עבד — to work | Hebrew Grammar

עבד avád is the central pa'al verb for “work.” It covers people doing jobs, devices functioning and plans succeeding, but its following preposition changes with the relationship: someone works ב־ a place, אצל an employer, עם colleagues and על a task. Root ע־ב־ד is a פ״ע verb: its first radical is the guttural ע, which reshapes the prefixes of the future and infinitive.

Complete paradigm

Person	Past	Future
אני	עָבַדְתִּי avádti	אֶעֱבוֹד e'evód
אתה	עָבַדְתָּ avádta	תַּעֲבוֹד ta'avód
את	עָבַדְתְּ avádt	תַּעַבְדִי ta'avdí
הוא	עָבַד avád	יַעֲבוֹד ya'avód
היא	עָבְדָה avdá	תַּעֲבוֹד ta'avód
אנחנו	עָבַדְנוּ avádnu	נַעֲבוֹד na'avód
אתם / אתן	עָבַדְתֶּם / עָבַדְתֶּן avádtem / avádten	תַּעַבְדוּ ta'avdú
הם / הן	עָבְדוּ avdú	יַעַבְדוּ ya'avdú

Form type	Forms	Register or use
present	עוֹבֵד ovéd · עוֹבֶדֶת ovédet · עוֹבְדִים ovdím · עוֹבְדוֹת ovdót	neutral; also nouns “worker/employee”
imperative	עֲבוֹד avód · עִבְדִי ivdí · עִבְדוּ ivdú	firm instruction; future commands are common in speech
infinitive	לַעֲבוֹד la'avód	neutral, everyday
action noun	עֲבוֹדָה avodá	work, job, assignment or piece of work

The specifically feminine plural future תעבודנה is (formal or literary); contemporary speech uses תעבדו for every plural group. In careful recitation, second-person plural past עֲבַדְתֶּם / עֲבַדְתֶּן may be avadtém / avadtén. The common conversational stress is avádtem / avádten, as in the table.

עבדתי מהבית כל השבוע, אז כמעט לא יצאתי.

avádti mehabáyit kol hashavúa, az kim'át lo yatsáti.

I worked from home all week, so I hardly went out.

כמה שעות עבדת אתמול?

káma sha'ót avádta etmól?

How many hours did you work yesterday? (to a man)

מחר נעבוד רק עד הצוהריים.

makhár na'avód rak ad hatsohoráyim.

Tomorrow we'll work only until noon.

💡

Keep נַעֲבוֹד “we will work” separate from hollow forms such as נָגוּר “we will live.” The root ע־ב־ד is intact, and unpointed נעבוד retains its ו; there is no special collision or missing letter in this form.

Why the future begins ta'a-, ya'a-, na'a-

The initial guttural ע preserves the historical a-prefix in the pa'al future and infinitive. In most future forms it takes chataf-patach while the prefix has patach: תַּעֲבוֹד, יַעֲבוֹד, נַעֲבוֹד. Before the following shva in suffixed forms, that chataf becomes full patach: תַּעַבְדִי, תַּעַבְדוּ. First-person אֶעֱבוֹד begins with א followed by ע; the two consonants remain separate in the careful pronunciation e'evód.

The infinitive לַעֲבוֹד likewise has la-, not the li- found in לכתוב. These are systematic pe-guttural patterns, but no one expects a beginner to derive every vowel in real time. Learn עובד – יעבוד – לעבוד as a spoken set, then use the pattern to recognize related roots.

את תעבדי ביום שישי או תיקחי חופש?

at ta'avdí beyóm shishí o tikkhí khófesh?

Will you work on Friday or take the day off? (to a woman)

אני רוצה לעבוד פחות ולישון יותר.

aní rotsé la'avód pakhót velishón yotér.

I want to work less and sleep more. (m. speaker)

Workplace, employer, colleagues and project

English places all of these after work, often with at, for, with or on. Hebrew makes a stable semantic division. Use ב־ for the physical workplace, organization or industry; אצל for the employer or professional whose organization employs you; עם for collaborators; and על for a project, document, problem or skill being developed.

Frame	Role	Typical phrase
עבד ב־	place, organization or field	עובדת בבית חולים
עבד אצל	person or employer	עבד אצל קבלן
עבד עם	colleague, client or material	עובד עם צוות קטן
עבד על	task, project or improvement	עובדת על הדוח

אחותי עובדת בבית חולים עם ילדים.

akhotí ovédet bevéit kholím im yeladím.

My sister works in a hospital with children.

עבדתי אצל אדריכלית מצוינת ולמדתי ממנה הרבה.

avádti étsel adrikhalít metsuyénet velamádti miména harbé.

I worked for an excellent architect and learned a lot from her.

אנחנו עובדים על הגרסה החדשה כבר שלושה חודשים.

anákhnu ovdím al hagirsá hakhadashá kvar shloshá khodashím.

We've been working on the new version for three months.

The idiom עובד על מישהו can also mean “trick, fool or put one over on someone” (informal). The fuller עבד עליו בעיניים, literally “worked on him through the eyes,” means that someone deceived him (informal). Intonation and the kind of object distinguish these from literal work: הוא עובד על הפרויקט is about a project, but אתה עובד עליי? is “Are you kidding me?”

אתה עובד עליי? אמרת שהכרטיסים כבר הגיעו.

atá ovéd alái? amárta shehakartisím kvar higí'u.

Are you kidding me? You said the tickets had already arrived. (informal, to a man)

על מה את עובדת עכשיו?

al ma at ovédet akhsháv?

What are you working on now? (to a woman)

💡

After עבד, do not memorize a single “correct preposition.” Choose the participant: ב־ workplace, אצל employer, עם collaborator, על project. The verbs with על page develops the last pattern.

People work; machines and plans work too

With a human subject, עבד describes employment or effort. With a device, system, method or solution, it means “function” or “work effectively.” The participle must still agree with the grammatical gender of the subject: המחשב עובד, המכונה עובדת, התוכנות עובדות.

המזגן לא עובד; אפשר לפתוח חלון?

hamazgán lo ovéd; efshár liftóakh khalón?

The air conditioner isn't working; can we open a window?

זה לא עובד ככה; צריך להתחיל מחדש.

ze lo ovéd kákha; tsaríkh lehatkhíl mekhadásh.

It doesn't work like that; we need to start over.

ניסינו את הרעיון שלך, והוא באמת עבד.

nisínu et hara'ayón shelkhá, vehu be'emét avád.

We tried your idea, and it really worked. (to a man)

The present forms are also nouns: עובד “male employee/worker,” עובדת “female employee,” עובדים “employees.” Context separates noun from verb: העובדת החדשה has an article and adjective and is clearly a noun; היא עובדת היום is verbal.

The action noun עבודה has an unusually broad English range: uncountable “work,” a countable “job,” an assignment, or a finished work. יש לי עבודה may mean “I have a job” or “I have work to do”; a clarifying phrase supplies the intended reading. See pa'al verbal nouns for the fact that action-noun patterns are not fully predictable.

יש לי הרבה עבודה היום, אבל מחר אני פנוי.

yesh li harbé avodá hayóm, avál makhár aní panúy.

I have a lot of work today, but I'm free tomorrow. (m. speaker)

Imperative and homographs

The imperative עבוד / עבדי / עבדו is common in instructions, slogans and forceful coaching, but can sound blunt when addressed directly to a person. A future command—תעבוד לאט—or a request often sounds more conversational. This is a register choice, not a defective paradigm.

עבוד לאט ובדוק כל מספר פעמיים.

avód le'át uvdók kol mispár pa'amáyim.

Work slowly and check every number twice. (firm instruction to a man)

Unpointed עבד can be past עָבַד avád, “worked,” or the noun עֶבֶד éved, “slave.” In this paradigm, עבוד is the masculine imperative עֲבוֹד avód, “work!”; do not confuse it with אבוד avúd, “lost,” whose initial א must remain. Present עובד can be “works/is working” or the noun “male worker/employee,” while עובדת can be “works/is working” with a feminine subject or “female worker/employee.” Syntax supplies the reading.

Common Mistakes

1. Giving the infinitive the regular li- prefix.

❌ אני רוצה ליעבוד כאן.

Incorrect—the pe-guttural infinitive is לעבוד, pronounced la'avod, with no י.

✅ אני רוצה לעבוד כאן אחרי הלימודים.

aní rotsé la'avód kan akharéi halimudím.

I want to work here after my studies. (m. speaker)

2. Treating a project as a direct object.

❌ אנחנו עובדים את הפרויקט החדש.

Incorrect—when work means develop or carry out a project, it takes על.

✅ אנחנו עובדים על הפרויקט החדש עם צוות מחיפה.

anákhnu ovdím al haproyékt hekhadásh im tsévet mekhéifa.

We're working on the new project with a team from Haifa.

3. Ignoring gender when a machine “works.”

❌ המכונה לא עובד.

Incorrect—מכונה is feminine, so the present participle must be עובדת.

✅ המכונה לא עובדת מאז אתמול.

hamekhoná lo ovédet me'áz etmól.

The machine hasn't been working since yesterday.

Key Takeaways

The guttural ע produces אעבוד, תעבוד, נעבוד and infinitive לעבוד; learn the vowels as a family.
Choose ב־ for a workplace, אצל for an employer, עם for a collaborator and על for a project.
With an inanimate subject, עבד means function or prove effective, and the participle still agrees in gender and number.
עובד / עובדת can be verbs or employee nouns; עבד can be avád “worked” or éved “slave.”
The imperative is valid but firm; everyday Hebrew often prefers a future command or a polite request.

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