שלח shalákh, “send” or “dispatch,” is pa'al, root ש־ל־ח. Its final ח makes it a ל״ח verb like שכח and פתח: the future takes patach, while the masculine present and infinitive add a furtive a before the final consonant—שולח sholéakh, לשלוח lishlóakh. The verb's main syntactic lesson is just as important: the sent thing is a direct object, while the recipient normally takes ל־; directional אל־ is also possible when the recipient is construed as the goal.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | שָׁלַחְתִּי shalákhti | אֶשְׁלַח eshlákh |
| אתה | שָׁלַחְתָּ shalákhta | תִּשְׁלַח tishlákh |
| את | שָׁלַחְתְּ shalákht | תִּשְׁלְחִי tishlekhí |
| הוא | שָׁלַח shalákh | יִשְׁלַח yishlákh |
| היא | שָׁלְחָה shalkhá | תִּשְׁלַח tishlákh |
| אנחנו | שָׁלַחְנוּ shalákhnu | נִשְׁלַח nishlákh |
| אתם / אתן | שָׁלַחְתֶּם / שָׁלַחְתֶּן shalákhtem / shalákhten | תִּשְׁלְחוּ tishlekhú |
| הם / הן | שָׁלְחוּ shalkhú | יִשְׁלְחוּ yishlekhú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | שׁוֹלֵחַ sholéakh · שׁוֹלַחַת sholákhat · שׁוֹלְחִים sholkhím · שׁוֹלְחוֹת sholkhót | neutral |
| imperative | שְׁלַח shlakh · שִׁלְחִי shilkhí · שִׁלְחוּ shilkhú | real; future commands dominate everyday requests |
| infinitive | לִשְׁלוֹחַ lishlóakh | neutral |
| action noun | שְׁלִיחָה shlikhá | sending, dispatch |
| passive adjective | שָׁלוּחַ shalúakh | sent, dispatched; outstretched |
In careful speech, the second-person plural past is שְׁלַחְתֶּם / שְׁלַחְתֶּן, shlakhtém / shlakhtén. The table gives ordinary retracted stress. Dedicated תשלחנה is (formal or literary); normal Hebrew uses תשלחו for every plural group.
שלחתי לך את הכתובת, תבדוק שהכול ברור.
shalákhti lekhá et haktóvet, tivdók shehakól barúr.
I sent you the address; check that everything is clear. (to a man)
הוא שולח לה פרחים כל שנה ביום ההולדת.
hu sholéakh la prakhím kol shaná beyóm hahulédet.
He sends her flowers every year on her birthday.
The a in שולח is a furtive patach: it is written under ח but pronounced before it. Feminine שולחת has two a vowels around the final radical. The plurals move the guttural away from the word edge and return to שולחים / שולחות. See final-guttural pa'al for the full pattern.
The item and recipient occupy different slots
The sent item is a direct object. It is bare when indefinite and takes את when definite. The recipient is not a direct object; it normally takes ל־, including suffixed לי, לך, לו, לה. Directional אל־ is also available when the recipient is viewed as the goal, as in שלחו אליי את החוזה.
| Role | Frame | Example |
|---|---|---|
| indefinite thing | שלח + noun | שלחתי הודעה |
| definite thing | שלח + את | שלחתי את החבילה |
| recipient | שלח + ל־; directional אל־ | שלחתי לך / שלחו אליי |
שלחתי לך הודעה כשהגעתי לתחנה.
shalákhti lekhá hoda'á kshehigáti latakhaná.
I sent you a message when I got to the station. (to a man)
שלחתי את החבילה לאימא שלי בדואר רשום.
shalákhti et hakhavilá le'íma shelí bedo'ár rashúm.
I sent the package to my mother by registered mail.
A person can themselves be what is dispatched. Then that person is the direct object and a destination follows with ל־: שלחו אותי לרופא אחר. This does not contradict the recipient rule—the doctor is the destination, not the recipient of a package.
שלחו אותי לרופא אחר כי המומחה לא היה במרפאה.
shalkhú otí lerofé akhér ki hamumkhé lo hayá bamirpa'á.
They sent me to another doctor because the specialist wasn't at the clinic.
Digital Hebrew and everyday commands
Modern שלח is at home in digital exchanges: שלח מייל, שלח הודעה, שלח קובץ, שלח לינק, and שלח וואטסאפ are all (informal or neutral digital usage). The medium can follow with ב־: שלח לי את זה במייל.
תשלחי לי הודעה כשתגיעי, גם אם זה מאוחר.
tishlekhí li hoda'á kshetagí'i, gam im ze me'ukhár.
Send me a message when you arrive, even if it's late. (to a woman)
תשלח לי את הקובץ במייל, בבקשה.
tishlákh li et hakóvets baméil, bevakashá.
Please send me the file by email. (to a man)
True שלח / שלחי / שלחו remains grammatical, particularly in instructions and emphatic language. Everyday requests usually use תשלח / תשלחי / תשלחו. This is the general future-command pattern, not an irregularity of this verb.
נשלח and the root family
Bare שלח is past שָׁלַח shalákh or imperative שְׁלַח shlakh. Bare נשלח is pa'al future נִשְׁלַח “we will send” or nif'al present נִשְׁלָח “is sent.” Modern pronunciation makes both nishlákh, so subject and object structure decide.
נשלח הודעה עכשיו, והקובץ יישלח אחר כך.
nishlákh hoda'á akhsháv, vehakóvets yishalákh akhár kakh.
We'll send a message now, and the file will be sent later.
The family includes שליח shalíakh, an emissary or delivery person; שליחות shlikhút, a mission or errand; and משלוח mishlóakh, a delivery or shipment—the noun used throughout delivery apps. These are related but not interchangeable with action noun שליחה, the act of sending.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating the recipient as a direct object.
❌ שלחתי אותך הודעה.
Incorrect for ‘I sent you a message’—the recipient takes ל־: שלחתי לך הודעה.
✅ שלחתי לך הודעה לפני שעה.
shalákhti lekhá hoda'á lifnéi sha'á.
I sent you a message an hour ago. (to a man)
2. Omitting את before a definite item.
❌ שלחתי החבילה לאימא.
Incorrect—the definite sent item החבילה requires את.
✅ שלחתי את החבילה לאימא הבוקר.
shalákhti et hakhavilá le'íma habóker.
I sent the package to Mum this morning.
3. Adding a yod to the pa'al future.
❌ תישלח לי את הקובץ.
Incorrect as a command to send—תישלח is a nif'al future spelling; pa'al is תשלח.
✅ תשלח לי את הקובץ ואני אבדוק אותו.
tishlákh li et hakóvets va'aní evdók otó.
Send me the file and I'll check it. (to a man)
Key Takeaways
- Final ח gives שולח sholéakh, שולחת sholákhat, future ישלח, and infinitive לשלוח.
- The thing sent is a direct object; a recipient is not. Recipients normally take ל־, with directional אל־ also available.
- Everyday digital Hebrew freely sends messages, files, links and email with שלח.
- Bare נשלח is pa'al “we will send” or nif'al “is sent.”
- שליחה is sending; שליח is a courier/emissary; משלוח is a delivery or shipment.
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Pa'al with ח or ע as Third Radical (שלח, שמע, פתח)B1 — Verbs ending in ח or ע grow a vowel nobody put there: שׁוֹמֵעַ is shoméa and לִפְתּוֹחַ is liftóakh. The furtive patach is written under the guttural and pronounced before it, and it is the single most audible thing about this class.
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- ל־: To, ForA1 — The letter that hands things over. ל־ marks the person who receives, the place you are heading, the person something is for — and, in יש לי, the person who owns. It is also the preposition English speakers forget, because English gives עזר, אמר and הפריע a bare object and Hebrew does not.
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