V'ASU LI MIKDASH V'SHACHANTI B'TOCHAM
A well-known pasuk from this week's sedra; let's use it to review a topic or two.
• The first word is usually accented on the last syllable - v'a-SU. As it is two p'sukim later.
V'ASU ARON ATZEI SHITIM
Notice the TROP-note under the SIN, as opposed to being under the AYIN, as it is above. The word is MILRA, but in the earlier case, the accent recedes to the next-to-the-last syllable (in this case, the first of the two syllables). When this happens, it is called NASOG ACHOR. When a MILRA word is followed by a MIL'EIL word or a one-syllable word - within a single phrase (as is the case with v'A-su LI), then the word becomes MIL'EIL.
• Okay, back to the top pasuk. sha-CHAN-ti = I dwelt, past tense. v'sha-CHAN-ti = and I dwelt - still past tense. v'sha-chan-TI, and I will dwell - future tense. When the VAV is a tense-flipping VAV from past to future, it causes (in most cases) the accent to go from the MIL'EIL (next-to-last syllable) position to the MILRA (last syllable) position.
[Remember that we've done this topic many times in the past, but also remember that it was the original starting point for the TBDATR column. It started with v'di-bar-TA BAM from Sh'ma.]
Combining the two points reviewed so far, we find (in the sedra and later)
V'YATZAKTA LO | V'YATZAKTA LAHEM | V'YATZAKTA AL ROSHO
ya-TZAK-ta becomes v'ya-tzak-TA as future or command tense, but in v'ya-TZAK-ta LO we have NASOG ACHOR (check the TROP-marks).

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