פתח — to open | Hebrew Grammar

פתח patákh, “open,” is pa'al, root פ־ת־ח. Its final ח makes it a ל״ח verb, reshaping the present, future and infinitive; its initial פ also alternates between /p/ and /f/. More importantly, Hebrew divides English open among an agentive verb, a nif'al event and a result-state adjective.

Complete paradigm

Person	Past	Future
אני	פָּתַחְתִּי patákhti	אֶפְתַּח eftákh
אתה	פָּתַחְתָּ patákhta	תִּפְתַּח tiftákh
את	פָּתַחְתְּ patákht	תִּפְתְּחִי tiftekhí
הוא	פָּתַח patákh	יִפְתַּח yiftákh
היא	פָּתְחָה patkhá	תִּפְתַּח tiftákh
אנחנו	פָּתַחְנוּ patákhnu	נִפְתַּח niftákh
אתם · אתן	פְּתַחְתֶּם · פְּתַחְתֶּן ptakhtém · ptakhtén	תִּפְתְּחוּ tiftekhú
הם · הן	פָּתְחוּ patkhú	יִפְתְּחוּ yiftekhú
formal/literary feminine plural	—	תִּפְתַּחְנָה tiftákhna

Form type	Forms	Use
present	פּוֹתֵחַ potéakh · פּוֹתַחַת potákhat · פּוֹתְחִים potkhím · פּוֹתְחוֹת potkhót	neutral, everyday
imperative	פְּתַח ptakh · פִּתְחִי pitkhí · פִּתְחוּ pitkhú	ordinary in instructions; future commands frequent in requests
infinitive	לִפְתּוֹחַ liftóakh	neutral, written לפתוח
action noun	פְּתִיחָה ptikhá	opening, introduction or opening move
passive adjective	פָּתוּחַ patúakh	open; the resulting state

Everyday second-person plural past generally retracts the stress: פָּתַחְתֶּם / פָּתַחְתֶּן, patákhtem / patákhten. Modern speech uses תפתחו / יפתחו for every plural group; תפתחנה is (formal or literary).

פתחתי חשבון חדש כדי להפריד בין העסק לבית.

patákhti kheshbón khadásh kdei lehafríd bein ha'ések labáyit

I opened a new account to separate the business from home.

תפתח את החלון, בבקשה, חם פה.

tiftákh et hakhalón, bevakashá, kham po

Open the window, please; it's hot in here. (to a man)

Final ח changes three vowels

The guttural final radical does three jobs. First, the future uses patach: יִפְתַּח yiftákh, not the yiftór pattern of a strong o-future verb. Second, masculine present פּוֹתֵחַ and infinitive לִפְתּוֹחַ add a furtive patach, written under ח but pronounced before it. Third, the feminine present is פּוֹתַחַת potákhat, with a-a rather than the e-e of כּוֹתֶבֶת.

Cell	פתח	What to hear
future 3ms	יִפְתַּח yiftákh	final a, no cholam
present ms	פּוֹתֵחַ potéakh	furtive a before ח
present fs	פּוֹתַחַת potákhat	both ending vowels are a
infinitive	לִפְתּוֹחַ liftóakh	stress remains on o

היא פותחת את המשרד כל בוקר בשמונה.

hi potákhat et hamisrád kol bóker bishmóne

She opens the office every morning at eight.

צריך לפתוח את הבקבוק בזהירות.

tsaríkh liftóakh et habakbúk bizhirút

The bottle needs to be opened carefully.

💡

The furtive patach is never stressed and is pronounced before the final ח: potéakh, liftóakh, patúakh. Reading it after the consonant produces a syllable Hebrew does not have.

Why p becomes f

Initial פּ has the stop /p/ in פָּתַח, פּוֹתֵחַ, פְּתַח. After a vocalic prefix, the root letter lacks dagesh and is pronounced /f/: לִפְתּוֹחַ, תִּפְתַּח, נִפְתַּח. This is the ordinary begadkefat alternation, not a change of root.

מתי תפתחו את הסניף החדש?

matáy tiftekhú et hasníf hekhadásh?

When will you open the new branch? (to a group)

Three Hebrew forms for English open

Agentive pa'al פתח normally takes an object: someone opens something. Nif'al נפתח presents the thing as undergoing or beginning the event—because someone opened it, because it opened by itself, or because its schedule began. Adjective פתוח describes the resulting state. English uses open in all three environments and often leaves the difference implicit.

Form	Structure	Question answered
הוא פתח את הדלת	pa'al + agent + definite object	Who performed the opening?
הדלת נפתחה	nif'al event	What happened to the door?
הדלת פתוחה	פעול adjective	What state is the door in?

הדלת נפתחה פתאום, אבל לא היה שם אף אחד.

hadélet niftekhá pit'óm, avál lo hayá sham af ekhád

The door suddenly opened, but nobody was there.

מתי נפתח הסופר בימי שישי?

matáy niftákh hasúper biméi shishí?

What time does the supermarket open on Fridays?

החנות פתוחה עד עשר, אבל המטבח נסגר בתשע.

hakhanút ptukhá ad éser, avál hamitbákh nisgár betésha

The shop is open until ten, but the kitchen closes at nine.

In everyday speech, an institution can itself be construed as the agent: החנות פותחת בתשע “the shop opens at nine” is natural, just as English lets a shop “open.” The nif'al החנות נפתחת בתשע makes the intransitive schedule reading explicit. This is a choice of construal, not a reason to condemn the colloquial pa'al sentence.

The event/state distinction is systematic: the פעול passive participle explains why פתוח agrees as an adjective, while nif'al middle voice develops the event use.

What Hebrew can “open”

The collocational range is broad. Hebrew opens doors and windows, but also חשבון בנק a bank account, עסק a business, קובץ a file and בקבוק a bottle. Informal Israeli Hebrew also says פתח את האור for “turn on the light,” alongside the semantically explicit הדליק את האור.

תפתחי את הקובץ ששלחתי לך ותבדקי את העמוד האחרון.

tiftekhí et hakóvets sheshalákhti lakh vetivdekí et ha'amúd ha'akharón

Open the file I sent you and check the last page. (to a woman)

הם פתחו עסק קטן מהבית לפני שנתיים.

hem patkhú ések katán mehabáyit lifnéi shnatáyim

They started a small business from home two years ago.

With ב־, פתח means “begin with”: פתח בנאום “opened with a speech.” The intransitive counterpart likewise uses nif'al: הערב נפתח בשיר, “the evening opened with a song.” This frame is common in reporting and planned-event language.

המנהלת פתחה את הישיבה בעדכון קצר.

hamenahélet patkhá et hayeshivá be'idkún katsár

The director opened the meeting with a brief update.

Homographs and root family

Bare פתח is past פָּתַח patákh, “he opened,” or noun פֶּתַח pétakh, “opening / entrance / opportunity.” Bare נפתח is pa'al future נִפְתַּח niftákh, “we will open,” or nif'al נִפְתַּח niftákh, “was opened”; the latter also stands close to present נִפְתָּח, pronounced the same in Israeli Hebrew. Only syntax and context decide.

נפתח את הדלת רק כשכולם יהיו מוכנים.

niftákh et hadélet rak kshekulám yihyú mukhaním

We'll open the door only when everyone is ready.

The root family includes מַפְתֵּחַ maftéakh “key,” פְּתִיחוּת ptikhút “openness” and פִּיתּוּחַ pitúakh “development.” The last belongs with pi'el פיתח, “develop,” not with the physical-opening sense of pa'al.

Common Mistakes

1. Giving nif'al נפתח a direct object.

❌ הוא נפתח את הדלת.

Incorrect—nif'al נפתח is intransitive here. The agentive verb that takes the door as its object is pa'al פתח.

✅ הוא פתח את הדלת בלי לשאול.

hu patákh et hadélet bli lish'ól

He opened the door without asking.

2. Distinguishing the state from the opening event.

✅ הדלת פתוחה בשמונה בבוקר.

hadélet ptukhá bishmóne babóker

The door is open at eight in the morning. (state/schedule)

✅ הדלת נפתחה בשמונה ונשארה פתוחה כל היום.

hadélet niftekhá bishmóne venish'ará ptukhá kol hayóm

The door opened at eight and stayed open all day.

3. Swallowing the furtive patach.

❌ פותח, לפתוח

potékh · liftókh

Incorrect — final ח after e or o takes a furtive patach pronounced before it: potéakh, liftóakh.

✅ אפשר לפתוח פה חלון?

efshár liftóakh po khalón?

Can a window be opened here?

Key Takeaways

Final ח produces פותח / פותחת, the a-future יפתח, and infinitive לפתוח with a furtive patach.
Initial פ is /p/ in פתח / פותח but /f/ after prefixes in לפתוח / תפתח.
Use pa'al פתח את for an agent opening an object, nif'al נפתח for the opening event or schedule, and פתוח for the resulting state.
פתח combines naturally with doors, accounts, businesses, files and bottles; פתח ב־ means begin with.
Bare פתח and נפתח have competing readings that unpointed spelling cannot resolve alone.

Now practice Hebrew

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Hebrew →