מול, נגד, כלפי: Facing and Against | Hebrew Grammar

מול and נגד overlap: both can be translated as against, and dictionaries legitimately put against among the glosses of מול. The useful distinction is one of perspective, not two sealed dictionary boxes. מול arranges two participants face to face or across from one another; נגד presents resistance, hostility, prevention or competition.

כלפי adds a third relation. It usually means “toward” or “in relation to,” especially when the relation is an attitude, duty or policy rather than a physical direction. This page builds that contrast; the larger map of spatial words belongs on place prepositions.

מול: opposite and face to face

In its clearest spatial use, מול places one thing facing another. The two sides may literally look at each other, or one may simply stand across from the other.

הדירה שלנו מול הים, אבל אין בה מרפסת.

hadirá shelánu mul hayám, avál ein ba mirpéset

Our flat faces the sea, but it doesn't have a balcony. (neutral)

ישבתי מולו כדי שנוכל לדבר בשקט.

yashávti muló kdei shenukhál ledabér beshéket

I sat opposite him so we could talk quietly. (neutral)

The related adverb ממול means “opposite, across the way” when the reference point is understood. Unlike מול, it need not introduce a complement.

אין כאן כספומט, אבל יש אחד ממול.

ein kan kaspomát, avál yesh ekhád mimúl

There isn't an ATM here, but there's one across the way. (neutral, everyday)

Modern מול extends naturally from physical facing to interaction across an interface. A person can work מול לקוחות “with/client-facing customers,” coordinate מול a department, or speak מול קהל “before an audience.” The mental picture remains two sides confronting one another, without implying hostility.

אני עובדת מול לקוחות מחוץ לישראל כל יום.

aní ovédet mul lakukhót mikhúts leyisra'él kol yom

I work with clients outside Israel every day. (f. speaker; neutral workplace usage)

עדיין קשה לי לדבר מול קהל גדול.

adáyin kashé li ledabér mul kahál gadól

I still find it difficult to speak in front of a large audience. (neutral)

נגד: opposition, contest and protection

נגד asserts an opposing force or position. You vote נגד a proposal, demonstrate נגד a decision, play נגד a rival and take medicine נגד pain. Physical “across from” is not its ordinary job.

הצבעתי נגד ההצעה כי לא היה לה תקציב.

hitsbáti néged hahatsa'á ki lo hayá la taktsív

I voted against the proposal because it had no budget. (neutral)

יש לך משהו נגד כאב ראש?

yesh lekhá máshehu néged ke'év rosh?

Do you have anything for a headache? (to a man; informal; literally, 'against a headache')

הוועד ארגן הפגנה נגד סגירת המרפאה.

havá'ad irgén hafganá néged sgirát hamirpa'á

The committee organised a demonstration against closing the clinic. (neutral to written)

Sports shows the overlap honestly. Both משחק מול ספרד and משחק נגד ספרד are idiomatic. מול frames the fixture or encounter—who is facing whom. נגד brings the competitive opposition into focus. Real sports reporting uses both, sometimes in the same report.

המשחק מול ספרד יתקיים ביום חמישי.

hamiskhák mul sfarád yitkayém beyóm khamishí

The match with Spain will take place on Thursday. (fixture/encounter framing; neutral sports language)

במשחק נגד ספרד הנבחרת שיחקה בהגנה רוב הזמן.

bamiskhák néged sfarád hanivkhéret sikhaká bahaganá rov hazmán

In the game against Spain, the team played defensively most of the time. (opponent framing; neutral sports language)

💡

The overlap is real. Ask what the speaker is profiling: two sides facing one another suggests מול; active opposition, prevention or protection suggests נגד. A sports rival supports both viewpoints.

Three inflection families

All three prepositions take personal suffixes, but they do not build them in the same way. מול and נגד use the ordinary singular-style endings. כלפי inflects on a plural-looking base, the family also seen with על and אל. The spelling of כלפיי “toward me” and כלפייך “toward you (f. sg.)” exposes that difference.

Person	מול	נגד	כלפי
me	מוּלִי mulí	נֶגְדִי negdí	כְּלַפַּיי — כלפיי klapái
you m. sg.	מוּלְךָ mulkhá	נֶגְדְךָ negdekhá	כְּלַפֶּיךָ klapékha
you f. sg.	מוּלֵךְ mulékh	נֶגְדֵךְ negdékh	כְּלַפַּיִיךְ — כלפייך klapáyikh
him	מוּלוֹ muló	נֶגְדוֹ negdó	כְּלַפָּיו klapáv
her	מוּלָהּ mulá	נֶגְדָהּ negdá	כְּלַפֶּיהָ klapéha
us	מוּלֵנוּ mulénu	נֶגְדֵנוּ negdénu	כְּלַפֵּינוּ klapéinu
you m./mixed pl.	מוּלְכֶם mulkhém	נֶגְדְכֶם negdekhém	כְּלַפֵּיכֶם klapeikhém
you f. pl.	מוּלְכֶן mulkhén	נֶגְדְכֶן negdekhén	כְּלַפֵּיכֶן klapeikhén
them m./mixed	מוּלָם mulám	נֶגְדָם negdám	כְּלַפֵּיהֶם klapeihém
them f.	מוּלָן mulán	נֶגְדָן negdán	כְּלַפֵּיהֶן klapeihén

The suffix replaces the whole complement: מול המנהל becomes מולו, נגד ההחלטה becomes נגדה, and כלפי הילדים becomes כלפיהם. Do not leave a separate personal pronoun after the preposition.

💡

The spelling diagnoses the family. מולי and נגדי use the compact singular-style endings; כלפיי and כלפיו display the same plural-base pattern as עליי and עליו. Learn the whole base with its suffix family instead of attaching one universal set of endings.

הוא התיישב מולי ולא אמר מילה.

hu hityashév mulí veló amár milá

He sat down opposite me and didn't say a word. (neutral)

רוב העובדים הצביעו נגדה.

rov ha'ovdím hitsbí'u negdá

Most of the employees voted against it. (feminine referent, such as הצעה 'proposal'; neutral)

כלפי: attitudes and responsibilities

כלפי is especially natural before nouns denoting people, groups or institutions when the relation is an attitude, conduct, responsibility or obligation. It is common in journalism, policy and careful discussion; in very casual speech, speakers often choose a verb or a simpler phrase instead.

הדוח מתאר יחס עוין כלפי המיעוט.

hadúakh meta'ér yákhas oyén klapéi hami'út

The report describes a hostile attitude toward the minority. (written)

יש לנו אחריות כלפי המשפחה וגם כלפי העובדים.

yesh lánu akhrayút klapéi hamishpakhá vegam klapéi ha'ovdím

We have a responsibility toward the family and also toward the employees. (neutral to written)

היא הייתה הוגנת כלפיי גם כשהתווכחנו.

hi haytá hogénet klapái gam kshehitvakákhnu

She was fair toward me even when we argued. (neutral)

כנגד: comparison and exchange

כנגד is related to נגד but has several written uses of its own: “as against,” “compared with,” and “in exchange for.” In contemporary institutional prose it often sets one amount, obligation or document against another.

החברה תתרום שקל כנגד כל שקל שייאסף מהציבור.

hakhevrá titróm shékel kenéged kol shékel sheye'aséf mehatsibúr

The company will donate one shekel for every shekel raised from the public. (formal/institutional; matching exchange)

This use should not be generalized to every ordinary exchange. In everyday buying and selling, other constructions are usually more natural; כנגד is useful precisely because it sounds like two formally corresponding sides.

Common Mistakes

1. Using נגד for physical position. It adds an oppositional or hostile reading where simple facing is intended.

❌ ישבתי נגדו בבית הקפה כדי שנוכל לדבר.

Incorrect for physical 'opposite him' — נגדו suggests opposition. Use מולו.

✅ ישבתי מולו בבית הקפה כדי שנוכל לדבר.

yashávti muló bevéit hakafé kdei shenukhál ledabér

I sat opposite him in the café so we could talk. (neutral)

2. Leaving the pronoun separate. English keeps opposite him as two words; Hebrew uses the suffix.

❌ הכיסא שלי היה מול הוא.

Incorrect — 'opposite him' is the single inflected form מולו.

✅ הכיסא שלי היה מולו לאורך כל הדיון.

hakisé shelí hayá muló le'órekh kol hadiyún

My chair was opposite him throughout the discussion. (neutral)

3. Replacing protective נגד with מול. Medicine acts against a symptom; it does not merely face it.

❌ קניתי תרופה מול כאב ראש.

Incorrect — medicine for or against a symptom takes נגד: תרופה נגד כאב ראש.

✅ קניתי תרופה נגד כאב ראש בבית המרקחת.

kaníti trufá néged ke'év rosh bevéit hamirkákhat

I bought headache medicine at the pharmacy. (neutral)

Key Takeaways

מול profiles facing, spatial opposition or interaction between two sides.
נגד profiles resistance, competition, prevention or protection.
Both are idiomatic in sports: משחק מול ספרד frames the fixture; משחק נגד ספרד frames the opponent.
כלפי is the written-leaning “toward/in relation to” of attitudes, duties and conduct.
מול and נגד take singular-style suffixes; כלפי uses the plural-base family: כלפיי, כלפיך, כלפיו.
ממול means “opposite/across the way”; כנגד can mean “compared with” or “in exchange for” in formal contexts.

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