הצליח hitslíakh, “succeed, manage to,” is hif'il, root צ־ל־ח. Final ח creates a furtive patach in forms such as הצליח, מצליח, יצליח, להצליח: the small a is pronounced before the final /kh/, while stress stays on the preceding i. Say hits-lí-akh, never a final-stressed form modeled on ordinary hif'il verbs.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | הִצְלַחְתִּי hitslákhti | אַצְלִיחַ atslíakh |
| אתה | הִצְלַחְתָּ hitslákhta | תַּצְלִיחַ tatslíakh |
| את | הִצְלַחְתְּ hitslákht | תַּצְלִיחִי tatslíkhi |
| הוא | הִצְלִיחַ hitslíakh | יַצְלִיחַ yatslíakh |
| היא | הִצְלִיחָה hitslikhá | תַּצְלִיחַ tatslíakh |
| אנחנו | הִצְלַחְנוּ hitslákhnu | נַצְלִיחַ natslíakh |
| אתם / אתן | הִצְלַחְתֶּם / הִצְלַחְתֶּן hitslákhtem / hitslákhten | תַּצְלִיחוּ tatslíkhu |
| הם / הן | הִצְלִיחוּ hitslíkhu | יַצְלִיחוּ yatslíkhu |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מַצְלִיחַ matslíakh · מַצְלִיחָה matslikhá · מַצְלִיחִים matslikhím · מַצְלִיחוֹת matslikhót | succeeds; is successful |
| imperative | הַצְלֵחַ hatsléakh · הַצְלִיחִי hatslíkhi · הַצְלִיחוּ hatslíkhu | possible but limited; future wishes and בהצלחה are more natural |
| infinitive | לְהַצְלִיחַ lehatslíakh | neutral and frequent |
| action noun | הַצְלָחָה hatslakhá | success |
| huf'al adjective | מוּצְלָח mutslákh · מוּצְלַחַת mutslákhat | successful, well done |
Careful הצלחתם / הצלחתן can carry final stress, hitslakhtém / hitslakhtén; conversation commonly retracts it, as in the table. Specifically feminine plural תצלחנה is (formal or literary); contemporary Hebrew uses תצליחו. Direct imperative הצלח is grammatical but pragmatically unusual: success is not normally an action one can perform on command. Wishes use תצליח / תצליחי or fixed בהצלחה.
הצלחתי לפתוח את הדלת עם המפתח הישן.
hitslákhti liftóakh et hadélet im hamaftéakh hayashán.
I managed to open the door with the old key.
את חושבת שנצליח לסיים עד יום חמישי?
at khoshévet shenatslíakh lesayém ad yom khamishí?
Do you think we'll manage to finish by Thursday? (to a woman)
Managing to do something: הצליח ל־
With an action, הצליח takes ל־ plus infinitive. This is where Hebrew uses the verb for English manage to: the clause says that an attempted or difficult action actually came about. The negative לא הצלחתי ל־ is the ordinary opposite, “I couldn't manage to.”
לא הצלחתי להתקשר אליך; הטלפון שלך היה כבוי.
lo hitslákhti lehitkashér eléikha; hatélefon shelkhá hayá kavúy.
I couldn't get through to you; your phone was off. (to a man)
היא הצליחה לשכנע את הוועדה לתת לנו עוד שבוע.
hi hitslikhá leshakhnéa et hava'adá latét lánu od shavúa.
She managed to persuade the committee to give us another week.
בסוף הצלחנו למצוא דירה קרובה לעבודה.
basóf hitslákhnu limtsó dirá krová la'avodá.
In the end, we managed to find an apartment close to work.
English can separate succeed in opening from manage to open. Everyday Hebrew normally uses the same הצליח לפתוח for both. The difficulty or prior attempt is often supplied by context rather than by extra grammar.
Succeeding in a domain: הצליח ב־
A test, job, project, field, or attempt can be construed as the domain in which success occurs. It then takes ב־. When the subject is the attempt, experiment, plan, or event itself, no domain phrase is necessary: הניסיון הצליח, “the attempt worked.”
הוא הצליח במבחן למרות שלא ישן כל הלילה.
hu hitslíakh bamivkhán lamrót sheló yashén kol haláyla.
He did well on the exam despite not sleeping all night.
היא מצליחה בכל מה שהיא עושה.
hi matslikhá bekhól ma shehí osá.
She succeeds at everything she does.
הניסיון הצליח, והמערכת חזרה לעבוד.
hanisayón hitslíakh, vehama'arékhet khazrá la'avód.
The attempt worked, and the system started working again.
נכשל nikhshál is a real separate verb meaning “fail,” especially in נכשל במבחן, נכשל בפרויקט. It cannot replace לא הצליח ל־ as the opposite of “managed to”: Hebrew says לא הצלחתי לפתוח, not a construction equivalent to “failed to open” with נכשל plus infinitive. This distinction is more precise than a blanket rule that Hebrew has no separate failure verb.
לא הצליח לי: it did not work out for me
Very common impersonal לא הצליח לי presents the attempted result as something that did not come together for the experiencer. The inflected ל־ changes with the person: לא הצליח לך, לא הצליח לה, לא הצליח לנו. A following infinitive or noun can name the failed task, but often context supplies it.
ניסיתי לשלם באפליקציה, אבל לא הצליח לי.
nisíti leshalém ba'aplikátsya, avál lo hitslíakh li.
I tried to pay in the app, but it didn't work for me.
לא הצליח לנו בפעם הראשונה, אז ניסינו שוב.
lo hitslíakh lánu bapá'am harishoná, az nisínu shuv.
It didn't work for us the first time, so we tried again.
Compare personal לא הצלחתי להתחבר “I didn't manage to log in” with impersonal לא הצליח לי להתחבר “logging in didn't work out for me.” Both are colloquial and natural; the second foregrounds the failed outcome rather than the person's ability.
הצלחה and encouragement
בהצלחה behatslakhá is the fixed everyday wish “good luck / success.” It works before an exam, interview, trip, new job, or difficult conversation and does not change for gender or number. The blessings and wishes page places it among other formulas.
בהצלחה במבחן מחר—את מוכנה יותר ממה שנדמה לך.
behatslakhá bamivkhán makhár, at mukhaná yotér mimá shenidmé lakh.
Good luck on the exam tomorrow—you are better prepared than you think. (to a woman)
סיפור הצלחה is a success story; הצלחה מסחררת is a spectacular or runaway success. מוצלח / מוצלחת describes something successful or well executed: ערב מוצלח, פגישה מוצלחת. Noun מצליחן is a (colloquial, sometimes evaluative) label for a conspicuously successful person or achiever, not the neutral adjective “successful.”
Key Takeaways
- Furtive patach is heard before final ח, while stress remains earlier: הצליח hitslíakh.
- Use ל־ plus infinitive for managing an action and ב־ plus noun for success in a domain.
- The opposite of “managed to” is normally לא הצלחתי ל־; נכשל remains available for failing a test, project, or undertaking.
- Impersonal לא הצליח לי means “it didn't work out for me,” with inflected ל־.
- בהצלחה is the fixed everyday wish; מוצלח means successful or well done.
Now practice Hebrew
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Pa'al with ח or ע as Third Radical (שלח, שמע, פתח)B1 — Verbs ending in ח or ע grow a vowel nobody put there: שׁוֹמֵעַ is shoméa and לִפְתּוֹחַ is liftóakh. The furtive patach is written under the guttural and pronounced before it, and it is the single most audible thing about this class.
- Gutturals in פ, ע and ל PositionC1 — א, ה, ח and ע resist a mobile shva and a dagesh, so the patterns that demand either one adjust their vowels. Position predicts the effect: a first radical can bend the prefix, a middle radical changes doubling patterns, and a final ח or ע produces the audible furtive patach.
- Verbs That Take an Infinitive (רוצה, אוהב, מנסה, מתחיל)A1 — The first two-verb sentence a beginner can build: one conjugated verb, then an infinitive that never changes for anything. The whole pattern turns on a single question — is the second action done by the same person as the first? If it is, use the infinitive; if it is not, Hebrew switches to ש plus a finite verb.
- בתיאבון, לחיים, מזל טוב, ברוך הבאA2 — Everyday Hebrew blessings are situation-specific: this page shows what to say over food, a toast, success, an achievement or something new, and what reply each formula invites.
- המשיך — to continueA2 — Conjugate המשיך, alternate final ך with medial כ, and choose among infinitive, noun, and direct-object continuation frames.