to encircle frequently has the infinitive 
, or without the accent 
with a 
chatuf; in addition it is occasionally 
and 
, like 
with a shout (song) together. Hence the past, instead of 
frequently is:Verbs which have the same second and third root letter usually lose one. For example, to encircle frequently has the infinitive , or without the accent with a chatuf; in addition it is occasionally and , like with a shout (song) together. Hence the past, instead of frequently is:
The third person past, both singular and plural, may have a cholem instead of a patach, like 
, plural 
; then the 
is frequently lost altogether, making it 
, 
instead of 
, and 
. The future frequently agrees with the future of those verbs whose first root letter is a 
, that is, instead of 
, 
, it often is 
, etc., compensating the long syllable by a dagesh. Finally, from the form of the imperative 
the future also is formed 
, etc.
The forms of the passive infinitive (niph‘al) are 
, and 
, and 
or 
.
The past tense agrees also with those (verbs) whose first is a 
and is 
, 
instead of 
, and, the third person, both singular and plural, also has either a 
or cholem instead of a 
, namely 
or 
for 
and 
or 
for 
and 
.
The intensive (pi‘el) is often analogous, like 
to beat, 
to profane, 
to grow dim, but more often the first letter is doubled and interposed between the others (like 
to incite for 
, and 
to revolve for 
. This is particularly so if the doubled verbs are of the second, third, and fourth conjugations, like 
the intensive (pi‘el) of the second conjugation verb 
to sweep; and 
from the third conjugation verb 
to languish and 
from the fourth conjugation 
to be delighted, to play, and also 
from 
to mock, and 
from 
to be alone. Also it seems that a large number of both active (pi‘el) and passive (pu‘al) agrees with the intensives of the sixth conjugation. So that, as from 
the active (pi‘el) is 
and the passive (pu‘al) 
, so from 
the intensive (pi‘el) is 
and the passive (pu‘al) is 
.
The causative (hiph‘il) hardly ever observes the analogy. The infinitive in most cases is like 
or 
and 
. Hence:
Here also the kametz is as in the simple form (kal) usually compensated, becoming 
in place of 
. And, when the accent is transposed to the first syllable the 
changes to a 
, like 
he will incite you. The passive (pu‘al) infinitive is 
, 
, and 
, and with the paragogic 
changing the 
into a 
chatuf.
The reflexive (hithpael) generally follows the paradigm of the sixth conjugation; but the second, third, and fourth conjugations are generally formed from the intensive form (pi‘el), like 
to delight oneself, 
to tire oneself, 
to linger. But 
to lay waste, and 
to grow dim follow the paradigm of the sixth.
From this it appears that these defective verbs may easily be confused so that it often occurs with defectives of this kind that you may be doubtful whether their roots are of the second, or third, or fifth, or sixth conjugation; the reason for this I shall show here briefly. For I believe I owe you this clarification that you may understand.
Every kind of defective verb usually compensates the deficient letter by doubling the second or third radical of the root. For example, 
is a second conjugation verb and means to divide; but very frequently the 
is missing and in its place the middle radical is doubled, making it 
or 
. So also the second conjugation verb 
meaning to be pure; but often in place of the 
the middle letter is doubled, becoming 
, whence it is that this verb sometimes follows the third conjugation and sometimes those that have a doubled middle root, like 
and 
and 
; and like doubled middle letter verbs they also follow the infinitive of the third conjugation, like 
to be desolate for 
or 
to be warm for 
or 
, and so the others. Also the fifth conjugation verb 
to plan, when the 
is lost it is compensated by 
, and also the verb, 
or 
for 
to be made warm, and 
for 
to spit, etc. Whence it is that these double letter verbs also imitate the fifth conjugation. So with verbs of the sixth conjugation on account of the doubling of the third letter of the root: instead of 
it is 
to cover, and instead of 
to melt it is 
or 
and 
he bound becomes 
. And so it is that they also imitate the sixth conjugation (concerning which see also what we have noted at the end of Chapter 25), and vice versa these doubled ones especially the intensives among them, they also frequently double the first root letter, as these doubled verbs usually do. Thus 
has the pi‘el 
and 
. To these belong also the defectives with a 
as first root letter. Thus instead of 
to abhor it is 
to curse, as from 
to curse it is 
, and from 
it is 
; whence the future feminine third person is 
and 
they will ring, and thus instead of 
it is 
to abandon, and in this manner the others; whence it is that these doubled and all defectives imitate either this or other conjugations.
This is what I have thought worthwhile to admonish students of this language. For having noted this they will be able to investigate with certainty and without hesitation all the roots of the defective verbs.