יכול — can, to be able | Hebrew Grammar

יכול yakhól, “can / be able,” is pa'al, root י־כ־ל, but it is defective: it has a fully usable present, past and future, while the ordinary modern language has no imperative, no productive infinitive and no action noun. Those gaps do not make the verb marginal—its surviving forms are among the most frequent in Hebrew—but they do mean that no single dictionary headword can stand for a complete everyday paradigm. The selection contrast is worked through on אפשר or יכול?.

The usable system at a glance

Part	Core forms	What is unusual
present	יָכוֹל · יְכוֹלָה · יְכוֹלִים · יְכוֹלוֹת	inflects like an adjective; takes an infinitive complement
past	יָכוֹלְתִּי · יָכוֹלְתָּ · יָכְלָה · יָכוֹלְנוּ · יָכְלוּ	rare פָּעֹל pattern; 3ms merges with the present
future	אוּכַל · תּוּכַל · יוּכַל · נוּכַל	u-stem visually remote from יכול
imperative	—	no usable form
infinitive	— in ordinary Modern Hebrew	rare dictionary forms exist; speakers rephrase
action noun	—	יְכוֹלֶת is the related noun “ability,” not a regular action noun

אני לא יכול להמשיך ככה בלי הפסקה.

aní lo yakhól lehamshíkh kákha bli hafsaká

I can't carry on like this without a break. (m. speaker)

היא יכולה לדבר חמש שפות ולקרוא בשלוש מהן.

hi yekholá ledabér khamésh safót velikró bishalósh mehén

She can speak five languages and read three of them.

Present: agreement plus an infinitive

The present behaves morphologically like an adjective: compare גדול / גדולה / גדולים / גדולות with יכול / יכולה / יכולים / יכולות. It agrees with the subject in gender and number, then takes an infinitive naming the action that is possible.

Agreement	Form	Model phrase
masculine singular	יָכוֹל yakhól	אני יכול לבוא
feminine singular	יְכוֹלָה yekholá	אני יכולה לבוא
masculine / mixed plural	יְכוֹלִים yekholím	אנחנו יכולים לבוא
feminine plural	יְכוֹלוֹת yekholót	אנחנו יכולות לבוא

English can is invariant, so the agreement is easy to overlook. Hebrew marks the subject twice when it is overt—once in the pronoun and again on יכול—and only the infinitive remains uninflected.

אתן יכולות לחכות כאן עד שהרופא יתפנה.

atén yekholót lekhakót kan ad sheharofé yitpané

You can wait here until the doctor is free. (to a group of women)

יכול להיות שהוא צודק לגבי המחיר.

yakhól lihyót shehú tsodék legabéi hamekhír

He may be right about the price. (literally 'it can be that')

The fixed impersonal frame יכול להיות ש־ means “it may be that / possibly.” Its masculine singular shape is fixed because there is no referential subject for it to agree with.

Past: familiar spellings, one complete collision

Person	Past
אני	יָכוֹלְתִּי yakhólti
אתה	יָכוֹלְתָּ yakhólta
את	יָכוֹלְתְּ yakhólt
הוא	יָכוֹל yakhól
היא	יָכְלָה yakhlá
אנחנו	יָכוֹלְנוּ yakhólnu
אתם / אתן	יָכוֹלְתֶּם / יָכוֹלְתֶּן yakhóltem / yakhólten
הם / הן	יָכְלוּ yakhlú

Ktiv male preserves the ו in יכולתי, יכולת, יכולנו, יכולתם, but not in יכלה, יכלו, where the stem has no o-vowel. The exceptional cell is 3ms past יכול: it is written and pronounced exactly like masculine-singular present יכול, both yakhól.

הוא יכול להגיע רק בערב.

hu yakhól lehagía rak ba'érev

He can arrive only in the evening / He could arrive only in the evening. (tense comes from context)

When past time must be explicit, ordinary speech strongly prefers היה יכול; יכול היה is common in (formal written) Hebrew. Both avoid asking the reader to recover the tense from context alone.

הוא היה יכול להתקשר, אבל הוא לא התקשר.

hu hayá yakhól lehitkashér, avál hu lo hitkashér

He could have called, but he did not call.

לא יכולתי להגיע אתמול כי הרכבת בוטלה.

lo yakhólti lehagía etmól ki harakévet butlá

I couldn't make it yesterday because the train was cancelled.

💡

Bare יכולת has three common readings too: יָכוֹלְתָּyakhólta “you could” to a man, יָכוֹלְתְּyakhólt to a woman, and the noun יְכוֹלֶתyekhólet “ability.” Syntax and an overt pronoun usually settle it immediately.

Future: memorize יכול / אוכל as a pair

Person	Future
אני	אוּכַל ukhál
אתה	תּוּכַל tukhál
את	תּוּכְלִי tukhlí
הוא	יוּכַל yukhál
היא	תּוּכַל tukhál
אנחנו	נוּכַל nukhál
אתם / אתן	תּוּכְלוּ tukhlú
הם / הן	יוּכְלוּ yukhlú

The future is a u-stem whose connection to יכול is no longer visually transparent. The practical pair is therefore יכול / אוכל, not a rule applied to י־כ־ל. Modern plural future forms serve all genders; תוכלנה is (literary).

תוכל לעזור לי רגע עם המזוודה?

tukhál la'azór li réga im hamizvadá?

Could you help me with the suitcase for a moment? (to a man)

נוכל לדבר אחרי שתסיים את הפגישה?

nukhál ledabér akharéi shetesayém et hapgishá?

Will we be able to talk after you finish the meeting? (to a man)

אוכל: four everyday words

Unpointed אוכל is one of Hebrew's densest collisions:

Pointed ktiv male	Reading	Meaning
אוֹכֶל	ókhel	food
אוֹכֵל	okhél	eats / is eating (m.sg.)
אוֹכַל	okhál	I will eat
אוּכַל	ukhál	I will be able

An infinitive directly after אוכל strongly favours ukhál: אוכל לעזור “I will be able to help.” A direct object or food context favours a form of אכל, while an adjective after the noun favours “food.”

אוכל לעזור לך אחרי שאוכל משהו.

ukhál la'azór lekhá akharéi she'okhál máshehu

I'll be able to help you after I eat something. (to a man; two readings of אוכל)

האוכל פה מצוין, אבל אני לא אוכל הרבה בערב.

ha'ókhel po metsuyán, avál aní lo okhél harbé ba'érev

The food here is excellent, but I don't eat much in the evening. (m. speaker; two more readings)

The missing infinitive and imperative

Pealim lists the artificial dictionary headword לוּכַל (bare לוכל) and also לִיכֹל (bare ליכול). Neither is an ordinary productive Modern Hebrew infinitive. Speakers fill the slot with להיות מסוגל “to be capable,” or rebuild the sentence around a finite form such as שאוכל “that I can / will be able.”

אני רוצה להיות מסוגלת לנהל את זה לבד.

aní rotsá lihyót mesugélet lenahél et ze levád

I want to be able to manage this on my own. (f. speaker)

אני מקווה שאוכל לסיים עד יום חמישי.

aní mekavé she'ukhál lesayém ad yom khamishí

I hope I'll be able to finish by Thursday.

There is no imperative. That is a genuine paradigm gap, not a register choice. Hebrew instead commands the action itself, or uses a different predicate: תנסה לפתוח “try to open,” תהיה מסוגל “be capable” in the rare contexts where such wording makes sense. The related noun יכולת means “ability / capability,” but it does not function as the action noun of an event of “being able.”

Ability, possibility and permission

Three neighbouring words answer different questions:

Form	Core job	Grammar
יכול	a person's ability or circumstantial possibility	agrees with that person + infinitive
אפשר	impersonal possibility: “is it possible?”	invariant + infinitive
מותר	permission under a rule: “is it allowed?”	impersonal in this use + infinitive

At a till, אפשר לשלם באשראי? asks whether card payment is possible there. אתה יכול לשלם באשראי? asks a particular man whether he can pay by card. מותר לשלם באשראי? is possible only where payment method is being treated as a matter of permission, which is not normally the practical question.

אפשר לשלם באשראי או שצריך מזומן?

efshár leshalém be'ashráy o shetsaríkh mezumán?

Can we pay by card, or do we need cash? (impersonal possibility)

אתה יכול לשלם עכשיו ואני אחזיר לך אחר כך?

atá yakhól leshalém akhsháv va'aní akhzír lekhá akhár kakh?

Can you pay now and I'll pay you back later? (to a man; personal ability)

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Use the subject test. If a named person possesses the ability, inflect יכול. If the question is whether the situation permits the action at all, use אפשר. If a rule grants or denies permission, use מותר / אסור.

Key Takeaways

“Defective” here means that present, past and future are usable, but imperative, everyday infinitive and action noun are absent.
Present יכול / יכולה / יכולים / יכולות agrees like an adjective and takes an infinitive.
Past 3ms יכול is identical in spelling and pronunciation to present 3ms; היה יכול makes past time explicit.
Memorise the future pair יכול / אוכל: אוכל, תוכל, יוכל, נוכל, תוכלו, יוכלו.
Bare אוכל is food, eating, “I will eat,” or “I will be able”; syntax identifies the reading.
Rephrase the missing infinitive with להיות מסוגל or a finite ש־ clause, and choose אפשר or מותר when the question is impersonal possibility or permission.

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