ביקר bikér, “visit; criticise,” is regular pi'el, root ב־ק־ר. With a place, ביקר ב־ means “visited.” With a person, אצל unambiguously presents a visit where that person is, while את can mark either a personal visit or criticism in current Hebrew. Context—and especially a phrase such as על ההחלטה—separates the senses.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | בִּיקַּרְתִּי bikárti | אֲבַקֵּר avakér |
| אתה | בִּיקַּרְתָּ bikárta | תְּבַקֵּר tevakér |
| את | בִּיקַּרְתְּ bikárt | תְּבַקְּרִי tevakrí |
| הוא | בִּיקֵּר bikér | יְבַקֵּר yevakér |
| היא | בִּיקְּרָה bikrá | תְּבַקֵּר tevakér |
| אנחנו | בִּיקַּרְנוּ bikárnu | נְבַקֵּר nevakér |
| אתם / אתן | בִּיקַּרְתֶּם / בִּיקַּרְתֶּן bikártem / bikárten | תְּבַקְּרוּ tevakrú |
| הם / הן | בִּיקְּרוּ bikrú | יְבַקְּרוּ yevakrú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מְבַקֵּר mevakér · מְבַקֶּרֶת mevakéret · מְבַקְּרִים mevakrím · מְבַקְּרוֹת mevakrót | visitor, critic or inspector according to context |
| imperative | בַּקֵּר bakér · בַּקְּרִי bakrí · בַּקְּרוּ bakrú | true imperative; future commands are also common |
| infinitive | לְבַקֵּר levakér | neutral |
| verbal nouns | בִּיקּוּר bikúr · בִּיקּוֹרֶת bikóret | visit · criticism, review or inspection |
| agent noun | מְבַקֵּר mevakér | visitor, critic, reviewer or inspector |
Careful ביקרתם / ביקרתן is final-stressed in formal recitation, bikartém / bikartén; conversation normally retracts the stress as in the table. Dedicated feminine-plural תבקרנה is (formal or literary). The opening ב is hard b in past and imperative, but soft v after the prefixes of מבקר, יבקר, לבקר.
ביקרנו בגלריה העירונית וראינו תערוכה מצוינת.
bikárnu bagalérya ha'ironít vera'ínu ta'arukhá metsuyénet.
We visited the municipal gallery and saw an excellent exhibition.
הוא ביקר בישראל פעמיים ורוצה לחזור בקיץ.
hu bikér beyisra'él pa'amáyim verotsé lakhazór bakáyits.
He has visited Israel twice and wants to return in summer.
Place, person and criticism
For a place or event, use ב־: ביקר במוזיאון, בעיר, בישראל, בתערוכה. The complement names the setting entered and experienced. This place frame does not take את, even when the place is definite. It belongs to the broader system of verbs governed by ב־.
ביקרנו בתערוכה ביום האחרון לפני הסגירה.
bikárnu bata'arukhá bayóm ha'akharón lifnéi hasgirá.
We visited the exhibition on its final day before closing.
With a person, אצל says that the visit took place where that person was: at home, at work, in hospital or at a clinic. It inflects as אצלי, אצלך, אצלו, אצלה, אצלם; the אצל reference gives the full set.
ביקרתי אצל סבתא בשבת ונשארתי לארוחת ערב.
bikárti étsel sáfta beshabát venish'árti la'arukhát érev.
I visited Grandma on Saturday and stayed for dinner.
ביקרתי אצל המנהל במשרד ודיברנו חצי שעה.
bikárti étsel hamenahél bamisrád vedibárnu khatsí sha'á.
I visited the manager in his office, and we talked for half an hour.
For criticism, the criticised person, policy or work is a definite direct object with את. A following על phrase often names the grounds for the criticism.
העיתונות ביקרה את הממשלה על הטיפול במשבר.
ha'itonút bikrá et hamemshalá al hatipúl bamashbér.
The press criticised the government over its handling of the crisis. (journalistic)
המבקר ביקר את הסרט על העלילה הצפויה שלו.
hamevakér bikér et haséret al ha'alilá hatsefuyá sheló.
The critic criticised the film for its predictable plot.
The honest complication is that ביקר את + person is also current for “visit,” not merely literary Hebrew: ביקרתי את סבא can mean “I visited Grandpa.” It is especially established in ביקור חולים, “visiting the sick,” but it is not confined to that expression. Therefore ביקרתי את המנהל by itself is ambiguous; אצל המנהל makes the personal visit unmistakable, while ביקר את המנהל על החלטתו unmistakably expresses criticism.
אתמול ביקרנו את הדוד בבית החולים.
etmól bikárnu et hadód bevéit hakholím.
Yesterday we visited our uncle in hospital.
ביקור, ביקורת and מבקר
ביקור is a visit: ביקור רשמי “official visit,” שעות ביקור “visiting hours,” כרטיס ביקור “business card,” and ביקור חולים “visiting the sick.” ביקורת covers criticism, a review, and inspection or oversight, so the two nouns guide the semantic split without mirroring it perfectly.
שעות הביקור במחלקה מסתיימות בשמונה בערב.
she'ót habikúr bamakhlaká mistaymót bishmóne ba'érev.
Visiting hours on the ward end at eight in the evening.
מבקר can accordingly be a visitor, critic, reviewer or inspector. In the official title מבקר המדינה, it means the State Comptroller, the office responsible for auditing state bodies—not “a visitor of the state.”
מבקר המדינה פרסם דוח חדש על הוצאות המשרד.
mevakér hamediná pirsém dúakh khadásh al hotsa'ót hamisrád.
The State Comptroller published a new report on the ministry's expenses. (official/news register)
היא נתנה לי ביקורת בונה במקום רק לומר שזה לא טוב.
hi natná li bikóret boná bimkóm rak lomár shezé lo tov.
She gave me constructive criticism instead of just saying it wasn't good.
Key Takeaways
- ביקר ב־ clearly marks a visit to a place; ביקר אצל clearly marks a visit to a person where they are.
- ביקר את normally marks criticism when an evaluation or על phrase follows, but with a person it can also mean “visit.”
- ביקור is a visit; ביקורת is criticism, review or inspection.
- מבקר is correspondingly a visitor, critic, reviewer or inspector; מבקר המדינה is the State Comptroller.
- Present, future and infinitive begin with soft v: mevakér, yevakér, levakér.
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- Verbs Governed by ב־: השתמש ב, טיפל ב, נגע בB1 — Learn common Hebrew verbs of contact, engagement, participation, and trust that govern ב־ instead of a direct object.
- Verbs Taking a Direct Object with אתA2 — Identify a Hebrew verb's direct object, add את only when that object is definite, and use fused object-pronoun forms such as אותי and אותו.
- אצל: At Someone's PlaceB1 — אצל locates something in a person's place, keeping or domain—distinctions English often hides inside at, with and have.
- ב־ or ל־?A1 — ב־ is the setting an event happens in — a place, a time, a means, a price. ל־ is the target it is aimed at — a destination, a person, a purpose, a span of time it is meant to last. And because both letters swallow the definite article, the choice is invisible in writing twice over: בבנק is two sentences and לבנק is two more.