הלך — to go, to walk | Hebrew Grammar

הלך “go, walk” is pa'al, root ה־ל־ך. Its past and present keep the ה, but the future, imperative, and infinitive drop it and take the shape of a פ״י verb: יֵלֵךְ resembles יֵשֵׁב, and לָלֶכֶת resembles לָשֶׁבֶת. The historical explanation is on the irregular verb הלך; this card is for finding and using the forms.

Complete paradigm

Person	עָבָר past	עָתִיד future
I	הָלַכְתִּי halákhti	אֵלֵךְ elékh
you, m.sg.	הָלַכְתָּ halákhta	תֵּלֵךְ telékh
you, f.sg.	הָלַכְתְּ halákht	תֵּלְכִי telkhí
he	הָלַךְ halákh	יֵלֵךְ yelékh
she	הָלְכָה halkhá	תֵּלֵךְ telékh
we	הָלַכְנוּ halákhnu	נֵלֵךְ nelékh
you, pl.	הֲלַכְתֶּם halakhtém everyday: הָלַכְתֶּם halákhtem	תֵּלְכוּ telkhú
they	הָלְכוּ halkhú	יֵלְכוּ yelkhú

Form type	Forms
הוֹוֶה present	הוֹלֵךְ holékh · הוֹלֶכֶת holékhet · הוֹלְכִים holkhím · הוֹלְכוֹת holkhót
צִיווּי imperative	לֵךְ lekh · לְכִי lekhí · לְכוּ lekhú
שֵׁם הַפּוֹעַל infinitive	לָלֶכֶת lalékhet
שֵׁם פְּעוּלָה action noun	הֲלִיכָה halikhá

A distinct feminine 2nd-person plural past הֲלַכְתֶּן and the future תֵּלַכְנָה are standard forms found in careful or elevated writing; ordinary Israeli speech uses הלכתם and תלכו for a group of women as well. The short imperative forms are fully current, especially לך and לכי.

הלכתי ברגל כי לא מצאתי מונית.

halákhti barégel ki lo matsáti monít

I walked because I couldn't find a taxi.

הם הלכו הביתה מוקדם כי הילד היה עייף.

hem halkhú habáyta mukdám ki hayéled hayá ayéf

They went home early because the child was tired.

נלך יחד? אני לא מכיר את הדרך.

nelékh yákhad? aní lo makír et hadérekh

Shall we go together? I don't know the way. (male speaker)

Why the kaf changes shape

The third radical is כ. Hebrew writes it as final ך only at the end of a word: הלך, ילך, תלך, הולך. Once a suffix follows, the ordinary כ returns: הלכתי, הלכו, הולכים, תלכי. This is spelling, not a change of root or pronunciation; both letters represent /kh/ here.

The unpointed form לך has two unrelated readings. לֵךְ lekh is the masculine imperative “go”; לְךָ lekhá is the preposition “to you” addressing a man. הלכה is likewise הָלְכָה halkhá “she went,” but the noun הֲלָכָה halakhá means Jewish law. Niquud, stress, and syntax keep the pairs apart.

לך לישון, כבר אחת בלילה.

lekh lishón, kvar akhát baláyla

Go to bed — it's already one in the morning. (to a man, informal)

לכי הביתה ותתקשרי אליי כשתגיעי.

lekhí habáyta vetitkashrí elái kshetagí'i

Go home and call me when you arrive. (to a woman)

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The missing ה is confined to one side of the paradigm. Anchor the verb as two families: הלך / הולך / הלכתי with ה, but ילך / לך / ללכת without it.

Going, walking, and travelling

English go ignores the means of transport more readily than Hebrew. הלך normally presents movement on foot, or movement generically when no vehicle matters. נסע is the ordinary verb for travel by car, bus, or train; טס is travel by plane; רכב על names riding a bicycle, motorcycle, or horse. The full contrast belongs on the reference card for נסע.

Hebrew	Typical scene
הלך ברגל	went on foot, walked
נסע באוטובוס / ברכב / ברכבת	went by bus / car / train
טס לפריז	flew to Paris
רכב על אופניים	rode a bicycle

נסענו לירושלים ברכבת ומשם הלכנו ברגל לעיר העתיקה.

nasánu lirushaláyim barakévet umishám halákhnu barégel la'ír ha'atiká

We took the train to Jerusalem and walked from there to the Old City.

הולך plus an infinitive

הולך + infinitive overlaps with English “going to” only in restricted ways. With a person, it usually retains real motion or an immediate transition: אני הולך לישון means “I'm heading off to sleep.” It is not a general future auxiliary: “I'll buy it tomorrow” is אקנה את זה מחר, not automatically אני הולך לקנות.

With an inanimate subject, זה הולך + infinitive can predict how a situation will develop: זה הולך לקחת זמן “this is going to take time.” That use is (informal) and common.

אני הולך לישון, נדבר מחר.

aní holékh lishón, nedabér makhár

I'm going to bed; we'll talk tomorrow. (male speaker, informal)

זה הולך לקחת יותר זמן ממה שחשבנו.

ze holékh lakákhat yotér zman mimá shekhashávnu

This is going to take longer than we thought. (informal prediction)

The idiom block

The present participle carries much of this verb's conversational frequency.

Expression	Meaning	Register
איך הולך?	How's it going?	(informal)
הולך לי / לא הולך לי	it's working / not working out for me	(informal); inflect ל־: הולך לך, הולך לו
זה לא הולך	this isn't working	(informal)
לך תדע	who knows; go figure	(informal)
הולך ו־ + participle	keeps becoming, progressively grows	neutral to written

לא הולך לי היום; כל דבר שאני נוגע בו נשבר.

lo holékh li hayóm; kol davár she'aní nogéa bo nishbár

Nothing's going right for me today; everything I touch breaks. (male speaker, informal)

החורף הולך ומתקרב, והלילות כבר קרים.

hakhóref holékh umitkarév, vehaleilót kvar karím

Winter is drawing closer, and the nights are already cold.

💡

לך תדע is one unit in conversation: “who knows?” It does not instruct anyone to travel somewhere and acquire knowledge, despite the literal forms.

Key Takeaways

The past and present keep ה; the future, imperative, and infinitive borrow the פ״י shape: ילך, לך, ללכת.
Final ך appears only word-finally; כ returns before an ending in הלכתי, הולכים, and תלכי.
הלך normally frames movement on foot, while נסע, טס, and רכב על name travel by vehicle, plane, and riding.
הולך + infinitive is not a universal future auxiliary; its productive prospective use is especially clear in informal זה הולך לקחת זמן.

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