נתן natán, “give,” is irregular at both ends. Its root is נ־ת־ן: the first נ is absorbed in the future and imperative, while the final נ disappears before several suffixes. Those changes compress distinct forms into the same unpointed spelling, but the verb's two core frames remain stable: give something to someone, and let someone do something.
Principal parts
| Part | Pointed ktiv male | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3ms past | נָתַן | natán | he gave |
| ms present | נוֹתֵן | notén | gives / is giving |
| 3ms future | יִיתֵּן | yitén | he will give |
| infinitive | לָתֵת | latét | to give / allow |
| verbal noun | נְתִינָה | netiná | giving |
הוא נתן לי את המפתח וביקש שאנעל אחריי.
hu natán li et hamaftéakh uvikésh she'en'ál akharái.
He gave me the key and asked me to lock up behind me.
אני נותנת לו הזדמנות להסביר.
aní noténet lo hizdamnút lehasbír.
I'm giving him a chance to explain. (f. speaker)
Conjugation
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | נָתַתִּי natáti | אֶתֵּן etén |
| אתה | נָתַתָּ natáta | תִּיתֵּן titén |
| את | נָתַתְּ natát | תִּיתְּנִי titní |
| הוא | נָתַן natán | יִיתֵּן yitén |
| היא | נָתְנָה natná | תִּיתֵּן titén |
| אנחנו | נָתַנּוּ natánu | נִיתֵּן nitén |
| אתם / אתן | נָתַתֶּם / נָתַתֶּן natátem / natáten | תִּיתְּנוּ titnú |
| הם / הן | נָתְנוּ natnú | יִיתְּנוּ yitnú |
| Present agreement | Form |
|---|---|
| masculine singular | נוֹתֵן notén |
| feminine singular | נוֹתֶנֶת noténet |
| masculine plural | נוֹתְנִים notním |
| feminine plural | נוֹתְנוֹת notnót |
Modern Hebrew uses תיתנו / ייתנו for plural groups of all genders; dedicated feminine forms such as תיתנה are (formal or literary). The everyday 2mp/2fp past forms have the stress printed above. Unlike several other pa'al verbs, נתן does not need a separate formal-stress warning there.
נתנו לכם את כל המידע שהיה לנו.
natánu lakhém et kol hameidá shehayá lánu.
We gave you all the information we had. (to a group)
הם נתנו לנו עשר דקות להחליט.
hem natnú lánu éser dakót lehakhlít.
They gave us ten minutes to decide.
Why the future looks so different
The future absorbs the root-initial נ into ת: historical n + t surfaces as a strengthened ת in pointed spelling. Ktiv male adds a yod in forms such as תיתן, ייתן, ניתן, so the full written skeleton must be preserved even when vowels are shown. The final נ remains in forms with a suffix—תיתני, תיתנו, ייתנו—but disappears from singular אתן, תיתן, ייתן.
אני אתן לך תשובה סופית עד מחר.
aní etén lekhá tshuvá sofít ad makhár.
I'll give you a final answer by tomorrow. (to a man)
מחר ניתן לכל קבוצה משימה אחרת.
makhár nitén lekhól kvutsá mesimá akhéret.
Tomorrow we'll give each group a different task.
That last spelling has another reading. Pa'al נִיתֵּן nitén is “we will give”; nif'al נִיתָּן nitán means “is possible” or (formal) “is given.” In unpointed prose both are ניתן.
ניתן לשלם בכרטיס או במזומן.
nitán leshalém bekhartís o bimezumán.
It is possible to pay by card or in cash. (neutral-formal notice)
Unpointed אתן is also either first-person future אֶתֵּן etén, “I will give,” or the feminine-plural pronoun אַתֶּן atén, “you.” A following ל־ recipient strongly favors the verb; a following feminine-plural predicate favors the pronoun.
אתן יכולות להיכנס עכשיו; אני אתן לכן את הטפסים בפנים.
atén yekholót lehikanés akhsháv; aní etén lakhén et hatefasím bifním.
You can go in now; I'll give you the forms inside. (to a group of women)
Imperative and infinitive
The imperative is תֵּן ten to one man, תְּנִי tní to one woman and תְּנוּ tnú to a group. The initial ת is the root's second consonant, not the future prefix. The infinitive לָתֵת latét is equally compressed: neither root נ appears in the written form.
תן לי רגע לסיים את המשפט.
ten li réga lesayém et hamishpát.
Give me a moment to finish the sentence. (to a man; neutral conversation)
תנו לה לדבר לפני שאתם מחליטים.
tnú la ledabér lifnéi she'atém makhlitím.
Let her speak before you decide. (to a group)
Bare תן לי can be friendly, urgent or demanding. For a request to a stranger, אפשר לקבל…? is usually less imposing. That difference belongs to request pragmatics, not to the correctness of the imperative.
Giving something to someone
The thing given is the direct object; the recipient takes ל־. A definite thing takes את: נתן לי את הספר. An indefinite thing has no את: נתן לי ספר. Hebrew freely places the short recipient before or after the object, so both נתתי לדנה את המפתח and נתתי את המפתח לדנה are natural; information focus helps choose the order.
נתתי לדנה את המפתח כי היא הגיעה ראשונה.
natáti ledána et hamaftéakh ki hi higí'a rishoná.
I gave Dana the key because she arrived first.
English permits give Dana the key with no preposition. Hebrew does not turn the recipient into a bare noun phrase: it remains לדנה. Pronoun recipients attach to ל־ as לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, לכם, להן.
Permission and light-verb combinations
With ל־ + person + infinitive, נתן means “let/allow”: נתנו לי לצאת, literally “they gave me to leave.” The person is marked with ל־ and controls the infinitive's understood subject.
המנהלת נתנה לי לצאת מוקדם בגלל הבדיקה.
hamenahélet natná li latsét mukdám biglál habdiká.
The manager let me leave early because of the appointment.
נתן also acts as a light verb in combinations such as נתן תשובה “gave an answer,” נתן עצה “gave advice,” נתן דוגמה “gave an example” and נתן הזדמנות “gave a chance.” These combinations are lexical: Hebrew may choose another verb where English uses give or take. The dedicated נתן and לקח collocations page maps the larger system.
היא נתנה לי עצה מצוינת לגבי הריאיון.
hi natná li etsá metsuyénet legabéi hare'ayón.
She gave me excellent advice about the interview.
Key Takeaways
- Learn נָתַן – נוֹתֵן – יִיתֵּן – לָתֵת together; both root-edge nuns are unstable.
- Distinguish נָתַנּוּ “we gave” from נָתְנוּ “they gave.”
- Unpointed ניתן is nitén “we will give” or nitán “is possible/given”; אתן is etén “I will give” or atén “you women.”
- The recipient always takes ל־; definite direct objects take את.
- נתן ל־ + infinitive means “let/allow someone to do.”
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- Pa'al פ״נ: The Disappearing נ (נפל, נסע, נגע)B1 — The initial נ of נפל, נסע and נתן is fully present in the past and the present, and in the future it is swallowed by the next letter, leaving only a dagesh — which is why יִפֹּל is yipól with a hard p. The infinitives, though, have to be learned one by one.
- לקח — to takeA2 — Conjugate לקח, distinguish the three readings of לקחת, and use its object, source, destination, time and collocation frames naturally.
- Collocations with נתן and לקחB2 — Which light verb a Hebrew noun takes is a property of the noun, not a choice you get to make. נתן and לקח carry a large share of them, לקח has a formal twin in נטל, and נקט shows why even a documented synonym cannot be swapped in.
- Two-Object Verbs: נתן, שלח, הראהB2 — Build Hebrew transfer sentences with a ל־ recipient and a direct-object theme, including the exceptional patterns of לימד.