הוצע hutsá, “was offered, was proposed,” is the second and last huf'al card in this reference. Its root is י־צ־ע, and its active hif'il partner is הציע hitsía. Like the הוזמן card, it displays huf'al's deliberately incomplete shape: present, past, and future exist; infinitive and imperative do not. The huf'al register guide explains why its finite forms cluster in institutional prose.
The complete huf'al paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | הוּצַּעְתִּי hutsáti | אוּצַּע utsá |
| אתה | הוּצַּעְתָּ hutsáta | תּוּצַּע tutsá |
| את | הוּצַּעְתְּ hutsát | תּוּצְּעִי tuts'í |
| הוא | הוּצַּע hutsá | יוּצַּע yutsá |
| היא | הוּצְּעָה huts'á | תּוּצַּע tutsá |
| אנחנו | הוּצַּעְנוּ hutsánu | נוּצַּע nutsá |
| אתם / אתן | הוּצַּעְתֶּם / הוּצַּעְתֶּן hutsátem / hutsáten | תּוּצְּעוּ tuts'ú |
| הם / הן | הוּצְּעוּ huts'ú | יוּצְּעוּ yuts'ú |
| Form type | Forms | Status |
|---|---|---|
| present / participle | מוּצָּע mutsá · מוּצַּעַת mutsá'at · מוּצָּעִים mutsa'ím · מוּצָּעוֹת mutsa'ót | offered, proposed; frequent in commerce and formal writing |
| infinitive | — does not exist — | |
| imperative | — does not exist — | |
| active infinitive | לְהַצִּיעַ lehatsía | hif'il, “to offer / propose” |
| action noun | הַצָּעָה hatsa'á | offer, proposal, suggestion |
Careful הוצעתם / הוצעתן may be pronounced hutsa'atém / hutsa'atén with final stress and an audible guttural transition; ordinary speech usually contracts and retracts them to the forms in the table. Specifically feminine plural תוצענה is (formal or literary); contemporary Hebrew uses תוצעו.
Where the root's yod went
Root-initial י assimilates into the following צ in these forms and is represented by its dagesh: הוּצַּע, מוּצָּע, יוּצַּע. No visible letter in ordinary הוצע corresponds to that root yod. The ו is not the root; it writes the huf'al u vowel in ktiv male.
Traditional fully pointed spelling therefore has kubutz and no vav: הֻצַּע, מֻצָּע, יֻצַּע. The morphology table above points the ktiv-male skeleton with shuruk: הוּצַּע. Both are pronounced hutsá. This is an orthographic presentation difference, not a second vocalization.
הוצע לה לעבור לתפקיד ניהולי בסניף החדש.
hutsá la la'avór letafkíd nihulí basníf hekhadásh.
She was offered a move to a management position at the new branch. (formal/written packaging)
הציעו לה לעבור לתפקיד ניהולי בסניף החדש.
hitsíu la la'avór letafkíd nihulí basníf hekhadásh.
They offered her a move to a management position at the new branch. (conversational active)
The recipient keeps ל־ in the passive
Active הציע assigns ל־ to the recipient and a direct-object role to what is offered: הציעו לי תפקיד. In the passive, the offered thing becomes the subject, but the recipient remains dative: הוצע לי תפקיד. Pronouns inflect normally—לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, להם.
| Voice | Offered thing | Recipient | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| active | direct object | ל־ | הציעו לי את התפקיד |
| passive | subject | ל־ | התפקיד הוצע לי |
הוצעו לנו שתי אפשרויות, ושתיהן היו יקרות מדי.
huts'ú lánu shtei efsharuyót, ushteihén hayú yekarót midái.
We were offered two options, and both were too expensive. (written/passive)
הציעו לנו שתי אפשרויות, ושתיהן היו יקרות מדי.
hitsíu lánu shtei efsharuyót, ushteihén hayú yekarót midái.
They offered us two options, and both were too expensive. (conversational active)
English passive can promote either a person (“she was offered a job”) or a thing (“a job was offered to her”). Hebrew huf'al normally keeps the offered thing as subject and the person in ל־. Thus הוצע לה תפקיד literally structures the event as “a position was offered to her.”
Finite passive and its active spoken counterpart
Finite הוצע / יוצע is at home in legislation, minutes, negotiations, tenders, and analytical reporting. Conversation usually uses agentless plural הציעו. The two versions can report the same event while choosing a different topic.
החוק שהוצע נדחה כבר בקריאה הראשונה.
hakhók shehutsá nidkhá kvar bakri'á harishoná.
The proposed bill was rejected at its first reading. (legislative/news register)
הציעו את החוק, אבל דחו אותו כבר בקריאה הראשונה.
hitsíu et hakhók, avál dakhú otó kvar bakri'á harishoná.
They proposed the bill, but rejected it at the first reading. (active alternative)
מה שהוצע לא מספיק כדי לפתור את הבעיה.
ma shehutsá lo maspík kdei liftór et habe'ayá.
What was proposed isn't enough to solve the problem. (formal/analytical)
מה שהציעו לא מספיק כדי לפתור את הבעיה.
ma shehitsíu lo maspík kdei liftór et habe'ayá.
What they proposed isn't enough to solve the problem. (conversational active)
מוצע in menus, ads, and tenders
Participle מוצע functions freely inside noun phrases and agrees like an adjective: המוצר המוצע, המנה המוצעת, השירותים המוצעים, האפשרויות המוצעות. It remains semantically passive—something is being offered—even when no offerer is stated.
המנה המוצעת היום כוללת דג, אורז וסלט.
hamaná hamutsá'at hayóm kolélet dag, órez vesalát.
Today's featured dish includes fish, rice, and salad.
המחיר המוצע כולל משלוח והתקנה בבית הלקוח.
hamekhír hamutsá kolél mishlóakh vehatkaná bevéit halakóakh.
The proposed price includes delivery and installation at the customer's home. (commercial)
המוצרים המוצעים באתר זמינים רק במשלוח.
hamutsarím hamutsa'ím ba'atár zminím rak bemishlóakh.
The products offered on the website are available only for delivery.
The noun family includes הצעת מחיר “price quote,” הצעת חוק “bill/proposed law,” and הצעת נישואין “marriage proposal.” מחיר מוצע is a proposed price. Repeated ההצעה המוצעת is grammatical but stylistically heavy; ordinary prose usually names the actual item—התוכנית המוצעת, ההסדר המוצע.
הוצע versus הוצא
One final letter separates two huf'al forms in ordinary text. הוצע ends in ע and belongs to י־צ־ע, “was offered.” הוצא ends in א and is the passive of הוציא, root י־צ־א: “was taken out, removed, issued, or spent.” In ordinary Israeli pronunciation both are hutsá, so spelling and context carry the distinction.
התקציב שהוצע לא אושר, ולכן הכסף לא הוצא.
hataktsív shehutsá lo ushár, velakhén hakésef lo hutsá.
The proposed budget wasn't approved, so the money wasn't spent. (הוצע with ayin; הוצא with alef)
הציעו את התקציב, אבל לא אישרו אותו ולכן לא הוציאו את הכסף.
hitsíu et hataktsív, avál lo ishrú otó velakhén lo hotsíu et hakésef.
They proposed the budget but didn't approve it, so they didn't spend the money. (active alternative)
Key Takeaways
- הוצע is the huf'al passive of הציע, root י־צ־ע; the lost yod is represented by dagesh in צ.
- Huf'al has no infinitive or imperative.
- The recipient stays in inflected ל־ even in the passive: הוצע לי תפקיד.
- Finite passive favors written and institutional contexts; conversation often uses הציעו.
- מוצע is frequent in commercial and formal noun phrases and agrees with its noun.
- Final ע distinguishes הוצע “was offered” from א in הוצא “was taken out/spent,” though both are pronounced hutsá.
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- Huf'al Past and Future: הוזמן, יוזמןC1 — The finite half of the binyan — nine past cells, a future built on the same stem, and one written string, הוזמנו, that means both 'we were invited' and 'they were invited' with nothing but niqqud to tell them apart.
- Huf'al in News, Notices and Official WritingC1 — Where the finite huf'al actually lives — bulletins, municipal notices, legal prose and army paperwork — why agent suppression is the point rather than a side effect, and what an Israeli says instead when the same fact comes up in a kitchen.
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- Naming the Agent: על ידי, בידי, מ־C1 — Hebrew separates the agent of a passive from its instrument, cause and institutional source: על ידי and בידי name doers, while ב־, מ־ and מצד do different jobs.