Verbal and verbless clauses מִשְׁפָּט פָּעֳלִי · מִשְׁפָּט שֵׁמָנִי mishpat po‘oli · mishpat shemani
Hebrew clauses are of two kinds. A verbal clause has a verb saying what someone did or will do; a verbless clause says what something is, how it is, or where it is, without a verb. Hebrew has no present-tense verb “is,” so two parts set side by side already make a complete sentence. This page shows how to tell the two apart, and the kinds of verbless clause, in sentences actually used in Genesis.
the names in modern Hebrew grammar (written without vowel points): “sentence of the verb · sentence of the noun”
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What the two kinds are
A verbal clause has a finite verb as its predicate (the part saying what the subject is or did). A finite verb carries the person (“who”) in its letters and serves as the predicate: perfect, imperfect, wayyiqtol, weqatal, imperative, jussive, cohortative. In 1:1 בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים (“in beginning God created”), בָּרָא is the finite verb.
A verbless clause has no finite verb at all. Subject and predicate are set side by side: “the subject is (the predicate).” 2:12 וּזֲהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא טוֹב (“the gold of that land is good”) has no verb, yet it is a complete sentence.
English grammars call these the verbal clause and the nominal (or verbless) clause. “Nominal” does not mean the predicate is always a noun; it means no verb is the predicate. The predicate may be an adjective, a prepositional phrase, or a participle.
On the Genesis 1–2 pages, the verbless clause is pattern 4, the participle clause pattern 5, and the clause linked by הוּא pattern 26. This page brings the three together in detail.
2Where the names come from — משפט שמני mishpat shemani
The two names go back to Arabic grammar, which divided sentences by their first word into “sentences of the verb” and “sentences of the noun”; Hebrew grammar took the division over.
Modern Hebrew grammar calls them משפט פועלי (mishpat po‘oli, “verbal sentence”) and משפט שמני (mishpat shemani, “nominal sentence”). In these names משפט means “sentence”; פועלי comes from פֹּעַל (po‘al, verb) and שמני from שֵׁם (shem, name, noun).
Biblical Hebrew grammars usually divide not by the first word but by whether the predicate is a finite verb, and this page follows that. So a clause whose subject comes first is still verbal if a verb is its predicate (1:2 וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה).
3At a glance — three questions that tell them apart
- 1. Is there a finite verb in the clause?If a perfect, imperfect, wayyiqtol, weqatal, imperative or jussive is the predicate, it is a verbal clause — וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם (1:27).
- 2. If not, are two parts set side by side?If subject and predicate (adjective, noun, prepositional phrase, place word) stand together with no verb, it is a verbless clause — וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם (1:2, “darkness upon the face of the deep”).
- 3. Participles, יֵשׁ and אֵין belong to the verbless sideA participle has verbal meaning but no person letters, and יֵשׁ (“there is”) and אֵין (“there is not”) are not verbs. So clauses with these as predicate count grammatically as verbless — וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת (1:2) · וְאָדָם אַיִן (2:5).
4Verbless clauses — six things that fill the predicate
All are clauses actually used in Genesis 1–2; the predicate is in blue. “Is / was / there is” is not in the Hebrew letters; English adds it.
| Kind of predicate | Clause | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| adjective (how it is) | וּזֲהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא טוֹב (2:12) | uzahav ha’arets hahi’ tov | the gold of that land is good |
| noun (what it is) | שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פִּישׁוֹן (2:11) | shem ha’eḥad pishon | the name of the first is Pishon |
| prepositional phrase (where it is) | וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם (1:2) | veḥoshekh ‘al-pene tehom | darkness (was) upon the face of the deep |
| the place word שָׁם (there) | שָׁם הַבְּדֹלַח (2:12) | sham habbedolaḥ | there is the bdellium |
| participle (is …ing) | וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת (1:2) | veruaḥ ’elohim meraḥefet | the spirit of God (was) hovering |
| אַיִן (there is not) | וְאָדָם אַיִן (2:5) | ve’adam ’ayin | there was no man |
Within 2:12 itself, the first clause is “subject → predicate” (gold → good) and the second “predicate → subject” (there → bdellium). Order is treated in its own section below.
5Verbal clauses — real examples from the Bible
The finite verb (blue) is the predicate; its prefix or ending tells “who.”
bere’shit bara’ ’elohim — in beginning God created
בָּרָא is a perfect, 3rd masculine singular (the bare form = “he”). A finite verb is the predicate, so this is a verbal clause. “In beginning” stands before the verb (see the word-order page), but the predicate is still a verb.
YLVIn beginning (bereshit) God created the heavens and the earth.
vayyivra’ ’elohim ’et-ha’adam — and God created the man
The wayyiqtol וַיִּבְרָא (וַ + יִ “he” + the root ב-ר-א) stands first, followed by the subject אֱלֹהִים and the object אֶת־הָאָדָם: the basic shape of a verbal clause that moves the story forward.
YLVAnd God created the man (adam) in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
veha’arets hayetah tohu vavohu — and the earth was formlessness and emptiness
The subject “the earth” comes first, but the predicate is the finite verb הָיְתָה (the perfect of הָיָה “be” + the ending ָה “she” — the earth is feminine), so it is a verbal clause. The next two clauses of the same verse have no verb: both kinds stand side by side in one verse.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
6Verbless clauses — real examples from the Bible
No finite verb in the clause; the predicate (blue) and the subject simply stand side by side.
uzahav ha’arets hahi’ tov — the gold of that land is good
Subject “the gold of that land” (זְהַב construct + הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא) + the predicate adjective טוֹב. The subject is definite but טוֹב has no article, so it is not “the good gold” (attribute) but “the gold is good” (predicate).
YLVAnd the gold of that land is good; there is the bdellium and the onyx stone.
’elleh toledot hashamayim veha’arets — these are the generations of the heavens and the earth
Subject אֵלֶּה (“these”) + predicate noun תוֹלְדוֹת (“generations,” construct, bound to “the heavens and the earth”). A verbless “X is Y” clause, the heading that opens Genesis 2:4 onward (pattern 21 on the Genesis 2 page).
YLVThese are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that YHWH God made earth and heavens.
veḥoshekh ‘al-pene tehom — and darkness (was) upon the face of the deep
Subject חֹשֶׁךְ (“darkness”) + the predicate prepositional phrase עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם. Even “is somewhere” needs no verb. The past “was” comes from the preceding הָיְתָה and the flow of the narrative.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
ulelavan shete vanot — Laban had two daughters
וּ (and) + לְ (to) + לָבָן (Laban): “to Laban” is the predicate and “two daughters” the subject. Hebrew has no verb “have,” so possession is said as “to X (is) Y” (see the page on yesh and ein).
YLVAnd Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
7Why a clause can stand without a verb — step by step
- 1. There is no present “is”Hebrew does not use a present-tense verb for “A is B.” It leaves the slot empty and sets A and B together. So the single word טוֹב can mean “(it is) good,” and כִּי־טוֹב “that it was good” (1:10).
- 2. The subject must be a wordWith no finite verb there are no person letters, so the subject is always set out as a word (noun or pronoun) — חֹשֶׁךְ (1:2) · אֵלֶּה (2:4).
- 3. Context sets the timeWith no verb, the clause does not state its own time. 2:12 “the gold is good” is description, so present; 1:2 “darkness upon …” is inside a past scene, so past.
- 4. When time must be stated: הָיָהTo make past or future explicit, or to say “become,” Hebrew uses הָיָה, and the clause becomes verbal — וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה (1:2) · וַיִּהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עֲרוּמִּים (2:25, “they were both naked”).
8Participle predicates and the pronoun link — real examples from the Bible
A clause with a participle as predicate (pattern 5), and clauses in which the pronoun הוּא links subject and predicate (pattern 26). Neither has a finite verb.
veruaḥ ’elohim meraḥefet — the spirit of God was hovering
The Piel participle מְרַחֶפֶת: the מְ in front marks the Piel participle, and the final ת (orange) is the feminine singular ending. רוּחַ (“spirit”) is feminine, so the participle is feminine. A participle has no person letters, so the subject must be a word; it pictures an ongoing state.
YLVAnd the earth was formlessness and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit (ruach) of God was hovering upon the face of the waters.
hu’ hassovev — it is the one surrounding
הוּא (“it,” taking up the river Pishon) + the predicate הַסֹּבֵב (article + Qal participle, “the one surrounding”). The predicate is definite too, so הוּא marks the boundary “it — is — ….” נָהָר (river) is masculine, hence הוּא.
YLVThe name of the first is Pishon; it is the one surrounding all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.
vehannahar harevi‘i hu’ ferat — and the fourth river, it is the Euphrates
The noun “the fourth river” is set first; הוּא takes it up again and links it to the predicate פְרָת (Euphrates). Here הוּא works less as “he” than as a link, “namely.”
YLVAnd the name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one going east of Asshur. And the fourth river, it is the Euphrates.
9Attribute or predicate? — the article decides
An adjective can describe a noun (“the great light”) or say something about it (“the light is great”). Hebrew tells these apart by word order and the article.
Attribute: the adjective comes after the noun, and if the noun has the article, so does the adjective — הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל (1:16, hamma’or haggadol, “the great light”): הַ on both words.
Predicate: the noun is definite but the adjective is not — וּזֲהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא טוֹב (2:12). That mismatch is itself the sign of “… is good.” A predicate adjective may also come before the noun — לֹא־טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ (2:18, “it is not good for the man to be alone”).
So when you meet “noun + adjective,” first ask whether both have the article. If both do (or neither does and the context needs a description), it is an attribute; if only the noun does, it is a predicate.
10Order in verbless clauses — subject first, predicate first
“Subject → predicate” is common — שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פִּישׁוֹן (2:11) · וּזֲהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא טוֹב (2:12). It is the order for identifying or describing.
The predicate can also come first — שָׁם הַבְּדֹלַח (2:12, “there is the bdellium”) · לֹא־טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ (2:18). Many grammars explain that a fronted predicate puts weight on the predicate (how or where). Which order is basic is debated among scholars, so each clause is judged in its context.
11Context sets the time — same shape, different time
Verbless clauses of the same shape can differ in time. וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם (1:2) is a past scene of the creation account: darkness “was” upon the deep. וּזֲהַב הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא טוֹב (2:12) is the writer describing that land: the gold “is” good (so YLV).
To state time or “become,” הָיָה is added and the clause turns verbal. וְהַנָּחָשׁ הָיָה עָרוּם (3:1, “the serpent was cunning”) shows the past in its letters through הָיָה; so does וַיִּהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם עֲרוּמִּים (2:25).
12Negating a verbless clause
To deny a verbless clause as a whole (“there is no …”), Hebrew usually uses אֵין — וְאָדָם אַיִן (2:5, “there was no man”) · וְלֶחֶם אֵין בְּכָל־הָאָרֶץ (47:13, “there was no bread in all the land”).
To negate a single predicate word, לֹא stands before it — לֹא־טוֹב (2:18, “not good”). See the pages on negation and on yesh and ein.
13Easy to confuse
Does a participle make the clause verbal? A participle carries verbal meaning (hover, surround) but has no person letters, so grammatically the clause counts as verbless (מְרַחֶפֶת, 1:2). It is still translated “is …ing.”
Is הָיָה always “was”? No. הָיָה means “be, exist, become, happen.” וַיְהִי־אוֹר (1:3) is “there was light”; וַיְהִי הָאָדָם לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (2:7) is “the man became a living soul” (הָיָה לְ, “become”).
Is הוּא always “he”? In a verbless clause הוּא can be the link between subject and predicate (2:14). And הַהִוא with the article after a noun (2:12, “that land”) means “that” and describes the noun; it is not a link.
The “is / was” of a translation is supplied because English needs it; it is not in the Hebrew letters, so no special weight rests on it.