עלה alá, “go up, rise; cost,” has the root ע־ל־ה in pa'al. Final ה puts it in the ל״ה class, while initial ע reshapes vowels that touch the beginning of the root. One paradigm covers literal upward motion, boarding a vehicle, prices, immigration to Israel and several high-frequency figurative extensions.
Principal parts
| Part | Pointed ktiv male | Reading | Core meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms past | עָלָה | alá | he / it went up |
| ms present | עוֹלֶה | olé | goes up / costs |
| 3ms future | יַעֲלֶה | ya'alé | he / it will go up |
| infinitive | לַעֲלוֹת | la'alót | to go up / rise |
| verbal noun | עֲלִיָּיה | aliyá | ascent, increase; immigration to Israel |
The verbal noun עלייה names a rise or ascent and, in Jewish and Israeli historical vocabulary, immigration to Israel. In sport, עלייה לליגה is promotion to a higher division: a contextual extension of “ascent,” not a separate conjugation or construction.
אחרי העלייה הקשה עצרנו לשתות מים.
akharéi ha'aliyá hakashá atsárnu lishtót máyim
After the difficult climb, we stopped to drink water.
Conjugation
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | עָלִיתִי alíti | אֶעֱלֶה e'elé |
| אתה | עָלִיתָ alíta | תַּעֲלֶה ta'alé |
| את | עָלִית alít | תַּעֲלִי ta'alí |
| הוא | עָלָה alá | יַעֲלֶה ya'alé |
| היא | עָלְתָה altá | תַּעֲלֶה ta'alé |
| אנחנו | עָלִינוּ alínu | נַעֲלֶה na'alé |
| אתם / אתן | עֲלִיתֶם / עֲלִיתֶן alitém / alitén | תַּעֲלוּ ta'alú |
| הם / הן | עָלוּ alú | יַעֲלוּ ya'alú |
| formal/literary feminine plural | — | תַּעֲלֶינָה ta'aléna |
| Present agreement | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | עוֹלֶה olé |
| feminine singular | עוֹלָה olá |
| masculine plural | עוֹלִים olím |
| feminine plural | עוֹלוֹת olót |
Careful formal recitation has final-stressed עֲלִיתֶם / עֲלִיתֶן. Everyday speech normally says עָלִיתֶם / עָלִיתֶן, alítem / alíten. Modern Hebrew uses תעלו / יעלו for plural groups of every gender; תעלינה is (formal or literary) rather than conversational.
עליתי במדרגות כי המעלית לא עבדה.
alíti bamadregót ki hama'alít lo avdá
I went up the stairs because the elevator wasn't working.
מחר נעלה לתצפית לפני הזריחה.
makhár na'alé latatspít lifnéi hazrikhá
Tomorrow we'll go up to the lookout before sunrise.
What the weak ending does
The final ה disappears when most suffixes arrive: עליתי, עלתה, עלו. In the present it becomes the gender-varying endings עולה / עולה, whose unpointed spelling is identical even though the readings are olé masculine and olá feminine. In the future it gives final ־ֶה: יעלה. The pa'al ל״ה page shows the same changes in verbs such as רצה and קנה.
The initial ע cannot take an ordinary shva. That is why the future and infinitive open with a short extra vowel: יַעֲלֶה, תַּעֲלֶה, לַעֲלוֹת. The hiatus marker in ya'alé and la'alót represents a real syllable boundary, not an English-style consonantal sound.
Imperative and crowded spellings
| Addressee | Imperative |
|---|---|
| one man | עֲלֵה alé |
| one woman | עֲלִי alí |
| group | עֲלוּ alú |
The true imperative is current in practical directions, though the future often sounds less abrupt: תעלה לקומה השנייה is a neutral “go up to the second floor.” Several unpointed forms need context.
| Written | Possible readings |
|---|---|
| עולה | עוֹלֶה olé — ms present or a male immigrant · עוֹלָה olá — fs present or a female immigrant |
| עלה | עָלָה alá — he/it went up · עֲלֵה alé — go up! (m.sg) · עָלֶה alé — leaf |
| עלי / עליי | עֲלִי alí — go up! (f.sg) · עָלַיי alái — on me |
The last contrast is visible even without niqqud: the imperative עלי has one yod, while the inflected preposition עליי has two in ktiv male.
תעלי לאוטובוס, אני כבר בפנים.
ta'alí la'otobús, aní kvar bifním
Get on the bus; I'm already inside. (informal, to a woman)
Ascent and boarding
Physical ascent may take ב־ for the route (עלה במדרגות) or על־ for the surface or object climbed (עלה על ההר). Boarding a vehicle is conventionally עלה ל־, the mirror of ירד מ־ “get off”: עלה לאוטובוס, עלה לרכבת.
עלינו על ההר מוקדם כדי להימנע מהחום.
alínu al hahár mukdám kdei lehimanéa mehakhóm
We climbed the mountain early to avoid the heat.
English go up often needs a separate verb for “board.” Hebrew preserves the spatial image and merely chooses the vehicle as the endpoint.
Cost: the thing is the subject
In כמה זה עולה?, “How much does this cost?”, the item is the grammatical subject. The buyer does not appear, and the price follows with no preposition: הכרטיס עולה חמישים שקל (informal everyday measurement). With a purchase verb, however, the price takes ב־: קניתי את הכרטיס בחמישים שקלים.
כמה עולה כרטיס לירושלים?
káma olé kartís lirushaláyim?
How much does a ticket to Jerusalem cost?
הכרטיס עולה חמישים שקל, אבל קניתי שניים בתשעים.
hakartís olé khamishím shékel, avál kaníti shnáyim betish'ím
The ticket costs fifty shekels, but I bought two for ninety. (informal price syntax)
המחירים עלו שוב בתחילת החודש.
hamekhirím alú shuv bitkhilát hakhódesh
Prices rose again at the beginning of the month.
Immigration and extended uses
In current Israeli usage, עלה לארץ / עלה לישראל means “immigrated to Israel,” and עולה חדש / עולה חדשה is a newly arrived immigrant. Origin takes מ־: עלה מרוסיה. These are established sociohistorical terms; they identify a direction of migration within Jewish and Israeli discourse and do not describe every migrant experience.
סבתא שלי עלתה לארץ בשנות השבעים.
sávta shelí altá la'árets bishnót hashiv'ím
My grandmother immigrated to Israel in the 1970s.
Frequent extensions preserve a sense of movement into prominence or consequence: עלה לי ביוקר “cost me dearly,” עלה בדעתי “occurred to me,” עלה לאוויר “went on air / launched,” and עלה על הפרק “came onto the agenda.”
רק אחרי הישיבה עלה בדעתי פתרון פשוט.
rak akharéi hayeshivá alá beda'tí pitarón pashút
Only after the meeting did a simple solution occur to me.
הנושא יעלה על הפרק בישיבה הבאה.
hanosé ya'alé al hapérek bayeshivá haba'á
The issue will come up at the next meeting.
Key Takeaways
- Learn עָלָה – עוֹלֶה – יַעֲלֶה – לַעֲלוֹת together; final ה and initial ע both shape the paradigm.
- Unpointed עולה can be masculine or feminine present and also the noun “immigrant”; עלה has verb, imperative and noun readings.
- Use עלה ל־ for boarding and ירד מ־ for getting off.
- In cost syntax, the item is the subject and the price is bare: הכרטיס עולה חמישים שקל.
- עלייה covers ascent and increase, the established immigration term, and the sporting expression עלייה לליגה.
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