I-guttural); Genesis 21 has reflexive oath-swearing (I-י) and passive birth notices. Two bonus verbs from Gen 21:3 and 21:8 are included.

Sample Questions

Q1. 1 וְנִפְקְחוּ Yes No Perfect Imperfect Wayyiqtol Weqatal Imperative Inf. Construct Inf. Absolute Participle 3ms 3mp 3fs 3fp 2ms 2mp 2fs 1cs 1cp ms + 3mp suffix ms fs mp fp Passive Reflexive Tolerative Simple Action NOT Niphal

A: ✓ ✓ Yes — Niphal | Weqatal · 3cp · פָּקַח | Middle — "will be opened" (eyes open themselves)

Q2. 2 וַתֵּרֶא Yes No Perfect Imperfect Wayyiqtol Weqatal Imperative Inf. Construct Inf. Absolute Participle 3ms 3mp 3fs 3fp 2ms 2mp 2fs 1cs 1cp ms + 3mp suffix ms fs mp fp Passive Reflexive Tolerative Simple Action NOT Niphal

A: ✗ ✗ No — Qal | Wayyiqtol · 3fs · רָאָה | NOT Niphal — Qal: she saw ; Qal wayyiqtol 3fs; no נ-/תִ- Niphal marker

Q3. 3 וְנֶחְמָד Yes No Perfect Imperfect Wayyiqtol Weqatal Imperative Inf. Construct Inf. Absolute Participle 3ms 3mp 3fs 3fp 2ms 2mp 2fs 1cs 1cp ms + 3mp suffix ms fs mp fp Passive Reflexive Tolerative Simple Action NOT Niphal

A: ✓ ✓ Yes — Niphal | Participle ms · ms · חָמַד | Passive — "desirable" (substantival participle: "desired/desirable")