נהנה nehená, “enjoy, derive pleasure,” is nif'al, root ה־נ־ה. It is weak at both ends: initial guttural ה cannot take a dagesh, while final ה behaves as ל״ה and disappears or surfaces as י in inflection. The result is an unusual paradigm—נהניתי, תיהנה, ליהנות—explained comparatively on weak nif'al roots, and one stable government rule: the source of enjoyment takes מ־.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | נֶהֱנֵיתִי nehenéti | אֵיהָנֶה ehané |
| אתה | נֶהֱנֵיתָ nehenéta | תֵּיהָנֶה tehané |
| את | נֶהֱנֵית nehenét | תֵּיהָנִי tehaní |
| הוא | נֶהֱנָה nehená | יֵיהָנֶה yehané |
| היא | נֶהֶנְתָה nehentá | תֵּיהָנֶה tehané |
| אנחנו | נֶהֱנֵינוּ nehenénu | נֵיהָנֶה nehané |
| אתם / אתן | נֶהֱנֵיתֶם / נֶהֱנֵיתֶן nehenétem / nehenéten | תֵּיהָנוּ tehanú |
| הם / הן | נֶהֱנוּ nehenú | יֵיהָנוּ yehanú |
| Form | Paradigm | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | נֶהֱנֶה nehené · נֶהֱנֵית nehenét · נֶהֱנִים nehením · נֶהֱנוֹת nehenót | neutral and frequent |
| imperative | הֵיהָנֵה hehané · הֵיהָנִי hehaní · הֵיהָנוּ hehanú | tabled but not the normal spoken wish |
| infinitive | לֵיהָנוֹת lehanót | standard spelling ליהנות |
| action noun | הֲנָאָה hana'á | pleasure, enjoyment |
The specifically feminine plural future תֵּיהָנֶינָה tehanéna is (formal or literary); speech uses תיהנו for every plural group. True imperative forms exist in dictionaries, but Israelis use future תיהנה / תיהני / תיהנו as wishes and sign-offs.
תיהנו מהטיול ותשלחו תמונות.
tehanú mehatíyul vetishlekhú tmunót.
Enjoy the trip and send pictures. (to a group)
תיהני מהחופשה, מגיע לך לנוח.
tehaní mehakhufshá, magía lakh lanúakh.
Enjoy your vacation; you deserve a rest. (to a woman)
The paradigm's weak letters
The initial ה cannot receive the dagesh expected in nif'al. In past and present it instead carries chataf-patach after נֶ־: נֶהֱנָה, נֶהֱנֶה. The feminine past נֶהֶנְתָה flattens the reduced vowel. Final ה disappears before suffixes and surfaces as yod in נהניתי / נהנית / נהנינו, the normal ל״ה alternation.
Future forms show compensatory e: איהנה, תיהנה, ייהנה, ניהנה. The yod belongs to ktiv male even though house romanization gives plain e, not a diphthong. The overlapping string נהנית can therefore be past second-person masculine nehenéta, past second-person feminine nehenét, or present feminine nehenét.
נהניתי מאוד מהארוחה; תודה שבישלת בשבילנו.
nehenéti me'ód meha'arukhá; todá shebishálta bishvilénu.
I really enjoyed the meal; thank you for cooking for us. (to a man)
הילדים נהנו מכל רגע בהופעה.
hayeladím nehenú mikól réga bahofa'á.
The children enjoyed every moment of the show.
Enjoyment comes from מ־
English enjoy takes a direct object. Hebrew נהנה is intransitive and frames the enjoyable thing as a source: literally “derive pleasure from.” Use מ־, including its fused forms מהסרט, מהחיים, מזה and pronominal ממנו / ממנה. More formal prose may use full מן.
נהניתי מהסרט, אבל הסוף היה צפוי.
nehenéti mehaséret, avál hasóf hayá tsafúy.
I enjoyed the film, but the ending was predictable.
אנחנו נהנים מהחיים ולא ממהרים לשום מקום.
anákhnu nehením mehakháyim velo memaharím leshúm makóm.
We're enjoying life and aren't rushing anywhere.
אני לא נהנה מזה בכלל.
aní lo nehené mizé bikhlál.
I'm not enjoying this at all. (m. speaker)
הצדדים הנהנים מן ההסכם חייבים לדווח על כל שינוי.
hatsdadím hanehením min haheském khayavím ledavéakh al kol shinúy.
The parties benefiting from the agreement must report every change. (legal/official)
The last example uses a formal extension “benefit from,” common in legal and administrative prose. It preserves the same מ־ government; it does not turn נהנה into a transitive verb.
ליהנות, להנות, and the spelling readers meet
The guide's standard infinitive is ליהנות, pointed לֵיהָנוֹת. Dictionaries also preserve fuller להיהנות lehehanót, now (rare or archaic). Bare להנות is extremely common in native Israeli writing and reflects an alternative vocalization lehanót, but the standard guide spelling retains י: ליהנות. This is a real usage contrast, not evidence that speakers use a different verb.
אני רוצה ליהנות מהחופש בלי לתכנן כלום.
aní rotsé lehanót mehakhófesh bli letakhnén klum.
I just want to enjoy the break without planning anything. (m. speaker)
The noun הנאה appears in בהנאה “with pleasure,” הנאה צרופה “pure enjoyment” (elevated), and לשם הנאה “for pleasure” (formal).
בהנאה, אשמח לעזור שוב.
bahana'á, esmákh la'azór shuv.
With pleasure; I'll be happy to help again.
Key Takeaways
- Doubly weak נהנה has distinctive forms: נהניתי, נהנית, תיהנה, ליהנות.
- Govern the source of enjoyment with מ־ / מן, never as a direct object.
- Future forms supply the everyday wish: תיהנה / תיהני / תיהנו.
- Standard infinitive spelling is ליהנות; להנות is widespread in native writing, and להיהנות is rare.
- הנאה means pleasure or enjoyment; the participle can mean “benefiting” in formal prose.
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
- Nif'al of Weak Roots: נולד, נבנה, נמצא, נהנהB1 — To be born, to be built, to be located, to be enjoyed and to be considered are all nif'al verbs with a weak root letter — so the four classes on this page are not an appendix to the binyan, they are most of the vocabulary you will actually use.
- 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.
- מ־ / מן: From, Out Of, ThanA1 — The one prefix that behaves differently from the others: ב, ל and כ swallow the definite article, מ־ leaves it standing. It also supplies the basic comparison marker translated as 'than'.
- Spellings Israelis Themselves Argue AboutC2 — תוכנית or תכנית, דוגמה or דוגמא, אימא or אמא — a set of words where the Academy prescribes one form and educated Israelis write the other. Knowing which spellings are genuinely contested is what stops three native speakers from correcting you three different ways.