תיקן tikén, “fix, repair, correct,” is a pi'el verb, root ת־ק־ן. Most of its paradigm is regular, but two written collisions deserve attention: תיקנו represents two different past forms, and second-person future תתקן begins with two tavs. Both follow directly from the root, but unpointed writing hides the sound contrast in the first case. The pi'el future guide supplies the general prefix system behind תתקן.
Complete paradigm
| Person | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אני | תִּיקַּנְתִּי tikánti | אֲתַקֵּן atakén |
| אתה | תִּיקַּנְתָּ tikánta | תְּתַקֵּן tetakén |
| את | תִּיקַּנְתְּ tikánt | תְּתַקְּנִי tetakní |
| הוא | תִּיקֵּן tikén | יְתַקֵּן yetakén |
| היא | תִּיקְּנָה tikná | תְּתַקֵּן tetakén |
| אנחנו | תִּיקַּנּוּ tikánnu | נְתַקֵּן netakén |
| אתם / אתן | תִּיקַּנְתֶּם / תִּיקַּנְתֶּן tikántem / tikánten | תְּתַקְּנוּ tetaknú |
| הם / הן | תִּיקְּנוּ tiknú | יְתַקְּנוּ yetaknú |
| Form type | Forms | Use |
|---|---|---|
| present | מְתַקֵּן metakén · מְתַקֶּנֶת metakénet · מְתַקְּנִים metakním · מְתַקְּנוֹת metaknót | repairing or correcting |
| imperative | תַּקֵּן takén · תַּקְּנִי takní · תַּקְּנוּ taknú | direct; future commands are also common |
| infinitive | לְתַקֵּן letakén | neutral and frequent |
| action noun | תִּיקּוּן tikún | repair, correction, amendment |
| pu'al | תּוּקַּן tukán · מְתוּקָּן metukán | was fixed; corrected |
The specifically feminine plural future תתקנה is (formal or literary); contemporary Hebrew uses תתקנו. Careful תיקנתם / תיקנתן may carry final stress, tikantém / tikantén; everyday speech commonly retracts it, as in the table.
המחשב התקלקל וצריך לתקן אותו עוד היום.
hamakhshév hitkalkél vetsaríkh letakén otó od hayóm.
The computer broke down and needs to be fixed today.
אפשר לתקן את זה, או שצריך לקנות חדש?
efshár letakén et ze, o shetsaríkh liknót khadásh?
Can this be fixed, or do we need to buy a new one?
תיקנו: one spelling, two past forms
Final נ assimilates to the first-person plural suffix ־נו. The result has a doubled nun: תִּיקַּנּוּ tikánnu, “we fixed.” Third-person plural is תִּיקְּנוּ tiknú, “they fixed.” Ordinary spelling writes both as תיקנו.
| Written | Pointed | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| תיקנו | תִּיקַּנּוּ | tikánnu | we fixed |
| תיקנו | תִּיקְּנוּ | tiknú | they fixed |
תיקנו את המדיח בעצמנו וחסכנו ביקור של טכנאי.
tikánnu et hamadíakh be'atsménu vekhasákhnu bikúr shel tekhnái.
We fixed the dishwasher ourselves and saved a technician's visit.
הם תיקנו לנו את הדוד, אבל המים עדיין לא חמים.
hem tiknú lánu et hadud, avál hamáyim adáyin lo khamím.
They repaired our water heater, but the water still isn't hot.
The same assimilation appears in other pi'el verbs ending in נ, but it does not change the root or create an irregular tense. It simply makes two adjacent n-sounds merge. In unpointed Hebrew, a subject pronoun often resolves the reading immediately.
תתקן: the prefix and the root both stay
Second-person masculine singular future adds prefix ת־ to a root that already begins with ת. Nothing is deleted: prefix t- plus root-initial t- produces pointed תְּתַקֵּן, written תתקן. The same two tavs appear in feminine singular תתקני and plural תתקנו. By contrast, first person begins אתקן, and third-person masculine begins יתקן.
תתקן אותי אם אני טועה בשם של הרחוב.
tetakén otí im aní to'é bashém shel harekhóv.
Correct me if I get the street name wrong. (to a man; m. speaker)
מתי תתקנו את התקלה באתר?
matái tetaknú et hatakalá ba'atár?
When will you fix the problem on the website? (to a group)
Repairing things and correcting content
The physical sense takes an object that is broken or malfunctioning: a car, boiler, phone, leak, or chair. The abstract sense takes an error, wording, behavior, or person being corrected. Both are transitive. An indefinite object is bare; a definite object takes את.
המוסך תיקן את המכונית תוך יומיים.
hamusákh tikén et hamekhonít tokh yomáyim.
The garage repaired the car within two days.
תיקנתי טעות קטנה בחשבונית ושלחתי אותה מחדש.
tikánti ta'út ktaná bakheshbonít veshalákhti otá mekhadásh.
I corrected a small error in the invoice and sent it again.
המורה תיקנה אותי בלי להביך אותי מול הכיתה.
hamorá tikná otí blí lehavíkh otí mul hakitá.
The teacher corrected me without embarrassing me in front of the class.
English separates repair a machine from correct an error. Hebrew uses one verb because both events restore something to an acceptable state. The object tells you whether the repair is material or informational. For “edit” as a sustained professional activity, ערך may be more specific; תיקן highlights the correction itself.
The passive is common when the result matters more than the fixer: הטעות תוקנה, “the error was corrected”; שום דבר לא תוקן, “nothing was fixed.” In conversation, an impersonal active is also natural: תיקנו את הטעות “they corrected the error.”
שום דבר לא תוקן מאז הביקור האחרון.
shum davár lo tukán me'áz habikúr ha'akharón.
Nothing has been fixed since the last visit.
A root family with several different jobs
תקין takín means functional, valid, or in proper order: המכשיר תקין. Noun מִתְקָן mitkán means a device, apparatus, or installation. It is written מתקן, exactly like verbal מְתַקֵּן metakén “repairs”; syntax and pronunciation separate them. תקנה takaná is a regulation, not a repair.
המתקן תקין, אבל הכבל שלו צריך תיקון קטן.
hamitkán takín, avál hakével sheló tsaríkh tikún katán.
The device is working properly, but its cable needs a small repair.
תיקון עולם is an established ethical and religious expression, often rendered “repairing the world.” Its cultural history is broader than the ordinary workshop sense of לתקן, so learn the phrase as a fixed combination rather than treating every use of תיקון as mechanical repair.
Key Takeaways
- תיקנו is tikánnu “we fixed” or tiknú “they fixed”; unpointed spelling does not distinguish them.
- Second-person future keeps both tavs: תתקן, תתקני, תתקנו.
- תיקן takes direct objects and covers both physical repair and correction of errors or people.
- תוקן is the pu'al passive; impersonal active תיקנו את… is often more conversational.
- Keep the related words distinct: תקין functional, מתקן device/installation, תקנה regulation, תיקון repair or correction.
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
- Pi'el Future: אדבר, תדברי, ידברA2 — The pi'el future is the tidiest paradigm in the verb system: a person prefix with almost no vowel, bolted straight onto the stem. Nothing is inserted, nothing is spelled with a mater, and the yod that filled every cell of the past has gone.
- Verbs Taking a Direct Object with אתA2 — Identify a Hebrew verb's direct object, add את only when that object is definite, and use fused object-pronoun forms such as אותי and אותו.
- Instrument Patterns: מַקְטֵל (מזלג, מחשב, מצפן)B2 — Patach, shva, tsere — the pattern that names tools and devices, from מַזְלֵג to מַחְשֵׁב. It carries most of Hebrew's modern hardware vocabulary, it is still live, and the word מקרר is the cautionary tale that proves it is not automatic.
- עשה — to do, to makeA1 — A complete reference for עשה, the model ל״ה verb for doing and making, with its hidden yod, gender homographs, action noun, and core collocations.
- טיפל — to take care of, to treatB1 — Conjugate טיפל and use its required ב־ frame for people, patients, problems, and administrative matters.