ParseHebrew guide

Getting started

1. Open ParseHebrew. You land on the home screen.
2. Choose how you want to pick words:
   • By Frequency or Sets, the first tile, to study by how often words occur in the Hebrew Bible or by a ready-made set.
   • A textbook tile (Fuller & Choi, Futato, Garrett & DeRouchie, Hackett, Kelley & Crawford, Kutz & Josberger, Lambdin, Pratico & Van Pelt, Ross, Seow or Webster) if you’re working through a grammar.
3. Make your selection and tap NEXT.
4. Adjust the quiz settings if you like, then tap NEXT again to start.

Everything works offline. There’s no account and nothing to sign in to.

Choosing an edition

• ParseHebrew is the full app. It’s a one-time purchase with no in-app purchases, subscription or ads, and it’s available now on the App Store and Google Play.
• ParseHebrew LITE, a free edition for trying the app before you buy, is coming soon. It isn’t in either store yet.

The home screen

• Recent holds your last five quiz setups as small covers, each with a summary such as “V: 3, 4, 5 / Gram: 10”, “Freq: 500–200x” or “Set: Minor stems – Polel”. Tap one to rebuild that selection with the settings you used for it.
• Textbook tiles show the authors, title and year of each grammar. Tap the star on a tile to pin it to the top of the list, and tap it again to unpin it. Stars are remembered between launches.

Studying with your textbook

Tap your textbook’s tile. You’ll see two tabs.

• VOCABULARY is a grid of chapters, each with the number of cards in it. Tap the chapters whose vocabulary you’ve learned. Selected chapters turn green.
• GRAMMAR lists the textbook’s grammar lessons by chapter, for example “16: Remaining derived stems, Imperfect strong; Waw Consecutive”. Tap the lessons you’ve covered.

How the two tabs combine:

• Vocabulary only gives you every form of the words in those chapters.
• Grammar only gives you every form that belongs to those lessons, from any vocabulary.
• Both gives you only the forms that are in your vocabulary chapters and your grammar lessons. Pratico & Van Pelt vocabulary from chapters 3 to 10 plus grammar chapter 10, for example, gives you construct forms of the nouns you’ve learned.

Select at least one chapter, then tap NEXT.

Studying by frequency or sets

On the By Frequency or Sets screen, choose one of two options.

• Frequency of occurrence. Use the two wheels to set a range of frequencies in the Hebrew Bible. To study a single frequency, pick the same number in both.
• Predefined sets. Choose Numerals, Pronouns, Strong Verb Paradigm, Minor stems, Segolate Nouns, Hollow Verbs, Biconsonantal (Geminate) Verbs, or the הָיָה Paradigm. If you choose Minor stems, a second box lets you take all of them or just one: Hitpolel, Hishtafel, Polel, Poel, Polal, Hitpalpel, Hotpaal, Nitpael, Pilel, Poal, Pilpel or Polpal.

The Strong Verb Paradigm set contains every form of קָטַל, the model verb in most grammars, including forms that don’t occur in the Bible. Use Narrow Verb Stem on the next screen to take it one stem at a time.

The counter shows how many forms you’ve selected. Tap NEXT to continue.

Quiz settings

The top of the screen summarises your selection, and the bottom shows how many forms are in the quiz.

• Narrow Word Type: All, Adjective, Noun, Numeral, Pronoun or Verb.
• Narrow Verb Stem: All, Qal, Nifal, Piel, Pual, Hitpael, Hifil, Hofal, Passive Qal, or Minor Stems (all twelve minor stems together).
• Narrow Verb Conjugation: All, Cohortative, Imperative, Imperfect, Infinitive, Participle, Perfect, Perfect Consecutive or Waw Consecutive.
• Answer must include Lexical Form adds a last step where you choose the lexical form from a short list.
• Shuffle Order puts the forms in random order. When it’s off, they’re in Hebrew alphabetical order.

Verb Stem and Verb Conjugation are only available when Word Type is set to Verb, and you can combine them. Hifil plus Waw Consecutive, for example, gives you every Hifil wayyiqtol in your selection.

Tap More Options for these:

• Require Correct Answers: 1, 2 or 3. Each form goes into the quiz that many times.
• Repeat Incorrect Answers. A form you miss is added again at the end of the quiz.
• Limit maximum (random) words in quiz to. Type a number to cap the quiz length. The cap takes the first forms in the list, so turn on Shuffle Order if you want a random sample.

Your settings are remembered for next time, and each Recent quiz keeps the settings it was run with. Tap NEXT to begin.

Taking a quiz

The Hebrew form is at the top. Other spellings of the same form appear underneath in smaller grey letters, then the gloss. The top left shows how many forms remain, and the top right shows your counts of correct and incorrect answers.

The prompt, for example IDENTIFY STEM, sits above the answer buttons. Tap your answer and the next prompt appears. ParseHebrew asks only for the parts that apply to the form: stem, conjugation, person, gender, number and state, and the lexical form if you turned that on.

• When you’re asked for the stem, the seven major stems and Passive Qal are listed first. Tap Minor stems >> to see the minor stems, and the back control to return.
• Each answer you give appears in a row of boxes under the word. Tap any box to go back and change that answer.

The buttons along the bottom:

• Info (i) gives a hint about the root, such as Strong, I-Guttural, I-Nun, I-Yod, Hollow, II-Guttural, Biconsonantal or segolate.
• ? opens the strong-verb paradigm sheet for Qal, Niphal, Piel, Pual, Hiphil, Hophal and Hithpael: perfect, imperfect, imperative, participle, jussive, cohortative, vav-relative and both infinitives.
• 50:50 crosses out some of the wrong answers for the current question.
• Skip shows the answer without parsing. A skipped form counts as incorrect.
• Gear leaves the quiz and returns to the settings screen.

Identical forms

Some Hebrew spellings have more than one correct parsing. תִּקְטֹל, for example, can be imperfect third feminine singular or second masculine singular. ParseHebrew keeps these together and shows “1 of 2” in the corner. Your first answer is accepted if it matches any of the possible parsings, and then you’re asked for the other one. If your first answer matches none of them, the whole group counts as incorrect.

Results and scoring

After the last part, the RESULTS panel lists each part with your answer, a green tick or a red cross, and the correct answer under any mistake. The lexical form is always shown as a reference row.

• NEXT records the result and moves on. A form counts as correct only if every part is right.
• REDO lets you try the same form again without it counting.

At the end of the quiz a card shows your score, for example 18 out of 20.

Working on your mistakes

The results panel is where the learning happens, so take a moment with each red cross before you tap NEXT. A few settings help you go back over what you missed:

• Turn on Repeat Incorrect Answers so every form you miss comes back at the end of the quiz.
• Set Require Correct Answers to 2 or 3 to see each form more than once.
• Use REDO to try a form again straight away, before you move on.
• If one stem or conjugation keeps tripping you up, narrow the quiz to just that, and open the ? sheet to compare the form with the paradigm.

Purchases and restoring

ParseHebrew is a one-time purchase on the App Store and Google Play. There are no in-app purchases, so there’s nothing to restore. To install it on another device, download it again while signed in with the same Apple ID or Google account. You won’t be charged twice. The App Store and Google Play are separate, so a purchase on one doesn’t carry over to the other.

Common questions

Do I need an internet connection?

No. All the forms, glosses and the paradigm sheet are inside the app.

Do I need an account?

No. ParseHebrew has no sign-in.

My grammar isn’t listed. Can I still use ParseHebrew?

Yes. Use By Frequency or Sets and narrow by word type, stem and conjugation. You’re also welcome to email Danny and suggest a grammar.

Is ParseHebrew connected to these grammars’ publishers?

No. ParseHebrew follows each grammar’s chapter order so you can use it alongside the book, but it isn’t affiliated with the authors or publishers.

Where do the forms come from?

From the Hebrew Bible. The Strong Verb Paradigm and הָיָה Paradigm sets add complete paradigms for practice, so they include forms that don’t occur in the text.

How many forms are there?

More than 12,000 inflected forms from about 790 lexical forms. Most of them, more than 10,700, are verb forms.

Why are the stems spelled Nifal, Hifil and Hitpael?

The answer buttons use the simpler spellings found in several grammars. Nifal is Niphal, Hifil is Hiphil, Hofal is Hophal and Hitpael is Hithpael.

Is there an infinitive absolute option?

Not as a separate answer. Infinitive covers both the infinitive construct and the infinitive absolute.

Why did I get “1 of 2”?

That spelling has more than one correct parsing. See Identical forms.

What are the grey letters under the word?

Other spellings of the same form, such as full and defective spellings.

Does skipping count against me?

Yes. A skipped form counts as incorrect.

Does ParseHebrew work on iPad and Android tablets?

Yes. The iOS app runs on iPhone and iPad, and the Android app runs on phones and tablets.

Is ParseHebrew LITE available?

Not yet. It’s coming soon.

I found a parsing error. What should I do?

Please email Danny with the Hebrew form, what the app expected and, if you can, a screenshot. Corrections like these make the app better for everyone.

Troubleshooting

• I got a new device. Download ParseHebrew again from your purchase history with the same account. Your recent quizzes, stars and settings are stored on your old device, so they may not come with you.
• How do I reset my recent quizzes or settings? There’s no reset button. Deleting and reinstalling the app clears them, and reinstalling is free.
• “Please select at least one chapter”. Choose at least one vocabulary or grammar chapter before tapping NEXT.
• “Please choose at least one word to continue”. Your settings left no forms. Set Word Type, Verb Stem and Verb Conjugation back to All, or choose more chapters.
• The Verb Stem and Verb Conjugation boxes are greyed out. They only work when Narrow Word Type is set to Verb.
• A correction I reported hasn’t appeared. Make sure you have the latest version from the store. Deleting and reinstalling the app loads the newest word list, but it also clears your recent quizzes, stars and settings.
• The text looks small on my iPad. Update to the latest version from the App Store, which includes iPad layout updates.
• The app crashes. Update to the latest version from the store. Crash reports are sent automatically, but an email describing what you tapped helps the bug get fixed faster.