הכיר hikír, “know, be acquainted with, recognize,” is hif'il פ״נ from נ־כ־ר. Initial נ assimilates into כ throughout this paradigm, and the dagesh records the merger: הִכִּיר, not a form in which the נ remains visible. The more important lexical fact is that Hebrew splits English “know”: הכיר normally covers familiarity with people, places and things, while ידע covers facts and abilities.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | הִכַּרְתִּי hikárti | אַכִּיר akír |
| אתה | הִכַּרְתָּ hikárta | תַּכִּיר takír |
| את | הִכַּרְתְּ hikárt | תַּכִּירִי takíri |
| הוא | הִכִּיר hikír | יַכִּיר yakír |
| היא | הִכִּירָה hikíra | תַּכִּיר takír |
| אנחנו | הִכַּרְנוּ hikárnu | נַכִּיר nakír |
| אתם · אתן | הִכַּרְתֶּם · הִכַּרְתֶּן hikártem · hikárten | תַּכִּירוּ takíru |
| הם · הן | הִכִּירוּ hikíru | יַכִּירוּ yakíru |
| Form type | Forms | Register and use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מַכִּיר makír · מַכִּירָה makirá · מַכִּירִים makirím · מַכִּירוֹת makirót | neutral |
| imperative | הַכֵּר hakér · הַכִּירִי hakíri · הַכִּירוּ hakíru | true imperative; formal, written or presentational |
| conversational command | תַּכִּיר · תַּכִּירִי · תַּכִּירוּ | ordinary speech |
| infinitive | לְהַכִּיר lehakír | neutral |
| nouns | הַכָּרָה hakará · הֶיכֵּרוּת hekerút | recognition/consciousness · acquaintance |
The 2nd-person-plural past is normally stressed on the stem in modern speech, as shown. Dedicated feminine-plural future and imperative forms are formal or literary; ordinary Hebrew uses the common plural forms in the table.
נעים להכיר.
na'ím lehakír.
Nice to meet you.
הכרנו בצבא ונשארנו בקשר.
hikárnu batsavá venishárnu bekésher.
We met in the army and stayed in touch.
The past can mark the beginning of acquaintance, as in הכרנו בצבא, while the present describes an established relationship, אנחנו מכירים. At an introduction, נעים להכיר is the full conventional formula; נעים מאוד, literally “very pleasant,” is an equally ordinary shorter response once the situation makes “to meet you” obvious.
מכיר את versus יודע
Use הכיר את for being acquainted with a definite person, place, work or system. With a person, past הכרתי can mean either “I knew” or “I met,” according to context. Use ידע for knowing that a proposition is true and for knowing how to perform a skill. English uses the same verb in all of these frames, so the Hebrew object type matters.
אני יודע שהיא באה, אבל אני לא מכיר אותה.
aní yodéa shehí ba'á, avál aní lo makír otá.
I know she's coming, but I don't know her. (m. speaker)
אתה מכיר את האזור או שצריך מפה?
atá makír et ha'ezór o shetsaríkh mapá?
Do you know the area, or do you need a map? (to a man)
היא מכירה את הבעיה מקרוב.
hi makirá et habe'ayá mikaróv.
She knows the problem firsthand.
Introducing someone: הכיר את X ל־Y
The causative sense is still active when הכיר means “introduce”: cause one person to become acquainted with another. The person being introduced is the direct object, and the recipient takes ל־. In everyday speech a pronominal recipient often comes first: תכיר לי את החברה שלך.
תכיר לי את החברה החדשה שלך?
takír li et hakhaverá hakhadashá shelkhá?
Will you introduce me to your new girlfriend or female friend? (to a man)
המנהלת הכירה את העובד החדש לכל הצוות.
hamenahélet hikíra et ha'ovéd hekhadásh lekhól hatsévet.
The manager introduced the new employee to the whole team.
The greeting נעים להכיר omits both participants because the situation supplies them. The fuller נעים מאוד is also a conventional response during introductions, not a different verb frame.
Formal recognition: הכיר ב־
With ב־, הכיר means acknowledge or recognize the validity, status, authority or existence of something. This frame is formal or journalistic and common in diplomacy, law and administration. It is grammatically different from personal familiarity: מכיר את הממשלה means “is familiar with the government,” while מכיר בממשלה means “recognizes the government as legitimate.”
המדינה עדיין לא הכירה בממשלה החדשה.
hamediná adáyin lo hikíra bamemshalá hakhadashá.
The state has not yet recognized the new government. (formal/journalistic)
הוועדה הכירה בתעודה שהונפקה בחו״ל.
hava'adá hikíra bate'udá shehunpeká bekhul.
The committee recognized the certificate issued abroad. (formal)
הכרה and היכרות are not interchangeable
היכרות is acquaintance or familiarity: היכרות ראשונית, היכרות עם התחום. הכרה covers recognition and consciousness: הכרה רשמית, הכרת תודה “gratitude,” and איבד הכרה “lost consciousness.” The senses are linked historically, but modern combinations are lexical and must be learned as wholes.
יש לי היכרות בסיסית עם התוכנה הזאת.
yesh li hekerút besisít im hatokhná hazót.
I have a basic familiarity with this software.
הוא איבד הכרה לכמה שניות ואז התעורר.
hu ibéd hakará lekhamá shniyót ve'az hit'orér.
He lost consciousness for a few seconds and then woke up.
Key Takeaways
- הכיר is hif'il from נ־כ־ר; the initial נ assimilates into the doubled כ.
- הכיר את covers familiarity with people, places and things; ידע ש־ / ידע ל־ covers facts and abilities.
- To introduce, use הכיר את X ל־Y; the recipient often comes first when it is a pronoun.
- הכיר ב־ means formally recognize or acknowledge a status or validity.
- היכרות is acquaintance; הכרה is recognition or consciousness and appears in הכרת תודה and איבד הכרה.
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