קיבל kibél, “receive, get, accept,” is regular pi'el, root ק־ב־ל. It is grammatically active even where English get or be accepted may feel passive: the receiver is the subject, the thing received is the direct object, and the source takes מ־.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | קִיבַּלְתִּי kibálti | אֲקַבֵּל akabél |
| אתה | קִיבַּלְתָּ kibálta | תְּקַבֵּל tekabél |
| את | קִיבַּלְתְּ kibált | תְּקַבְּלִי tekablí |
| הוא | קִיבֵּל kibél | יְקַבֵּל yekabél |
| היא | קִיבְּלָה kiblá | תְּקַבֵּל tekabél |
| אנחנו | קִיבַּלְנוּ kibálnu | נְקַבֵּל nekabél |
| אתם / אתן | קִיבַּלְתֶּם / קִיבַּלְתֶּן kibáltem / kibálten | תְּקַבְּלוּ tekablú |
| הם / הן | קִיבְּלוּ kiblú | יְקַבְּלוּ yekablú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מְקַבֵּל mekabél · מְקַבֶּלֶת mekabélet · מְקַבְּלִים mekablím · מְקַבְּלוֹת mekablót | neutral |
| imperative | קַבֵּל kabél · קַבְּלִי kablí · קַבְּלוּ kablú | true imperative; limited by meaning |
| infinitive | לְקַבֵּל lekabél | neutral |
| action noun | קַבָּלָה kabalá | receipt, reception/front desk, acceptance; Kabbalah |
| pu'al adjective | מְקוּבָּל mekubál | accepted, customary, popular |
Careful קיבלתם / קיבלתן is final-stressed, kibaltém / kibaltén; ordinary speech retracts it as in the table. Dedicated feminine plural תקבלנה is (formal or literary). Imperative קבל is common in instructions such as קבלו את… “welcome / receive…,” but many everyday situations naturally use future תקבל or request formula אפשר לקבל…?.
קיבלת את המייל שלי או שאשלח שוב?
kibálta et haméil shelí o she'eshlákh shuv?
Did you get my email, or should I send it again? (to a man)
תקבל את זה מחר עם המשלוח השני.
tekabél et ze makhár im hamishlóakh hashení.
You'll receive it tomorrow with the second delivery. (to a man)
Receiving a thing from a source
The thing received is a direct object. An indefinite thing stands bare—קיבלתי מכתב, קיבלנו הודעה—and a definite one takes את—קיבלתי את המכתב. The source takes מ־, whether a person, institution or place: ממנו, מהבנק, מהמשרד.
| Role | Frame | Model |
|---|---|---|
| indefinite thing | קיבל + noun | קיבלתי מכתב |
| definite thing | קיבל + את | קיבלתי את המכתב |
| source | מ־ | קיבלתי ממנו / מהבנק |
קיבלתי ממנו מכתב אחרי שלא דיברנו שנה.
kibálti miménu mikhtáv akharéi shelo dibárnu shaná.
I got a letter from him after we hadn't spoken for a year.
קיבלנו הודעה מהבנק שהכרטיס החדש מוכן.
kibálnu hoda'á mehabánk shehakartís hekhadásh mukhán.
We got a message from the bank saying the new card was ready.
קיבלתי משכורת היום, אז אני מזמין.
kibálti maskóret hayóm, az aní mazmín.
I got paid today, so dinner's on me. (m. speaker)
This is one corner of a transfer triangle. נתן profiles the giver and recipient; קיבל profiles the receiver and source; לקח profiles an agent taking something. Compare דנה נתנה לי ספר, קיבלתי ספר מדנה, and לקחתי את הספר מדנה. The נתן and לקח cards supply their complete frames.
Accepting people, proposals and criticism
In its second major sense, קיבל means “accept.” The accepted entity is still a direct object, but the object set changes: an idea, decision, condition, criticism, candidate, or new member. קיבלו אותי לאוניברסיטה is active Hebrew: an understood admissions body accepted me.
לא היה לי קל, אבל קיבלתי את ההחלטה שלה.
lo hayá li kal, avál kibálti et hahakhlatá shelá.
It wasn't easy for me, but I accepted her decision.
הוא לא מקבל ביקורת, אפילו כשהיא מוצדקת.
hu lo mekabél bikóret, afílu kshehí mutsdéket.
He doesn't accept criticism, even when it's justified.
קיבלו אותי לאוניברסיטה, ואני מתחילה באוקטובר.
kiblú otí la'universitá, va'aní matkhilá be'október.
I was accepted to university, and I'm starting in October. (f. speaker)
Result adjective מקובל means accepted, customary, or popular. With על plus a person it means “acceptable to”: זה מקובל עליי, “that works for me.” This is not the active present מקבל; the vav and the u distinguish it.
יום שני מקובל עליי, אבל רק אחרי ארבע.
yom shení mekubál alái, avál rak akharéi árba.
Monday works for me, but only after four.
Decisions and institutional combinations
Hebrew “receives” a decision: קיבל החלטה, not a literal calque of English made a decision. The corresponding noun phrase is קבלת החלטות, “decision-making.” This is a lexical collocation, so it must be learned as a unit rather than predicted from the general meaning of קיבל.
עוד לא קיבלנו החלטה; נחזור אליכם מחר.
od lo kibálnu hakhlatá; nakhazór aleikhém makhár.
We haven't made a decision yet; we'll get back to you tomorrow.
קיבלנו אישור להתחיל בעבודות ביום ראשון.
kibálnu ishúr lehatkhíl ba'avodót beyóm rishón.
We received permission to begin the work on Sunday.
The noun קבלה has several everyday lives: a receipt, the physical reception/front desk, admissions, or acceptance. It also names Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition; the identical pointing is disambiguated by context and often capitalization in English translation. קבלת פנים is a welcome/reception; קבלת קהל is the time an office receives the public; קבלה בבקשה asks for a receipt.
אפשר קבלה, בבקשה? אני צריכה להגיש את ההוצאה.
efshár kabalá, bevakashá? aní tsrikhá lehagísh et hahotsa'á.
Could I have a receipt, please? I need to submit the expense. (f. speaker)
השארתי את המפתח בקבלה.
hish'árti et hamaftéakh bakabalá.
I left the key at reception.
Finally, קיבל על עצמו means “undertook, assumed responsibility for.” The preposition is fixed and inflects: קיבלתי על עצמי, קיבלה על עצמה.
היא קיבלה על עצמה לנהל את הפרויקט עד הסוף.
hi kiblá al atsmá lenahél et haproyékt ad hasóf.
She undertook to manage the project through to completion.
Key Takeaways
- קיבל is active: the receiver is the subject, the thing received is the object, and the source takes מ־.
- “Accept” uses the same object grammar with decisions, criticism, conditions and people.
- Hebrew says קיבל החלטה and קבלת החלטות for “made a decision / decision-making.”
- קבלה means receipt, reception/front desk, acceptance or Kabbalah; context separates them.
- מקובל עליי means acceptable to me; קיבל על עצמו means undertook.
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
- Verbs Governed by מ־: פחד מ, נהנה מ, התעלם מB1 — Learn common Hebrew verbs whose source, cause, avoided object, or person asked is introduced by מ־ rather than by a direct object.
- נתן — to giveA2 — Conjugate נתן, keep apart its compressed look-alike forms, and build natural giving, permission and light-verb frames.
- לקח — to takeA2 — Conjugate לקח, distinguish the three readings of לקחת, and use its object, source, destination, time and collocation frames naturally.
- The Pi'el Verbs You Meet FirstB1 — Seventeen pi'el verbs carry most of a beginner's first months — and the hard part is not their conjugation, which is uniform, but the preposition each one insists on.
- ביקר — to visit, to criticiseA2 — Conjugate ביקר and use place, personal-visit and criticism frames without letting the verb's two senses blur.
- חיפש — to look forA2 — Conjugate חיפש, preserve its hidden sin and hard p, and distinguish a sought object from the place searched.