הרגיש — to feel | Hebrew Grammar

הרגיש hirgísh, “feel, sense,” is a regular strong-root hif'il verb from ר־ג־שׁ. It covers bodily condition, emotion and perception. The core learner trap is syntactic, not morphological: in אני מרגישה טוב, “I feel well,” טוב is an invariant adverb and does not agree with a female speaker; the wider pattern is explained on adjectives doing adverb work.

Complete paradigm

Person	Past	Future
אני	הִרְגַּשְׁתִּי hirgáshti	אַרְגִּישׁ argísh
אתה	הִרְגַּשְׁתָּ hirgáshta	תַּרְגִּישׁ targísh
את	הִרְגַּשְׁתְּ hirgásht	תַּרְגִּישִׁי targíshi
הוא	הִרְגִּישׁ hirgísh	יַרְגִּישׁ yargísh
היא	הִרְגִּישָׁה hirgísha	תַּרְגִּישׁ targísh
אנחנו	הִרְגַּשְׁנוּ hirgáshnu	נַרְגִּישׁ nargísh
אתם · אתן	הִרְגַּשְׁתֶּם · הִרְגַּשְׁתֶּן hirgáshtem · hirgáshten	תַּרְגִּישׁוּ targíshu
הם · הן	הִרְגִּישׁוּ hirgíshu	יַרְגִּישׁוּ yargíshu

Form type	Forms	Register, agreement and use
present	מַרְגִּישׁ margísh · מַרְגִּישָׁה margishá · מַרְגִּישִׁים margishím · מַרְגִּישׁוֹת margishót	the verb agrees with the experiencer; adverbial טוב / רע does not
imperative	הַרְגֵּשׁ hargésh · הַרְגִּישִׁי hargíshi · הַרְגִּישׁוּ hargíshu	true imperative; uncommon outside deliberate or rhetorical language
conversational command	תַּרְגִּישׁ · תַּרְגִּישִׁי · תַּרְגִּישׁוּ	ordinary speech; especially תרגיש בבית
infinitive	לְהַרְגִּישׁ lehargísh	neutral
action noun	הַרְגָּשָׁה hargashá	feeling, impression, well-being

Modern plural forms serve groups of every gender; dedicated feminine-plural forms are formal or literary. Ordinary speech also favors future-shaped commands over the true imperative.

איך אתה מרגיש היום?

eikh atá margísh hayóm?

How are you feeling today? (to a man)

אני מרגישה הרבה יותר טוב הבוקר.

aní margishá harbé yotér tov habóker.

I'm feeling much better this morning. (f. speaker)

טוב and רע are invariant here

In the health and well-being frame, טוב means “well” and רע means “bad.” They function adverbially and remain masculine singular regardless of the speaker. The verb still agrees: הוא מרגיש טוב, היא מרגישה טוב, הן מרגישות טוב. English hides the distinction because feel good uses one form for everyone; Hebrew marks the experiencer on the verb and leaves the manner word unchanged.

אני מרגיש רע מאז ארוחת הצהריים.

aní margísh ra me'áz arukhát hatsahoráyim.

I've felt ill since lunch. (m. speaker)

הילדות מרגישות טוב ורוצות לחזור לבית הספר.

hayeladót margishót tov verotsót lakhazór levét haséfer.

The girls feel well and want to go back to school.

💡

Agreement is split by function: מרגישה agrees because it is the present-tense verb; adverbial טוב stays fixed because it describes the state or manner of feeling, not the woman as a noun-modifying adjective.

This does not mean that every word after הרגיש must be masculine singular. A genuine secondary predicate describing the experiencer agrees: אני מרגישה עייפה “I feel tired” from a woman, אנחנו מרגישים מוכנים “we feel ready” from a masculine or mixed group. The invariant rule applies to adverbial טוב, רע, לא נוח and similar manner/state expressions, not to all adjective predicates.

אני מרגישה עייפה, אז אלך לישון מוקדם.

aní margishá ayefá, az elékh lishón mukdám.

I feel tired, so I'll go to bed early. (f. speaker; עייפה agrees)

הרגשתי לא נוח לשאול על המחיר מול כולם.

hirgáshti lo nóakh lish'ól al hamekhír mul kulám.

I felt uncomfortable asking about the price in front of everyone.

More formal or euphemistic לא הרגיש בטוב also means “was unwell.” In ordinary conversation, לא הרגיש טוב is much more common.

הוא לא הרגיש בטוב ועזב את הישיבה מוקדם.

hu lo hirgísh betóv ve'azáv et hayeshivá mukdám.

He felt unwell and left the meeting early. (formal/euphemistic)

Sensing an object, a clause or a sign

A definite physical sensation or object can be a direct object: הרגשתי את הרוח, היא מרגישה את הכאב. A proposition or intuition follows with ש־. These are not interchangeable frames: את points to what is sensed; ש־ states what the experiencer takes to be true.

הרגשתי את הרצפה רועדת מתחת לרגליים.

hirgáshti et haritspá ro'édet mitákhat laragláyim.

I felt the floor shaking under my feet.

הרגשתי שמשהו לא בסדר עוד לפני שהיא התקשרה.

hirgáshti shemáshehu lo beséder od lifnéi shehí hitkashrá.

I felt that something was wrong even before she called.

With ב־, especially בזה, the sense is “notice, be aware of through feeling”: לא הרגשתי בזה “I didn't notice it.” The construction is useful when the stimulus is already in the discourse.

הטלפון רטט בכיס, אבל לא הרגשתי בזה.

hatélefon ratát bakís, avál lo hirgáshti bazé.

The phone vibrated in my pocket, but I didn't notice it.

Feeling at home and asking how an experience feels

Fixed הרגיש בבית means “feel at home, feel comfortable and accepted.” As a welcoming formula, תרגיש בבית / תרגישי בבית is the natural future-shaped command.

תרגישי בבית, קחי משהו לשתות מהמקרר.

targíshi babáyit, kekhí máshehu lishtót mehamkarér.

Make yourself at home; take something to drink from the fridge. (to a woman)

אחרי חודש בעיר החדשה כבר הרגשנו בבית.

akharéi khódesh ba'ír hakhadashá kvar hirgáshnu babáyit.

After a month in the new city, we already felt at home.

Impersonal-looking איך זה מרגיש? asks for the subjective quality of an experience: “what does it feel like?” The experiencer can follow with ל־.

איך זה מרגיש לחזור לכאן אחרי עשרים שנה?

eikh ze margísh lakhazór lekhán akharéi esrím shaná?

What does it feel like to come back here after twenty years?

מרגיש, מתרגש and מרגש

Three same-root forms divide the emotional scene by viewpoint, but they belong to three different binyanim.

Form	Binyan	Viewpoint
מַרְגִּישׁ margísh	hif'il	the experiencer feels or senses
מִתְרַגֵּשׁ mitragésh	hitpa'el	the experiencer becomes excited or moved
מְרַגֵּשׁ meragésh	pi'el participle used verbally or adjectivally	the thing moves or excites someone; “moving”

Unpointed מרגיש and מרגש differ by one yod; their vowels and grammar differ more sharply. Calling “moving” מרגש a hif'il participle is incorrect: hif'il is מַרְגִּישׁ, with a yod and an experiencer subject; מְרַגֵּשׁ is pi'el.

התרגשתי מאוד לפני הריאיון, אבל בסוף הרגשתי בטוח.

hitragáshti me'ód lifnéi hare'ayón, avál basóf hirgáshti batúakh.

I was very nervous before the interview, but in the end I felt confident. (m. speaker)

הסיום של הסרט היה מרגש בלי להיות מתקתק.

hasiyúm shel haséret hayá meragésh bli lihyót mitkaték.

The ending of the film was moving without being saccharine.

The noun family

הרגשה is a feeling, impression or state of well-being: הרגשה טובה. רגש is an emotion, רגישות is sensitivity, and תחושה is a sensation or impression. Fixed תחושת בטן is a gut feeling. These nouns overlap at the edges, so there is no mechanical one-to-one map from English feeling.

יש לי תחושת בטן שכדאי לבדוק את המספרים שוב.

yesh li tkhushát béten shekedái livdók et hamisparím shuv.

I have a gut feeling that we should check the numbers again.

💡

Use the binyan to assign roles: מרגיש is the person experiencing; מתרגש is the person becoming excited; מרגש is the thing causing the emotion.

Key Takeaways

הרגיש is regular strong hif'il: הרגיש but suffixed הרגשתי.
In מרגישה טוב / רע, the verb agrees and the adverb stays invariant.
Genuine predicate adjectives can agree: מרגישה עייפה. The invariant rule is not universal.
A sensed object takes a direct object, a proposition takes ש־, and בזה can mean “notice it.”
מרגיש is hif'il, מתרגש hitpa'el, and “moving” מרגש is pi'el.

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