קנה kaná, “buy,” is pa'al, root ק־נ־ה, and belongs to the weak ל״ה class. The נ is the middle radical; it does not disappear or assimilate. That makes קנה entirely different from פ״נ verbs such as נתן and נסע, even though all three contain a nun.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | קָנִיתִי kaníti | אֶקְנֶה ekné |
| אתה | קָנִיתָ kaníta | תִּקְנֶה tikné |
| את | קָנִית kanít | תִּקְנִי tikní |
| הוא | קָנָה kaná | יִקְנֶה yikné |
| היא | קָנְתָה kantá | תִּקְנֶה tikné |
| אנחנו | קָנִינוּ kanínu | נִקְנֶה nikné |
| אתם · אתן | קְנִיתֶם · קְנִיתֶן knitém · knitén | תִּקְנוּ tiknú |
| הם · הן | קָנוּ kanú | יִקְנוּ yiknú |
| formal/literary feminine plural | — | תִּקְנֶינָה tiknéna |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | קוֹנֶה koné · קוֹנָה koná · קוֹנִים koním · קוֹנוֹת konót | neutral, everyday |
| imperative | קְנֵה kne · קְנִי kní · קְנוּ knu | ordinary in instructions; future commands are common in requests |
| infinitive | לִקְנוֹת liknót | neutral |
| action noun | קְנִיָּה kniyá | a purchase or acquisition; written קנייה |
| passive adjective | קָנוּי kanúy | bought, purchased, shop-bought |
Everyday second-person plural past is generally קָנִיתֶם / קָנִיתֶן, kanítem / kaníten, with stem stress. Modern speech uses תקנו / יקנו for groups of any gender; תקנינה is (formal or literary).
איפה קנית את הנעליים האלה?
éifo kanít et hana'aláyim ha'éle?
Where did you buy those shoes? (to a woman)
אני רוצה לקנות כרטיס לתל אביב.
aní rotsé liknót kartís letél avív
I want to buy a ticket to Tel Aviv. (m. speaker)
Why the ה disappears
In ל״ה verbs the final ה is a vowel letter, not a stable consonant. It remains in forms ending in a or e—קנה, קונה, יקנה—but disappears before endings. An older yod surfaces in קניתי, קנית, קנינו; before ־תה the stem contracts to קנתה, and before ־ו it becomes קנו. The infinitive follows the class pattern ־וֹת, giving לקנות.
The middle נ stays present throughout: kaníti, koné, yikné, liknót. By contrast, an initial nun in a verb like נסע occupies a weak position and may participate in פ״נ behavior. Class labels locate a radical; they are not lists of letters that can appear anywhere.
היא קנתה את המחשב באינטרנט וחסכה הרבה כסף.
hi kantá et hamakhshév ba'intérnet vekhaskhá harbé késef
She bought the computer online and saved a lot of money.
Price: bought ב־, costs without a preposition
Hebrew marks the amount paid with ב־ after קנה: קניתי את זה בחמישים שקל, literally “I bought it at/for fifty shekels.” To state an item's cost, change the verb to עלה and give the amount with no preposition: זה עולה חמישים שקל. English uses for in the first frame and no marker in the second; Hebrew's split is different enough that it must be learned with the verbs.
קניתי את זה בחמישים שקל במבצע.
kaníti et ze bakhamishím shékel bemivtsá
I bought it for fifty shekels in a sale.
זה עולה חמישים שקל, והמשלוח חינם.
ze olé khamishím shékel, vehamishlóakh khinám
It costs fifty shekels, and delivery is free.
כמה זה עולה אחרי ההנחה?
káma ze olé akharéi hahanakhá?
How much does it cost after the discount?
The dedicated price and instrument ב־ page develops this use beyond קנה.
Buyer and seller point in opposite directions
The source of a purchase takes מ־: קנה מ־, “buy from.” The recipient or customer after מכר takes ל־: מכר ל־, “sell to.” The roles change with the verb, and the preposition changes with them.
| Viewpoint | Frame | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| buyer | קניתי את האופניים מדנה | I bought the bicycle from Dana |
| seller | דנה מכרה לי את האופניים | Dana sold me the bicycle |
קניתי את האופניים מדנה, והיא מכרה לי גם קסדה.
kaníti et ha'ofanáyim midána, vehí makhrá li gam kasdá
I bought the bicycle from Dana, and she sold me a helmet too.
תקנה לי גם קפה, בבקשה.
tikné li gam kafé, bevakashá
Buy me a coffee too, please. (to a man)
Here לי marks the beneficiary—“for me”—not the seller. A sentence can therefore contain both: תקנה לי קפה מהמקום החדש, “buy me coffee from the new place.”
קניות and extended meanings
The singular קנייה is one purchase or the act of purchasing. Plural קניות commonly means “shopping” as an outing or task, especially in עשה קניות and יצא לקניות.
עשיתי קניות בדרך הביתה, אז יש אוכל במקרר.
asíti kniyót badérekh habáyta, az yesh ókhel bamekarér
I did the shopping on the way home, so there's food in the fridge.
קנה also extends from physical purchase to acquisition. קנה השכלה “acquired an education” is (formal). In everyday conversation, קניתי את זה can mean “I bought that / I believed it,” and לא קונה את התירוץ means “doesn't buy the excuse.” The metaphor works much as it does in English.
הוא אמר שהרכבת איחרה, אבל אני לא קונה את התירוץ הזה.
hu amár sheharakévet ikhará, avál aní lo koné et hateirúts hazé
He said the train was late, but I'm not buying that excuse. (m. speaker)
בהתחלה זה נשמע מוזר, אבל בסוף קניתי את זה.
bahatkhalá ze nishmá muzár, avál basóf kaníti et ze
At first it sounded strange, but in the end I bought it.
A crowded unpointed spelling
| Bare spelling | Pointed reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| קנה | קָנָה kaná | he bought |
| קְנֵה kne | buy! (to one man) | |
| קָנֶה kané | rod, reed/stalk, barrel; windpipe in קנה הנשימה | |
| תקנה | תִּקְנֶה tikné | you m.sg. / she will buy |
| תַּקָּנָה takaná | regulation or ordinance, root ת־ק־ן | |
| נקנה | נִקְנֶה nikné | we will buy |
| נִקְנֶה nikné | is bought, nif'al present |
The last pair is identical even with niqqud. A subject such as אנחנו points to the pa'al future; a purchasable item described as נקנה points to nif'al.
Common Mistakes
1. Marking the price like the cost frame.
❌ קניתי את החולצה מאה שקל.
Incorrect — the amount paid after קנה takes ב־: במאה שקל.
✅ קניתי את החולצה במאה שקל, והיא עלתה מאה ועשרים.
kaníti et hakhultsá beme'á shékel, vehí altá me'á ve'esrím
I bought the shirt for one hundred shekels, and it had cost one hundred and twenty.
2. Distinguishing beneficiary from seller/source.
✅ קניתי לדנה את האופניים.
kaníti ledána et ha'ofanáyim.
I bought the bicycle for Dana. (ל־ marks the beneficiary)
✅ קניתי מדנה את האופניים הישנים שלה.
kaníti midána et ha'ofanáyim hayeshaním shelá
I bought Dana's old bicycle from her.
3. Treating the middle nun as a weak initial nun.
❌ אני רוצה לקות כרטיס.
Incorrect — the נ is the stable middle radical. The infinitive is לקנות.
✅ אני רוצה לקנות שני כרטיסים להופעה.
aní rotsé liknót shnei kartisím lahofa'á
I want to buy two tickets to the show. (m. speaker)
Key Takeaways
- קנה is a plain ל״ה verb: קניתי – קונה – יקנה – לקנות. Its middle נ never assimilates.
- The amount paid takes ב־ after קנה; an item's cost uses עלה plus the bare amount.
- Buy from someone is קנה מ־; sell to someone is מכר ל־; beneficiary ל־ is a separate role.
- קניות commonly means shopping, and informal לא קונה את זה means “doesn't buy/believe it.”
- Bare קנה, תקנה, נקנה each have important competing readings that context must resolve.
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