13. The Infinitive, the Imperative and Modal Words
The three topics of this chapter share one idea: how to say “I want to go”, “I have to go” and “go!”. The first two need the infinitive, the third needs the imperative, which spoken Hebrew usually replaces with the future tense.
The infinitive
The infinitive always begins with the letter ל (“to”): literally “to writing”, “to speaking”. The shape of the infinitive tells you the binyan:
| Binyan | Shape | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| pa’al | לִ…ֹ… (li-…-o-…) | לִכְתֹּב (lichtov) – to write, לִלְמֹד (lilmod) – to learn, לִסְגֹּר (lisgor) – to close |
| pa’al, roots ending in ה | לִ…וֹת | לִקְנוֹת (liknot) – to buy, לִרְאוֹת (lir’ot) – to see, לַעֲשׂוֹת (la’asot) – to do |
| pa’al, special | לָ… | לָלֶכֶת (lalechet) – to go, לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet) – to sit, לָבוֹא (lavo) – to come, לָגוּר (lagur) – to live, לָתֵת (latet) – to give, לָקַחַת (lakachat) – to take |
| pi’el | לְ…ֵ… (le-…-e-…) | לְדַבֵּר (ledaber) – to speak, לְסַפֵּר (lesaper) – to tell, לְשַׁלֵּם (leshalem) – to pay |
| hif’il | לְהַ…ִי… (leha-…-i-…) | לְהַרְגִּישׁ (lehargish) – to feel, לְהַתְחִיל (lehatchil) – to begin, לְהַזְמִין (lehazmin) – to order |
| hitpa’el | לְהִתְ…ֵ… (lehit-…) | לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ (lehitlabesh) – to get dressed, לְהִתְקַשֵּׁר (lehitkasher) – to call |
| nif’al | לְהִ…ָ…ֵ… (lehi-…) | לְהִכָּנֵס (lehikanes) – to enter, לְהִפָּגֵשׁ (lehipagesh) – to meet, לְהִשָּׁאֵר (lehisha’er) – to stay |
The infinitive is used after modal words, after the verbs “want, like, begin, continue, finish” and after כְּדֵי (in order to): אֲנִי רוֹצֶה לִלְמֹד עִבְרִית – I want to learn Hebrew; הִיא אוֹהֶבֶת לְטַיֵּל – She likes to go for walks; הִתְחַלְנוּ לַעֲבֹד – We started working; אֲנִי לוֹמֵד כְּדֵי לְדַבֵּר – I study in order to speak.
Modal words: need, can, want
The first group of modal words are really adjectives or participles: they agree with the speaker in gender and number and take an infinitive after them.
| Meaning | m. sg. | f. sg. | m. pl. | f. pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| need, must | צָרִיךְ (tsarich) | צְרִיכָה (tsricha) | צְרִיכִים (tsrichim) | צְרִיכוֹת (tsrichot) |
| can | יָכוֹל (yachol) | יְכוֹלָה (yechola) | יְכוֹלִים (yecholim) | יְכוֹלוֹת (yecholot) |
| want | רוֹצֶה (rotse) | רוֹצָה (rotsa) | רוֹצִים (rotsim) | רוֹצוֹת (rotsot) |
| obliged, have to | חַיָּב (chayav) | חַיֶּבֶת (chayevet) | חַיָּבִים (chayavim) | חַיָּבוֹת (chayavot) |
| know how to | יוֹדֵעַ (yode’a) | יוֹדַעַת (yoda’at) | יוֹדְעִים (yod’im) | יוֹדְעוֹת (yod’ot) |
| ready | מוּכָן (muchan) | מוּכָנָה (muchana) | מוּכָנִים (muchanim) | מוּכָנוֹת (muchanot) |
- אֲנִי צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶת (ani tsarich lalechet) – I have to go (a man).
- אֲנִי צְרִיכָה לָלֶכֶת (ani tsricha lalechet) – I have to go (a woman).
- אַתְּ יְכוֹלָה לַעֲזֹר לִי? – Can you help me?
- הֵם רוֹצִים לֶאֱכֹל – They want to eat.
- אֲנִי לֹא יוֹדַעַת לִשְׂחוֹת – I can’t swim (a woman).
With a noun צָרִיךְ means “to need”: אֲנִי צָרִיךְ עֶזְרָה – I need help. In the past and future the verb “to be” is added: הָיִיתִי צָרִיךְ – I had to, יִהְיֶה צָרִיךְ – it will be necessary. The verb יָכוֹל has its own past (יָכֹלְתִּי) and future (אוּכַל) forms.
Impersonal modal words
The second group never changes and describes the situation as a whole. The person is added with the preposition לְ: אֶפְשָׁר לִי? – may I?
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֶפְשָׁר | efshar | possible, may | אֶפְשָׁר לָשֶׁבֶת פֹּה? – May I sit here? |
| אִי אֶפְשָׁר | i efshar | impossible | אִי אֶפְשָׁר לָדַעַת – There is no way to know |
| צָרִיךְ | tsarich | one needs to (impersonal) | צָרִיךְ לַחֲשֹׁב – One needs to think |
| אָסוּר | asur | forbidden | אָסוּר לְעַשֵּׁן כָּאן – No smoking here |
| מֻתָּר | mutar | allowed | מֻתָּר לְהִכָּנֵס – Entry is allowed |
| כְּדַאי | keday | worth it, a good idea | כְּדַאי לָבוֹא מֻקְדָּם – It’s a good idea to come early |
| חָשׁוּב | chashuv | important | חָשׁוּב לִשְׁתּוֹת מַיִם – It’s important to drink water |
| קַל / קָשֶׁה | kal / kashe | easy / hard | קָשֶׁה לְהָבִין – It’s hard to understand |
With a person: אָסוּר לִי לֶאֱכֹל סֻכָּר – I’m not allowed to eat sugar; כְּדַאי לְךָ לָנוּחַ – You should rest; קָשֶׁה לִי לָקוּם מֻקְדָּם – It’s hard for me to get up early.
The imperative
The imperative (צִוּוּי – tsivuy) is formed from the future tense by dropping the prefix: תִּכְתֹּב → כְּתֹב – write. It has three forms: to a man, to a woman and to several people.
| Meaning | To a man | To a woman | To several people |
|---|---|---|---|
| come, come here | בּוֹא (bo) | בּוֹאִי (bo’i) | בּוֹאוּ (bo’u) |
| go | לֵךְ (lech) | לְכִי (lechi) | לְכוּ (lechu) |
| take | קַח (kach) | קְחִי (kchi) | קְחוּ (kchu) |
| give | תֵּן (ten) | תְּנִי (tni) | תְּנוּ (tnu) |
| sit down | שֵׁב (shev) | שְׁבִי (shvi) | שְׁבוּ (shvu) |
| get up | קוּם (kum) | קוּמִי (kumi) | קוּמוּ (kumu) |
| listen | שְׁמַע (shma) | שִׁמְעִי (shim’i) | שִׁמְעוּ (shim’u) |
| speak | דַּבֵּר (daber) | דַּבְּרִי (dabri) | דַּבְּרוּ (dabru) |
| wait | חַכֵּה (chake) | חַכִּי (chaki) | חַכּוּ (chaku) |
| excuse me | סְלַח לִי (slach li) | סִלְחִי לִי (silchi li) | סִלְחוּ לִי (silchu li) |
| open / close | פְּתַח / סְגֹר (ptach / sgor) | פִּתְחִי / סִגְרִי (pitchi / sigri) | פִּתְחוּ / סִגְרוּ (pitchu / sigru) |
The plural form does not distinguish gender: בּוֹאוּ is said to men and to women alike.
The future tense instead of the imperative
In everyday speech the short forms are used only with the most common verbs (the table above). For all the others the future tense itself is more polite and more natural: תָּבוֹא! – come, תֵּשֵׁב – sit down, תַּגִּיד לִי – tell me, תִּרְאֶה – look, תֹּאכַל – eat, תִּתְקַשֵּׁר אֵלַי – call me, תִּזָּהֵר – be careful. Add בְּבַקָּשָׁה (bevakasha, please) and the request is ready: תִּסְגֹּר אֶת הַדֶּלֶת, בְּבַקָּשָׁה – Close the door, please.
Prohibition: אַל + future tense
A negative command is formed in one way only: אַל (al) + future tense. Not לֹא!
- אַל תִּדְאַג (al tid’ag) – Don’t worry; to a woman אַל תִּדְאֲגִי.
- אַל תְּפַחֵד (al tefached) – Don’t be afraid.
- אַל תִּשְׁכַּח (al tishkach) – Don’t forget.
- אַל תִּגַּע (al tiga) – Don’t touch.
- אַל תְּדַבְּרוּ (al tedabru) – Don’t talk.
Soft requests and suggestions
- בּוֹא נֵלֵךְ (bo nelech) – Let’s go! Literally “come, we will go”: בּוֹא + the “we” form of the future = “let’s”. בּוֹאוּ נַתְחִיל – Let’s begin.
- אֶפְשָׁר…? – may I / could I have?: אֶפְשָׁר מַיִם, בְּבַקָּשָׁה? – Could I have some water, please?
- אַתָּה יָכוֹל…? – can you?: אַתָּה יָכוֹל לַעֲזֹר לִי? – Can you help me?
- יָאלְלָה (yalla) – come on, let’s go; נוּ – well, come on.
What to remember
- The infinitive begins with ל and reveals the binyan: לִכְתֹּב, לְדַבֵּר, לְהַרְגִּישׁ, לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ.
- צָרִיךְ, יָכוֹל, רוֹצֶה agree with the speaker; אֶפְשָׁר, אָסוּר, כְּדַאי never change.
- Commands are mostly given in the future tense: תָּבוֹא, תֵּשֵׁב, תַּגִּיד; short forms for the common verbs: בּוֹא, לֵךְ, קַח, תֵּן, שֵׁב.
- Prohibition only with אַל + future: אַל תִּדְאַג.
- The “Imperative” trainer in the app drills these forms.
Practise this in the app. In Shoresh every textbook topic comes with trainers: verb conjugation, tenses, binyanim, the imperative and choosing the right word in a sentence.
