A basic conditional connects an open possibility to its consequence: אם יהיה לי זמן, אבוא “If I have time, I'll come.” The opener אם does not say whether the condition is likely; it simply leaves it unresolved. This page builds the everyday real pattern. Conditions presented as contrary to fact or deliberately remote use additional machinery and belong on unreal conditionals.
The basic frame
An open condition has two clauses:
| Condition | Result |
|---|---|
| אם + present or future | future, imperative, or another form required by the meaning |
For a one-time future possibility, Hebrew normally uses a future verb in the אם clause and another future verb in the result.
אם יהיה לי זמן, אבוא אחרי העבודה.
im yihyé li zman, avó akharéi ha'avodá
If I have time, I'll come after work.
אם ירד גשם, ניסע במונית.
im yeréd géshem, nisá bemonít
If it rains, we'll take a taxi.
The two verbs do not form a special “conditional tense.” Each clause chooses the form appropriate to its own event. Future reference yields future forms; a present state remains present; an instruction takes the imperative.
Hebrew allows the future after אם
English normally says if it rains tomorrow, not if it will rain tomorrow. Hebrew has no comparable ban. If the event is one specific future event, the verb after אם is naturally future: אם ירד, אם אבוא, אם תסיימי.
אם אבוא מחר, תוכל לעבור איתי על החוזה?
im avó makhár, tukhál la'avór ití al hakhozé?
If I come tomorrow, will you be able to go over the contract with me? (to a man)
This is a direct source-language contrast. An English speaker is trained to suppress will inside an if-clause; carrying that rule into Hebrew can turn a neutral single future possibility into a habitual statement. Hebrew אם היא מתקשרת can mean “if/whenever she calls” as a regular situation and, with a scheduling context, “if she is calling as arranged.” אם היא תתקשר is the neutral choice for one unresolved call that may happen this time.
A present condition can govern a future action
Use the present when the condition is already a present state: wanting, knowing, being tired, having something now. The result can still be an instruction or a future action.
אם אתה רוצה, בוא איתנו, יש מקום באוטו.
im atá rotsé, bo itánu, yesh makóm ba'óto
If you want, come with us—there's room in the car. (to a man)
אם את עייפה, אז תלכי לישון ואני אסדר פה.
im at ayefá, az telkhí lishón va'aní asadér po
If you're tired, then go to bed and I'll sort things out here. (to a woman; informal אז)
The optional אז makes the boundary and consequence explicit. It is especially common in (informal) speech. The conditional remains grammatical without it: אם את עייפה, תלכי לישון. In formal prose, the relation is usually clear enough without אז.
A real condition can be in the past
Not every past if-sentence is imaginary. אם אמרת את זה, טעית leaves open whether you said it, but states the real consequence if you did. Both verbs are ordinary past forms.
אם אמרת את זה מול כולם, טעית.
im amárta et ze mul kulám, ta'íta
If you said that in front of everyone, you made a mistake. (to a man; the speaker does not know whether it happened)
אם היא כבר שילמה, נחזיר לה את הכסף מחר.
im hi kvar shilmá, nakhazír la et hakésef makhár
If she's already paid, we'll refund her tomorrow.
The second example even mixes past condition and future result, because the possible payment precedes tomorrow's refund. A counterfactual says the condition is known to be false and normally brings in אילו / לו and היה + participle. Do not treat every אם + past clause as an unreal conditional.
Negating the condition
Plain אם לא means “if not / if … not.” The fixed expression אלא אם כן means “unless,” literally setting aside one exception. Learn it as a unit; neither אלא nor כן can be omitted from this meaning.
אם לא תשלחי לי כתובת, לא אדע לאן להגיע.
im lo tishlekhí li któvet, lo edá le'án lehagía
If you don't send me an address, I won't know where to go. (to a woman)
ניפגש בחוץ אלא אם כן ירד גשם.
nipagésh bakhúts éla im ken yeréd géshem
We'll meet outside unless it rains.
The discourse expression אם כן means “if so / in that case.” It refers back to a proposition rather than opening a fresh event condition.
אמרת שהחנות פתוחה? אם כן, נצא עכשיו.
amárta shehakhanút ptukhá? im ken, netsé akhsháv
You said the shop is open? If so, let's leave now. (to a man)
For the other, unrelated job of אם meaning “whether,” see the אם conjunction overview.
אם and כש־ make different commitments
Compare two nearly identical future clauses:
אם אגיע לפני שמונה, אחכה לך בבית הקפה.
im agía lifnéi shmóne, akhaké lekhá bevét hakafé
If I arrive before eight, I'll wait for you in the café. (to a man; arriving before eight is uncertain)
כשאגיע לפני שמונה, אחכה לך בבית הקפה.
kshe'agía lifnéi shmóne, akhaké lekhá bevét hakafé
When I arrive before eight, I'll wait for you in the café. (to a man; the speaker presents that arrival as expected)
אם leaves the event open; כש־ takes it for granted and locates it in time. That meaning contrast is developed on כש־ or אם?.
Either clause can come first
Putting the condition first presents it as the frame for what follows, and a comma normally closes that frame. Putting the result first changes the information flow, not the verb forms; a trailing condition normally has no comma before it.
נלך ברגל אם לא נמצא מונית.
nelékh barégel im lo nimtsá monít
We'll walk if we don't find a taxi.
Compare אם לא נמצא מונית, נלך ברגל. Both clauses contain the same words and forms. Only the order—and therefore what the speaker foregrounds—has changed. The broader range of real conditional tense combinations and formal variants belongs on real conditionals.
Common Mistakes
1. Assuming the English present is the neutral form for every one-time future condition. The present is grammatical when it describes a habit or an already arranged event; the future is neutral for one unresolved future possibility.
✅ אם היא מתקשרת הערב כמו שסיכמתם, תגיד לה שאני בחוץ.
im hi mitkashéret ha'érev kmo shesikámtem, tagíd la she'aní bakhúts
If she is calling this evening as you arranged, tell her I'm out. (to a man; present with an established schedule)
✅ אם היא תתקשר הערב, תגיד לה שאני בחוץ.
im hi titkashér ha'érev, tagíd la she'aní bakhúts
If she calls this evening, tell her I'm out. (to a man)
2. Adding ש־ after אם.
❌ אם שיהיה לי זמן, אבוא
Incorrect — conditional אם is followed directly by its clause, never by ש־: אם יהיה לי זמן.
✅ אם יהיה לי זמן, אבוא לעזור אחרי העבודה.
im yihyé li zman, avó la'azór akharéi ha'avodá
If I have time, I'll come help after work.
3. Using counterfactual אילו for an open future plan.
❌ אילו ירד גשם מחר, ניסע במונית
Incorrect as an open forecast — אילו frames a counterfactual or remote hypothetical and requires a corresponding counterfactual result. An unresolved forecast takes אם with ordinary future forms.
✅ אם ירד גשם מחר, ניסע במונית ולא ברכבת.
im yeréd géshem makhár, nisá bemonít veló barakévet
If it rains tomorrow, we'll take a taxi rather than the train.
4. Translating “unless” with bare אלא.
❌ נצא עכשיו אלא ירד גשם
Incorrect — the fixed conditional expression is אלא אם כן, not bare אלא.
✅ נצא עכשיו אלא אם כן ירד גשם חזק.
netsé akhsháv éla im ken yeréd géshem khazák
We'll leave now unless it rains heavily.
Key Takeaways
- Open real conditions use אם; one-time future events naturally take future verbs after it.
- A present condition describes a present state or habit and can lead to a future result or imperative.
- אם + past may be fully real: it can leave a past fact unresolved without making it counterfactual.
- Use אם לא for “if not,” אלא אם כן for “unless,” and אם כן for “if so.”
- אם leaves an event open; כש־ presents it as expected. Either clause can come first, with a comma after a fronted condition.
Now practice Hebrew
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- אם: If and WhetherA2 — אם does two unrelated jobs with the same three letters: it opens a real condition, אם תבוא בשמונה נספיק לאכול, and it embeds a yes-no question, שאלתי אותו אם הוא מכיר מישהו. English merges the same two jobs into if, which is why the split is invisible rather than difficult — and why האם, which looks like a stronger אם, does neither of them the same way.
- כש־ or אם?A2 — The choice is not about time, it is about what you are taking for granted: כש־ treats the event as certain and only the timing as open, אם leaves the event itself open. And both clauses take a future verb where English forces a present — which is the one thing on this page you have to unlearn rather than learn.
- Real Conditionals with אםA2 — An open condition opens with אם, and the one thing you have to get right is the tense: Hebrew puts a FUTURE verb in both halves — אם ירד גשם, נישאר בבית — exactly where English bans its own future. Habitual conditions take the present in both halves and past-fact conditions take the past, and the optional אז that opens the main clause is spoken Hebrew.
- Unreal Conditionals: אילו, לו, and היהB2 — A condition you already know is false — a תנאי בטל — opens with אילו or לו and puts היה + בינוני in the main clause: אילו ידעתי, הייתי מצלם. The Academy sets out three live structures, including the plain-past condition that most textbooks leave out and the everyday version with אם that language editors mark down.