English according to hides several different relationships: naming a source, applying a criterion, citing a rule and introducing somebody's opinion. Hebrew uses לפי for all four, but gives you more specialised alternatives when the source is a person, the standard is formal or what follows is a complete clause.
The quickest useful contrast is לפי + noun phrase versus כפי ש־ + clause. על פי is the formal twin of לפי, especially in legal, administrative and academic writing. Reported and indirect speech belongs elsewhere; the concern here is what each expression may grammatically introduce.
לפי for a source
Before a person or group that supplies information, לפי means “according to.” It does not guarantee that the report is true; it identifies whose version, evidence or assessment the sentence is using.
לפי העדים, התאונה אירעה בשעות הבוקר.
lefí ha'edím, hate'uná er'á bish'ót habóker
According to the witnesses, the accident occurred in the morning hours. (news/reporting)
לפי הרופאה, אין סיבה לדאגה.
lefí harof'á, ein sibá lid'agá
According to the doctor, there is no cause for concern. (neutral; female doctor)
לפי התחזית, הגשם ייפסק לקראת הערב.
lefí hatakhazít, hagéshem yipasék likrát ha'érev
According to the forecast, the rain will stop toward evening. (neutral)
English also says according to me, but Hebrew usually makes the content more explicit. לפי דעתי and the more compact לדעתי are both normal “in my opinion.” A free subject pronoun cannot simply follow לפי.
לפי דעתי, כדאי לדחות את הפגישה לשבוע הבא.
lefí da'tí, kedái lidkhót et hapgishá lashavúa habá
In my opinion, we should postpone the meeting until next week. (neutral)
לדעתי, המחיר גבוה מדי בשביל חדר כזה.
leda'tí, hamekhír gavóha midái bishvíl khéder kazé
In my opinion, the price is too high for a room like this. (neutral, compact)
לפי for a standard or calculation
The second central use is not about a speaker at all. It says that a decision, classification or result was produced by applying a criterion. English alternates among according to, under, by and on the basis of; Hebrew can keep לפי.
ההחלטה התקבלה לפי הנהלים הקבועים.
hahakhlatá hitkablá lefí hanehalím hakvu'ím
The decision was made according to the established procedures. (formal/workplace)
הציונים חושבו לפי מספר התשובות הנכונות.
hatsiyuním khushvú lefí mispár hatshuvót hanekhonót
The grades were calculated according to the number of correct answers. (academic/administrative)
סידרתי את הקבצים לפי תאריך ולא לפי שם.
sidárti et hakvatsím lefí ta'aríkh veló lefí shem
I sorted the files by date, not by name. (neutral)
Do not stretch this criterion sense into an automatic translation of English per. Hebrew has several rate constructions, and לפי is not a universal rate marker. In particular, לפי שעה means “for the time being” in the relevant idiom, not “per hour.”
The inflection—and the form that repeats itself
Historically, לפי is built from לְ־ plus פֶּה “mouth,” through the construct form פִּי. That origin remains visible in the suffixes. The surprise is the first-person singular: bare לפי “according to” and suffixed לפי “according to me” look and sound identical. Context must decide.
| Meaning | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| according to me | לְפִי — לפי | lefí |
| according to you m. sg. | לְפִיךָ — לפיך | lefikhá |
| according to you f. sg. | לְפִיךְ — לפיך | lefíkh |
| according to him/it | לְפִיו — לפיו | lefív |
| according to her/it | לְפִיהָ — לפיה | lefíha |
| according to us | לְפִינוּ — לפינו | lefínu |
| according to you m./mixed pl. | לְפִיכֶם — לפיכם | lefikhém |
| according to you f. pl. | לְפִיכֶן — לפיכן | lefikhén |
| according to them m./mixed | לְפִיהֶם — לפיהם | lefihém |
| according to them f. | לְפִיהֶן — לפיהן | lefihén |
These forms are grammatically available, but ordinary speech often avoids them because they are opaque. לפיו is common in written reporting and can refer to a person, a document or a rule. In conversation, repeating the noun or using לפי מה ש־ often makes the source easier to hear.
קראתי את הנוהל, ולפיו צריך להגיש את הבקשה עד סוף החודש.
karáti et hanóhal, ulefív tsaríkh lehagísh et habakashá ad sof hakhódesh
I read the procedure, and according to it the application must be submitted by the end of the month. (formal/written)
לפי מה שהיא אמרה, הרכבת האחרונה כבר יצאה.
lefí ma shehí amrá, harakévet ha'akharoná kvar yats'á
According to what she said, the last train has already left. (neutral spoken workaround)
על פי and ע״פ: the formal twin
על פי means “according to, in accordance with” and is especially common before data, law, regulations, contracts and formal standards. In many sentences לפי would remain grammatical; על פי turns the sentence toward institutional or evidential prose.
The fixed phrase על פי רוב means “generally” or “as a rule” and belongs to the same written-leaning family.
על פי הנתונים החדשים, מספר הנוסעים עלה השנה.
al pi hanetuním hakhadashím, mispár hanos'ím alá hashaná
According to the new data, passenger numbers rose this year. (formal/news)
החוזה יבוטל על פי דין אם אחד הצדדים הפר אותו.
hakhóze yevutál al pi din im ekhád hatsdadím hefér otó
The contract will be cancelled according to law if one party breaches it. (formal/legal)
The compact written abbreviation is ע״פ, with Hebrew gershayim ״ (U+05F4), not two ASCII quotation marks. Expand it in prose intended for broad learners; expect it in forms, notices and internal documentation.
Sort by what follows
Several neighbours become easy once you ask what kind of constituent comes next.
| Expression | What follows | Typical job and register |
|---|---|---|
| לפי | noun phrase; also a suffix | source, opinion or criterion; neutral |
| על פי | noun phrase; also suffixes on פי | law, evidence or standard; formal |
| בהתאם ל־ | noun phrase or suffixed ל־ form | in accordance with; official/administrative |
| כפי ש־ | finite clause | as, as stated/explained; neutral to formal |
| לפי מה ש־ | finite clause | according to what…; neutral, common in speech |
| לגבי | topic noun phrase or suffix | regarding, concerning—not evidence |
| לדברי | person or institution naming the speaker | according to the words of; news/written |
כפי שהסברתי אתמול, אין צורך לשלוח את הטופס שוב.
kfi shehisbárti etmól, ein tsórekh lishlóakh et hatófes shuv
As I explained yesterday, there is no need to send the form again. (neutral to formal)
בהתאם להנחיות, הכניסה מותרת רק לעובדים.
behet'ém lahanakhayót, haknisá mutéret rak la'ovdím
In accordance with the instructions, entry is permitted only to employees. (official/administrative)
לדברי דוברת המשרד, התקלה תתוקן עוד היום.
ledivréi dovéret hamisrád, hatakalá tetukán od hayóm
According to the ministry spokesperson, the fault will be fixed today. (formal/news; female spokesperson)
Notice that לגבי introduces a topic, not a source: לגבי התקציב means “regarding the budget,” not “according to the budget.” לדברי does the reverse kind of narrowing: it explicitly attributes words to a speaker.
Common Mistakes
The reliable learner error is placing a free subject pronoun directly after לפי. Use an opinion phrase, a suffixed form where it is natural, or לפי מה ש־ before a clause.
❌ לפי אני, כדאי לחכות עוד יום.
Incorrect — a free אני cannot follow לפי. Say לפי דעתי or לדעתי; before a clause, use לפי מה שאני חושב.
✅ לפי דעתי, כדאי לחכות עוד יום לפני שמחליטים.
lefí da'tí, kedái lekhakót od yom lifnéi shemakhlitím
In my opinion, it is worth waiting another day before deciding. (neutral)
Do not manufacture further prohibitions from that correction: לפי דעתי is good Hebrew, and לפיו is a legitimate inflected form. The fault is specifically the unattached free pronoun.
Key Takeaways
- לפי introduces a source, criterion or opinion: לפי העדים, לפי הנהלים, לפי דעתי.
- The ten suffixed forms exist, and bare לפי is identical to first-person singular לפי “according to me.”
- Speech often avoids opaque suffixes by repeating the noun or using לפי מה ש־.
- על פי is the formal twin used with data, law and standards; על פי רוב means “generally/as a rule,” and ע״פ is the written abbreviation.
- Use כפי ש־ before a clause, לדברי to attribute words, and לגבי to introduce a topic.
- בהתאם ל־ belongs to official and administrative language.
Now practice Hebrew
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