תורגם — to be translated | Hebrew Grammar

תורגם turgám, “was translated,” is the first of two pu'al cards in this reference. Its root is quadriliteral ת־ר־ג־ם, and its active partner is pi'el תרגם tirgém. This card is deliberately different from an ordinary verb card: pu'al has present, past, and future forms, but it has no infinitive and no imperative. Those missing cells are part of the grammar, not omissions.

The complete pu'al paradigm

Person	Past	Future
אני	תּוּרְגַּמְתִּי turgámti	אֲתוּרְגַּם aturgám
אתה	תּוּרְגַּמְתָּ turgámta	תְּתוּרְגַּם teturgám
את	תּוּרְגַּמְתְּ turgámt	תְּתוּרְגְּמִי teturgemí
הוא	תּוּרְגַּם turgám	יְתוּרְגַּם yeturgám
היא	תּוּרְגְּמָה turgemá	תְּתוּרְגַּם teturgám
אנחנו	תּוּרְגַּמְנוּ turgámnu	נְתוּרְגַּם neturgám
אתם / אתן	תּוּרְגַּמְתֶּם / תּוּרְגַּמְתֶּן turgámtem / turgámten	תְּתוּרְגְּמוּ teturgemú
הם / הן	תּוּרְגְּמוּ turgemú	יְתוּרְגְּמוּ yeturgemú

Form type	Forms	Status
present / participle	מְתוּרְגָּם meturgám · מְתוּרְגֶּמֶת meturgémet · מְתוּרְגָּמִים meturgamím · מְתוּרְגָּמוֹת meturgamót	live passive; also adjective-like
infinitive	— does not exist —
imperative	— does not exist —
active infinitive	לְתַרְגֵּם letargém	pi'el, “to translate”
action noun	תִּרְגּוּם tirgúm	translation

The personal passive forms תורגמתי, תורגמת, תורגמנו are grammatical, but their meanings arise only when a person or that person's words are construed as the translated material. They are correspondingly rare in ordinary conversation. Careful תורגמתם / תורגמתן can carry final stress, turgamtém / turgamtén; conversation commonly retracts it, as in the table. The specifically feminine plural future תתורגמנה is (formal or literary); contemporary Hebrew uses תתורגמו.

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Pu'al has no infinitive and no imperative—none, not merely rare ones. For “to be translated,” use a construction such as להיות מתורגם, or recast with active לתרגם. To tell someone to translate, use pi'el: תרגם / תרגמי / תרגמו.

One vav changes active to passive

In unpointed writing, מתרגם metargém is the active pi'el participle: “translates,” or as a noun, “translator.” מתורגם meturgám is the pu'al participle: “translated.” The passive's vav writes its u vowel and makes the contrast visible without niqqud.

Written form	Reading	Role
מתרגם	metargém	translates; translator
מתורגם	meturgám	translated
תרגם	tirgém	translated something
תורגם	turgám	was translated

המתרגמת תרגמה את הריאיון, והעורך בדק את הטקסט המתורגם.

hametargémet tirgemá et hare'ayón, veha'orékh badák et hatékst hameturgám.

The translator translated the interview, and the editor checked the translated text.

The ordinary noun is written תרגום, without a yod: תרגום חופשי, תרגום סימולטני, זכויות תרגום. Fully pointed it is תִּרְגּוּם. Some digital dictionaries display an over-yodded headword, but standard contemporary ktiv male and corpus practice use תרגום.

Source language and target language

The language translated from takes מ־; the language translated into takes ל־. Either endpoint may be omitted when it is known. This frame remains the same in active and passive clauses.

הסיפור תורגם מערבית לעברית בשביל המהדורה החדשה.

hasipúr turgám me'aravít le'ivrít bishvíl hamahadurá hakhadashá.

The story was translated from Arabic into Hebrew for the new edition. (written/formal passive)

תרגמו את הסיפור מערבית לעברית בשביל המהדורה החדשה.

tirgemú et hasipúr me'aravít le'ivrít bishvíl hamahadurá hakhadashá.

They translated the story from Arabic into Hebrew for the new edition. (conversational impersonal plural)

השיר תורגם משוודית, אבל שמר על הקצב המקורי.

hashír turgám mishvedít, avál shamár al hakétsev hamekorí.

The song was translated from Swedish but kept its original rhythm. (written passive)

תרגמו את השיר משוודית ושמרו על הקצב המקורי.

tirgemú et hashír mishvedít veshamrú al hakétsev hamekorí.

They translated the song from Swedish and kept its original rhythm. (conversational active)

English can use in for the target language—“available in Hebrew.” Hebrew distinguishes state בעברית from the endpoint of translation לעברית: הספר קיים בעברית versus הספר תורגם לעברית.

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Remember the motion metaphor: a translation comes מאנגלית “from English” and goes לעברית “into Hebrew.” The prepositions identify the two endpoints even when no translator is named.

Finite passive and the spoken alternative

Finite pu'al is well established in news, reports, bibliographies, and institutional writing. Conversation frequently puts an unspecified human agent into third-person plural instead: תרגמו את הספר. This is a register tendency, not a ban. A speaker can use תורגם, especially when the translated product is the topic; the active alternative simply sounds less documentary in many everyday contexts.

המסמך יתורגם עד מחר ויישלח לכל המשתתפים.

hamismákh yeturgám ad makhár veyishalákh lekhól hamishtatfím.

The document will be translated by tomorrow and sent to all participants. (formal/institutional)

יתרגמו את המסמך עד מחר וישלחו אותו לכולם.

yetargemú et hamismákh ad makhár veyishlekhú otó lekhulám.

They'll translate the document by tomorrow and send it to everyone. (conversational)

הרומן תורגם לשלושים שפות וזכה בפרסים רבים.

haromán turgám lishloshím safót vezakhá bifrasím rabím.

The novel was translated into thirty languages and won many awards. (literary publicity)

תרגמו את הרומן לשלושים שפות והוא זכה בפרסים רבים.

tirgemú et haromán lishloshím safót vehu zakhá bifrasím rabím.

They translated the novel into thirty languages, and it won many awards. (conversational active)

The participle has a practical life of its own. ספר מתורגם, גרסה מתורגמת, סרט מתורגם behave like adjective–noun combinations and agree in gender and number. Degree is different: מתורגם היטב means “well translated,” but מתורגם מאוד is not a neutral way to mean “very translated.”

האתר מתורגם היטב, אבל אין עדיין תרגום לעברית.

ha'atár meturgám heitév, avál ein adáyin tirgúm le'ivrít.

The website is well translated, but there is still no Hebrew translation.

תרגמו את האתר היטב, אבל עוד לא תרגמו אותו לעברית.

tirgemú et ha'atár heitév, avál od lo tirgemú otó le'ivrít.

They translated the website well, but they still haven't translated it into Hebrew. (conversational active)

Translator, interpreter, and translation types

מתרגם / מתרגמת is the general modern noun for a translator and can also denote an interpreter when context makes oral translation clear. מתורגמן / מתורגמנית more specifically denotes an interpreter, especially in professional or official settings. תרגום סימולטני is simultaneous interpreting; תרגום חופשי is a free translation rather than a word-for-word rendering.

בדיון יהיה תרגום סימולטני, וכל משתתף יקבל אוזניות.

badiyún yihyé tirgúm simultáni, vekhól mishtatéf yekabél ozniyót.

There will be simultaneous interpreting at the discussion, and every participant will receive headphones.

Key Takeaways

תורגם is the quadriliteral pu'al passive of active תרגם.
Pu'al has present, past, and future, but no infinitive and no imperative.
One vav separates active מתרגם from passive מתורגם in unpointed writing.
Use מ־ for the source language and ל־ for the target: תורגם מאנגלית לעברית.
Finite pu'al is at home in written and institutional registers; impersonal active plural is often more conversational.
The standard noun spelling is תרגום; מתורגמן commonly means interpreter.

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