הכין hekhín, “prepare, make ready,” is hollow hif'il from כ־ו־ן. It is the second member of the הבין–הכין–הביא trio: all three have the same long i in forms such as הֵכִין, but that vowel disappears before a consonantal past-tense ending. The result is the high-frequency contrast הכין / הכנתי—one yod in the dictionary form, none in “I prepared.”
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | הֵכַנְתִּי hekhánti | אָכִין akhín |
| אתה | הֵכַנְתָּ hekhánta | תָּכִין takhín |
| את | הֵכַנְתְּ hekhánt | תָּכִינִי takhíni |
| הוא | הֵכִין hekhín | יָכִין yakhín |
| היא | הֵכִינָה hekhína | תָּכִין takhín |
| אנחנו | הֵכַנּוּ hekhánu | נָכִין nakhín |
| אתם · אתן | הֵכַנְתֶּם · הֵכַנְתֶּן hekhántem · hekhánten | תָּכִינוּ takhínu |
| הם · הן | הֵכִינוּ hekhínu | יָכִינוּ yakhínu |
| Form type | Forms | Register and use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מֵכִין mekhín · מְכִינָה mekhiná · מְכִינִים mekhiním · מְכִינוֹת mekhinót | neutral |
| imperative | הָכֵן hakhén · הָכִינִי hakhíni · הָכִינוּ hakhínu | true imperative; formal, written or forceful |
| conversational command | תָּכִין · תָּכִינִי · תָּכִינוּ | ordinary speech |
| infinitive | לְהָכִין lehakhín | neutral |
| action noun | הֲכָנָה hakhaná | preparation |
The table gives the ordinary Israeli 2nd-person-plural past, הֵכַנְתֶּם / הֵכַנְתֶּן, with stem stress. Careful normative speech has הֲכַנְתֶּם / הֲכַנְתֶּן hakhantém / hakhantén (formal). Modern plural forms normally serve all genders; the dedicated feminine-plural future and imperative are formal or literary.
מי הכין את המצגת לפגישה?
mi hekhín et hamatséget lapgishá?
Who prepared the presentation for the meeting?
אני מכינה משהו לאכול לפני העבודה.
aní mekhiná máshehu le'ekhól lifnéi ha'avodá.
I'm making something to eat before work. (f. speaker)
Where the yod disappears
Only forms with the long i write a yod: הכין, הכינה, הכינו, מכין, יכין, להכין. Before a consonantal past suffix, the stem changes to a: הכנתי, הכנת, הכנו, הכנתם. This is the same alternation as הבין / הבנתי, and the two verbs are easy to confuse both in sound and on the unpointed page.
Compare הבנתי את השיעור hevánti et hashi'úr, “I understood the lesson,” with הכנתי את השיעור hekhánti et hashi'úr, “I prepared the lesson.” The first describes a learner's comprehension; the second describes a teacher's preparation.
The first-person plural adds a second contraction. Root-final נ meets the suffix ־נו, so the two n-sounds merge into הֵכַנּוּ hekhánu, written הכנו. By contrast, הכינו hekhínu is “they prepared.”
עוד לא הכנו את החדר לאורחים.
od lo hekhánu et hakhéder la'orkhím.
We haven't prepared the room for the guests yet.
הם הכינו את הציוד כבר אתמול.
hem hekhínu et hatsiyúd kvar etmól.
They prepared the equipment yesterday already.
A direct object: prepare or make something
הכין is normally transitive. An indefinite object appears bare—להכין קפה—while a definite one takes את, as in להכין את הדוח. English often chooses “make” for food and drink, but Hebrew continues to use הכין: preparing a report and making dinner are one grammatical frame.
תכיני בבקשה רשימה של כל מה שחסר.
takhíni bevakashá reshimá shel kol ma shekhasér.
Please make a list of everything that's missing. (to a woman)
את המתכון הזה אפשר להכין בעשר דקות.
et hamatkón hazé efshár lehakhín be'éser dakót.
This recipe can be made in ten minutes.
נכין את הציוד בערב כדי לצאת מוקדם.
nakhín et hatsiyúd ba'érev kdei latsét mukdám.
We'll prepare the equipment in the evening so we can leave early.
הוא מכין שיעורי בית לפני ארוחת הערב.
hu mekhín shi'urei báyit lifnéi arukhát ha'érev.
He does his homework before dinner.
מוכן and להתכונן: ready versus get ready
Huf'al participle מוכן means “ready, prepared.” It agrees like an adjective: מוכן, מוכנה, מוכנים, מוכנות. To express the process of getting oneself ready or studying in advance, Hebrew normally changes binyan and uses להתכונן lehitkonén. English “prepare” can cover all three ideas; Hebrew keeps them apart: הכין something, התכונן for something, and היה מוכן when ready.
Fixed מוכן ומזומן means “completely ready and waiting.” It is slightly emphatic but current in both conversation and writing; the rhyme makes it more expressive than plain מוכן.
אני מוכן לצאת; רק אקח את המעיל.
aní mukhán latsét; rak ekákh et hame'íl.
I'm ready to leave; I'll just grab my coat. (m. speaker)
היא מתכוננת למבחן כבר שבועיים.
hi mitkonénet lamivkhán kvar shvu'áyim.
She's been preparing for the exam for two weeks already.
The noun family and a useful collision
הכנה is preparation: הכנה למבחן, עבודת הכנה, and בהכנה “in preparation.” מכינה is also the feminine present “prepares,” but as a noun it means a preparatory program, such as a preacademic or prearmy program. Context and syntax do all the work; the two readings are pronounced alike.
הדוח עדיין בהכנה ונשלח אותו מחר.
hadúakh adáyin bahakhaná venishlákh otó makhár.
The report is still being prepared, and we'll send it tomorrow.
אחותי לומדת במכינה קדם־צבאית בדרום.
akhotí lomédet bimekhiná kedam-tseva'ít badaróm.
My sister studies in a prearmy preparatory program in the south.
Key Takeaways
- הכין is hollow hif'il from כ־ו־ן: הכין but הכנתי, הכנו.
- הכנו is “we prepared”; הכינו is “they prepared.”
- Prepare an object with הכין; get yourself ready with התכונן ל־; describe the resulting state with מוכן.
- הכנה is preparation, while noun מכינה is a preparatory program and sounds exactly like the feminine present “prepares.”
- Everyday commands use תכין / תכיני / תכינו; true הכן / הכיני / הכינו is formal, written or forceful.
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- Huf'al Participles as Adjectives: מוכן, מוגבל, מובןB2 — The everyday half of the binyan — eight participles that dictionaries now list twice, once as a verb form and once as an adjective in its own right, plus the two root traps (מותר, מוכר) that the standard accounts get wrong.
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