איתי, איתך, איתו: עם Inflected | Hebrew Grammar

Hebrew says עם דנה “with Dana,” but it does not say עם אני for “with me.” Before a pronoun, everyday Hebrew switches to אית־: איתי, איתך, איתו, איתנו. These are neutral, high-frequency forms that you need for plans, travel, shared experiences, and the simple question מה איתך?

There is one historical sentence to remember and then move on: the suffixes belong to a second preposition אֵת “with,” so the paradigm is suppletive rather than visibly built on עם. The full homograph story is on את as “with”.

The everyday paradigm

Person	Modern spelling	Pointed form and reading
with me	איתי	אִתִּי ití
with you (m. sg.)	איתך	אִתְּךָ itkhá
with you (f. sg.)	איתך	אִתָּךְ itákh
with him	איתו	אִתּוֹ itó
with her	איתה	אִתָּהּ itá
with us	איתנו	אִתָּנוּ itánu
with you (m./mixed pl.)	איתכם	אִתְּכֶם itkhém
with you (f. pl.)	איתכן	אִתְּכֶן itkhén
with them (m./mixed)	איתם	אִתָּם itám
with them (f.)	איתן	אִתָּן itán

The unpointed spelling איתך covers both singular genders. To a man it is itkhá; to a woman it is itákh. English does not mark that difference, so learners must store both readings rather than treating one as an optional accent.

יואב, אתה בא איתי לתחנה?

Yo'áv, atá ba ití latakhaná?

Yoav, are you coming to the station with me? (informal)

נועה, הבאתי קפה גם בשבילך.

No'á, hevéti kafé gam bishvilékh

Noa, I brought coffee for you too. (feminine ־ך reading for contrast; neutral)

The previous sentence deliberately uses a different preposition: not every English phrase ending in you should become איתך. Use איתך only when the relationship is accompaniment, association, or something retained in a person's company.

Put the forms into real situations

מה איתך, כבר החלטת אם אתה בא?

ma itkhá, kvar hekhláta im atá ba?

What about you—have you decided whether you're coming? (to a man; informal)

אני מבינה מה קרה לך, ואני איתך.

aní meviná ma kará lakh, va'aní itákh

I understand what happened to you, and I'm with you. (f. speaker to a woman; supportive, neutral)

הסוד הזה נשאר איתי הרבה שנים.

hasód hazé nish'ár ití harbé shaním

I kept this secret for many years. (literally, 'this secret stayed with me'; neutral)

באתי איתה כי היא לא הכירה שם אף אחד.

báti itá ki hi lo hikíra sham af ekhád

I came with her because she didn't know anyone there. (neutral)

העובד החדש ישב איתו בחדר עד שימצאו לו שולחן.

ha'ovéd hekhadásh yeshév itó bakhéder ad sheyimts'ú lo shulkhán

The new employee will sit with him in the room until they find him a desk. (neutral workplace context)

ההורים שלי גרים איתנו עד סוף החודש.

hahorím shelí garím itánu ad sof hakhódesh

My parents are living with us until the end of the month. (neutral)

אנחנו נבוא איתכם לטיול אם נסיים בזמן.

anákhnu navó itkhém latiyúl im nesayém bizmán

We'll come on the trip with you if we finish in time. (to a masculine or mixed group; neutral)

המדריכה תישאר איתכן עד סוף הסיור.

hamadrikhá tisha'ér itkhén ad sof hasiyúr

The guide will stay with you until the end of the tour. (to a group of women; neutral)

הילדים חזרו איתם מהים רק אחרי השקיעה.

hayeladím khazrú itám mehayám rak akharéi hashki'á

The children came back from the beach with them only after sunset. (masculine or mixed 'them'; neutral)

חזרתי איתן מההופעה ברכבת האחרונה.

khazárti itán mehahofa'á barakévet ha'akharoná

I came back from the show with them on the last train. (all-female 'them'; neutral)

💡

Learn איתך and איתכם as spoken forms, not just spellings. איתך splits into masculine itkhá and feminine itákh; איתכם and איתכן differ in their final consonant as well as the group they address.

An adjunct, not a verb's required partner

With verbs such as השתמש ב־ “use” or נזכר ב־ “remember,” the preposition belongs to the verb's complement pattern. Comitative אית־ usually behaves differently: it adds a companion to an otherwise complete event. באתי “I came” is complete; באתי איתה adds who accompanied me. This is why it is misleading to memorize “verb + עם” lists as though every comitative were governed by a particular verb.

דנה נסעה לצפון, ואחיה נסע איתה.

Dána nas'á latsafón, ve'akhíha nasá itá

Dana went north, and her brother went with her. (the first clause is complete; the second adds the companion)

A companion is not an instrument

English uses with both for a companion and for a tool. Hebrew separates them: איתו can mean “with him,” while a pen that you use takes instrumental ב־, therefore בו “with it.” Crucially, כתבתי איתו is perfectly grammatical when the suffix refers to a man. The same surface phrase cannot be condemned; you must identify the intended referent.

✅ כתבתי בו את הכתובת כי העיפרון נשבר.

katávti bo et haktóvet ki ha'iparón nishbár

I wrote the address with it because the pencil broke. (בו = with the pen, instrumental)

✅ כתבתי איתו את הדוח ושנינו חתמנו עליו.

katávti itó et hadúakh ushnéinu khatámnu aláv

I wrote the report with him, and we both signed it. (איתו = with the man, comitative)

The full people-versus-tools contrast is on עם.

💡

איתו and בו can both become English “with it/him,” but they encode different relations. Ask whether the referent accompanies the event (איתו) or serves as the means or instrument (בו).

Older and literary forms you will meet

Pointed texts and older unpointed books may spell the everyday words without the modern yod: אתי, אתך, אתו. Read them אִתִּי, אִתְּךָ/אִתָּךְ, אִתּוֹ. In present-day ordinary unpointed prose, write איתי, איתך, איתו.

A separate (literary) series is עימי, עימך, עימו, עימנו. עימדי “with me” is (archaic, poetic). Recognize these in literature and song; do not mistake their marked register for the unmarked language of everyday plans.

הוא נשא עימו את המכתב הישן לכל מקום.

hu nasá imó et hamikhtáv hayashán lekhól makóm

He carried the old letter with him everywhere. (literary)

Common Mistakes

1. Leaving the pronoun free after עם. English keeps with unchanged; Hebrew does not.

❌ אתה יכול לבוא עם אני לקניות?

Incorrect—the pronoun cannot remain separate after עם; use איתי.

✅ אתה יכול לבוא איתי לקניות?

atá yakhól lavó ití lakniyót?

Can you come shopping with me? (to a man; informal)

2. Keeping both עם and the inflected form. The suffix form already contains “with.”

❌ אנחנו נוסעים עם איתכם לצפון.

Incorrect—עם איתכם doubles the preposition; say איתכם alone.

✅ אנחנו נוסעים איתכם לצפון ביום ראשון.

anákhnu nose'ím itkhém latsafón beyóm rishón

We're travelling north with you on Sunday. (to a masculine or mixed group; neutral)

3. Importing English instrumental with. A tool is not a companion.

❌ פתחתי את הבקבוק איתו הזה.

Incorrect for 'I opened the bottle with this': a tool takes ב־, not comitative אית־. The sequence also gives איתו no possible human referent.

✅ פתחתי בו את הבקבוק בלי לשפוך כלום.

patákhti bo et habakbúk bli lishpókh klum

I opened the bottle with it without spilling anything. (בו = with the tool; neutral)

Key Takeaways

With a noun, use free עם; with a pronoun, everyday Hebrew uses אית־.
The complete neutral series is איתי, איתך, איתו, איתה, איתנו, איתכם, איתכן, איתם, איתן.
איתך is itkhá to a man and itákh to a woman.
Comitative אית־ adds a companion; instrumental ב־ marks a tool. Both כתבתי בו “I wrote with it” and כתבתי איתו “I wrote with him” are correct.

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