חיכה khiká, “wait, wait for,” is pi'el, root ח־כ־ה. It combines the disappearing final radical of the ל״ה class with an initial guttural ח, which shapes adjacent vowels in forms such as אֲחַכֶּה. Its essential government is stable: the person or thing awaited takes ל־, while the length of the wait is a bare duration phrase.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | חִיכִּיתִי khikíti | אֲחַכֶּה akhaké |
| אתה | חִיכִּיתָ khikíta | תְּחַכֶּה tekhaké |
| את | חִיכִּית khikít | תְּחַכִּי tekhakí |
| הוא | חִיכָּה khiká | יְחַכֶּה yekhaké |
| היא | חִיכְּתָה khiktá | תְּחַכֶּה tekhaké |
| אנחנו | חִיכִּינוּ khikínu | נְחַכֶּה nekhaké |
| אתם / אתן | חִיכִּיתֶם / חִיכִּיתֶן khikítem / khikíten | תְּחַכּוּ tekhakú |
| הם / הן | חִיכּוּ khikú | יְחַכּוּ yekhakú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מְחַכֶּה mekhaké · מְחַכָּה mekhaká · מְחַכִּים mekhakím · מְחַכּוֹת mekhakót | neutral |
| imperative | חַכֵּה khaké · חַכִּי khakí · חַכּוּ khakú | common in immediate requests; future commands also common |
| infinitive | לְחַכּוֹת lekhakót | neutral |
| ordinary noun | הַמְתָּנָה hamtaná | waiting; from related hif'il המתין, not from the חיכה stem |
Modern Hebrew uses תחכו / יחכו for every plural gender. Dedicated feminine-plural תחכינה is (formal or literary). Like other ל״ה verbs, חיכיתם / חיכיתן keep stem stress in ordinary speech: khikítem / khikíten.
חכה רגע, אני רק לוקחת את המעיל.
khaké réga, aní rak lokákhat et hame'íl.
Wait a moment; I'm just grabbing my coat. (to a man; f. speaker)
כמה זמן חיכית בתור?
káma zmán khikíta batór?
How long did you wait in line? (to a man)
Waited-for person or thing: ל־
The awaited person, object or event takes ל־: חיכיתי לך, חיכינו לאוטובוס, מחכה לתשובה. This is lexical government; it does not follow from the meaning of ל־ elsewhere. English await can take a direct object, but Hebrew חיכה cannot. Compare it with other verbs governed by ל־.
| Awaited complement | Frame | Model |
|---|---|---|
| person | inflected ל־ | חיכיתי לך / לו / לה |
| indefinite thing | ל־ + noun | מחכה לתשובה |
| definite thing | ל־ + article | חיכינו לאוטובוס |
| event as clause | ש־ + finite verb | חיכיתי שתתקשר |
חיכיתי לך בבית הקפה ארבעים דקות.
khikíti lekhá bevéit hakafé arba'ím dakót.
I waited for you at the café for forty minutes. (to a man)
חיכינו לאוטובוס האחרון, אבל הוא לא הגיע.
khikínu la'otobús ha'akharón, avál hu lo higía.
We waited for the last bus, but it never arrived.
היא מחכה לתשובה מהאוניברסיטה כבר שבועיים.
hi mekhaká litshuvá meha'universitá kvar shvu'áyim.
She has been waiting for an answer from the university for two weeks.
The preposition inflects, not the verb: לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, לכם, להן. מחכים לך בחוץ therefore means “people are waiting for you outside”; the impersonal plural does not identify who they are. The full suffix set appears on לי, לך and inflected ל־.
מחכים לך בחוץ, אז אל תתעכב.
mekhakím lekhá bakhúts, az al tit'akév.
They're waiting for you outside, so don't take too long. (to a man)
אל תחכה לי אחרי העבודה; אני מסיימת מאוחר.
al tekhaké li akharéi ha'avodá; aní mesayémet me'ukhár.
Don't wait for me after work; I'm finishing late. (to a man; f. speaker)
A duration has no preposition
The amount of time spent waiting is a bare duration phrase: חיכיתי שעתיים, חיכינו עשר דקות, חכה רגע. It is not the awaited object and therefore takes neither ל־ nor את. A sentence can contain both roles: חיכיתי לך שעה—“I waited for you for an hour.”
חיכינו כמעט שעה לבדיקה שלקחה חמש דקות.
khikínu kim'át sha'á labdiká shelakkhá khamésh dakót.
We waited almost an hour for a test that took five minutes.
אני מחכה לזה כל השבוע ולא מצליחה להתרכז.
aní mekhaká lazé kol hashavúa velo matslikhá lehitrakéz.
I've been waiting for it all week and can't concentrate. (f. speaker)
In the second example לזה is what is eagerly awaited, while כל השבוע measures the duration. Hebrew puts the two next to the same verb without confusing their grammatical roles.
Waiting for a clause: ש־
When what you await is an event, חיכה commonly takes a ש־ clause with a future-form verb: חיכיתי שתתקשר, “I waited for you to call.” The future form does not make the sentence a prediction; it marks an event that had not yet happened at the reference time.
חיכיתי שתתקשר לפני שיצאתי מהבית.
khikíti shetitkashér lifnéi sheyatsáti mehabáyit.
I waited for you to call before I left home. (to a man)
נחכה שהגשם ייפסק ואז נצא.
nekhaké shehagéshem yipasék ve'áz netsé.
We'll wait for the rain to stop and then go out.
In careful edited prose, נחכה עד שהגשם ייפסק can emphasize the endpoint “until.” Plain נחכה שהגשם ייפסק is natural everyday Hebrew and profiles the event being awaited.
המתנה: the noun Hebrew actually uses
There is no ordinary everyday action noun built directly from חיכה. Modern Hebrew uses המתנה, from related hif'il המתין, for “waiting” or “a wait.” This is the noun on חדר המתנה “waiting room,” זמן המתנה “waiting time,” and administrative בהמתנה “pending/on hold.” The verb המתין ל־ itself is more formal than everyday חיכה ל־.
חדר ההמתנה מלא, אבל התור מתקדם מהר.
khadár hahamtaná malé, avál hatór mitkadém mahér.
The waiting room is full, but the queue is moving quickly.
הבקשה עדיין בהמתנה לאישור המנהל.
habakashá adáyin behamtaná le'ishúr hamenahél.
The request is still pending the manager's approval. (administrative)
Key Takeaways
- The awaited person or thing always takes ל־: חיכיתי לך, מחכה לתשובה.
- A duration is bare: חיכיתי שעתיים; both roles can coexist in חיכיתי לך שעה.
- An awaited event can be a ש־ + future-form clause: חיכיתי שתתקשר.
- Present מחכה is mekhaké masculine or mekhaká feminine, the characteristic ל״ה homograph.
- The ordinary noun is המתנה, seen in חדר המתנה and בהמתנה; it belongs to related המתין.
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