התחתן hitkhatén, “get married,” is a hitpa'el verb from ח־ת־ן. Its first radical ח is guttural, and its final נ assimilates before the past suffix ־נו. The spelling also invites a visual miscount: התחתן has five consonant letters, ה־ת־ח־ת־ן. One ת belongs to the hitpa'el prefix and the other to the root.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | הִתְחַתַּנְתִּי hitkhatánti | אֶתְחַתֵּן etkhatén |
| אתה | הִתְחַתַּנְתָּ hitkhatánta | תִּתְחַתֵּן titkhatén |
| את | הִתְחַתַּנְתְּ hitkhatánt | תִּתְחַתְּנִי titkhatní |
| הוא | הִתְחַתֵּן hitkhatén | יִתְחַתֵּן yitkhatén |
| היא | הִתְחַתְּנָה hitkhatná | תִּתְחַתֵּן titkhatén |
| אנחנו | הִתְחַתַּנּוּ hitkhatánu | נִתְחַתֵּן nitkhatén |
| אתם · אתן | הִתְחַתַּנְתֶּם · הִתְחַתַּנְתֶּן hitkhatántem · hitkhatánten | תִּתְחַתְּנוּ titkhatnú |
| הם · הן | הִתְחַתְּנוּ hitkhatnú | יִתְחַתְּנוּ yitkhatnú |
| Form type | Forms | Register and use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מִתְחַתֵּן mitkhatén · מִתְחַתֶּנֶת mitkhaténet · מִתְחַתְּנִים mitkhatním · מִתְחַתְּנוֹת mitkhatnót | neutral; agrees in gender and number |
| imperative | הִתְחַתֵּן hitkhatén · הִתְחַתְּנִי hitkhatní · הִתְחַתְּנוּ hitkhatnú | true imperative; possible, often forceful or joking |
| conversational command | תִּתְחַתֵּן · תִּתְחַתְּנִי · תִּתְחַתְּנוּ | ordinary informal speech |
| infinitive | לְהִתְחַתֵּן lehitkhatén | neutral |
| event and state nouns | חֲתוּנָּה khatuná · נִישּׂוּאִים nisu'ím | wedding event · marriage as a state or institution |
Modern plural forms normally serve groups of any gender; dedicated feminine-plural past and future forms are formal or literary. Notice the exceptional-looking first-person plural past: final נ plus ־נו surfaces as הִתְחַתַּנּוּ, not a transparent sequence נתנו. The true imperative is real, but future-shaped תתחתן is the normal conversational command.
אנחנו מתחתנים בספטמבר, אחרי החגים.
anákhnu mitkhatním beseptémber, akharéi hakhagím.
We're getting married in September, after the holidays.
תתחתנו מתי שמתאים לכם, לא מתי שלוחצים עליכם.
titkhatnú matái shemat'ím lakhém, lo matái shelokhatsím aleikhém.
Get married when it suits you, not when people pressure you. (ordinary speech, to a group)
The spouse takes עם
The person one marries is introduced by עם: התחתנתי עם דנה. There is no direct object because the hitpa'el verb presents marriage as entering a reciprocal relationship, not as one person doing something to another. With pronouns, use the ordinary inflected forms איתי, איתך, איתו, איתה, איתנו, איתם from the עם paradigm.
היא התחתנה עם בן הזוג שלה בטקס אזרחי בחו״ל.
hi hitkhatná im ben hazúg shelá betékes ezrakhí bekhúl.
She married her partner in a civil ceremony abroad.
מתי התחתנתם, ואיפה הכרתם?
matái hitkhatántem, ve'éifo hikártem?
When did you get married, and where did you meet? (to a group or couple)
הוא שאל אם אני רוצה להתחתן איתו.
hu sha'ál im aní rotsá lehitkhatén itó.
He asked whether I wanted to marry him. (f. speaker)
חתונה, נישואים and marital status
Unlike many hitpa'el verbs, התחתן has no everyday action noun in the expected התקטלות pattern. Hebrew reaches elsewhere in the root family. חתונה is the wedding as an event—the invitations, hall, ceremony and celebration. נישואים is the marital state or institution and is grammatically plural: הנישואים הצליחו, נישואים אזרחיים. This lexical gap is real; do not manufacture התחתנות for ordinary use.
מזל טוב! מתי החתונה ואיפה אתם חוגגים?
mazál tov! matái hakhatuná ve'éifo atém khogegím?
Congratulations! When is the wedding, and where are you celebrating?
החתן והכלה כבר עומדים מתחת לחופה.
hekhatán vehakalá kvar omdím mitákhat lakhupá.
The groom and bride are already standing under the wedding canopy.
הם בחרו בנישואים אזרחיים ולא בטקס דתי.
hem bakharú benisu'ím ezrakhiyím veló betékes datí.
They chose a civil marriage rather than a religious ceremony.
Forms and dating profiles ask for a state, so they use the adjectives נשוי nasúi and נשואה nesu'á, not a present form of התחתן. מתחתן means “getting married” or “marries,” an event in progress or scheduled; נשוי means “married,” the resulting status.
היא נשואה כבר עשר שנים ויש להם שתי בנות.
hi nesu'á kvar éser shaním veyésh lahém shtei banót.
She's been married for ten years and they have two daughters.
בטופס סימנתי נשוי.
batófes simánti nasúi.
On the form I marked 'married.' (m. speaker)
Formal נשא אישה
The pa'al expression נשא אישה, from נ־שׂ־א, means “married/took a wife.” It is formal, religious or biographical and is gender-specific: its object is אישה “a woman/wife.” In ordinary neutral conversation, use התחתן עם. Do not transfer the formal expression’s direct-object syntax back to התחתן.
לפי הביוגרפיה, הוא נשא אישה בשנת אלף תשע מאות ושמונים.
lefí habiyográfya, hu nasá ishá bishnát élef tésha me'ót ushmoním.
According to the biography, he married in 1980. (formal/biographical)
הם התחתנו בקפריסין וחגגו עם המשפחה בארץ.
hem hitkhatnú bekafrisín vekhagegú im hamishpakhá ba'árets.
They got married in Cyprus and celebrated with the family in Israel.
Key Takeaways
- Count התחתן as ה־ת־ח־ת־ן: one ת is the prefix and one belongs to ח־ת־ן.
- The final נ assimilates in הִתְחַתַּנּוּ “we got married.”
- Introduce the spouse with עם; התחתן never takes a direct object.
- חתונה is the event, נישואים the marital state, and נשוי / נשואה the status adjective.
- נשא אישה is a formal or religious gender-specific partner; neutral speech uses התחתן עם.
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