15.2 Translating the Imperfect

The Imperfect has many potential translations: start with simple future (“he will”) or volitional - (“he should”)

• If you don’t have any context then translate Imperfect as future
• In context, watch to see whether the imperfect verb begins a clause as this is a clue
• When the Imperfect does not begin a clause: future, “I will run”, or imperfective, “I am running” or “I was running”
• When the Imperfect begins a clause and does not have a Vav Consecutive prefix, the use is what is called volitional. “I should go” is a modal mood. We’ll study volitional forms in Lesson 18.
• An imperfect verb with the Vav Consuctive changes the verb’s aspect to Perfect. We’ll study this in Lesson 17
• When the imperfect is preceded by לֹא or אַל it is a negative command
  • We’ll have more to say about this towards the end of the lesson
  • Positive commands take a different form, called the Imperative, which we will also study in Lesson 18