The future is a prefix conjugation: the person is marked at the front of the word by א, ת, י or נ, and the gender and number by what is added at the back. Hif'il's contribution is a patach on that prefix and a stem that holds on to its long i — and to the stress, which is where this tense stops behaving like the rest of the language.
The full future
| Subject | Pointed | Written | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִי | אַתְחִיל | אתחיל | atkhíl |
| אַתָּה | תַּתְחִיל | תתחיל | tatkhíl |
| אַתְּ | תַּתְחִילִי | תתחילי | tatkhíli |
| הוּא | יַתְחִיל | יתחיל | yatkhíl |
| הִיא | תַּתְחִיל | תתחיל | tatkhíl |
| אֲנַחְנוּ | נַתְחִיל | נתחיל | natkhíl |
| אַתֶּם · אַתֶּן | תַּתְחִילוּ | תתחילו | tatkhílu |
| הֵם · הֵן | יַתְחִילוּ | יתחילו | yatkhílu |
תתחיל does double duty — you (m.) and she — exactly as in every other binyan, and only the context separates them.
| Subject | ס־ב־ר explain | ר־ג־שׁ feel | נ־ג־ד tell |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֲנִי | אַסְבִּיר asbír | אַרְגִּישׁ argísh | אַגִּיד agíd |
| אַתָּה | תַּסְבִּיר tasbír | תַּרְגִּישׁ targísh | תַּגִּיד tagíd |
| אַתְּ | תַּסְבִּירִי tasbíri | תַּרְגִּישִׁי targíshi | תַּגִּידִי tagídi |
| הוּא | יַסְבִּיר yasbír | יַרְגִּישׁ yargísh | יַגִּיד yagíd |
| אֲנַחְנוּ | נַסְבִּיר nasbír | נַרְגִּישׁ nargísh | נַגִּיד nagíd |
| הֵם · הֵן | יַסְבִּירוּ yasbíru | יַרְגִּישׁוּ yargíshu | יַגִּידוּ yagídu |
אתחיל בלעדיך אם לא תגיע עד שמונה.
atkhíl bil'adékha im lo tagía ad shmóne
I'll start without you if you're not here by eight. (to a man)
תסבירי לו את זה שוב, הוא לא הבין כלום.
tasbíri lo et ze shuv, hu lo hevín klum
Explain it to him again — he didn't get a word of it. (to a woman)
הישיבה תתחיל באיחור של רבע שעה.
hayeshivá tatkhíl be'ikhúr shel réva sha'á
The meeting will start a quarter of an hour late.
The prefix vowel is the whole story
Each binyan points that prefix letter its own way, and the vowel is the fastest way to identify a future-tense verb — it works even without niqqud, once you know what to listen for:
| Binyan | he will … | Reading | Prefix vowel |
|---|---|---|---|
| pa'al | יִכְתּוֹב | yikhtóv | chirik — yi- |
| pi'el | יְדַבֵּר | yedabér | shva — ye- |
| hif'il | יַתְחִיל | yatkhíl | patach — ya- |
| hitpa'el | יִתְלַבֵּשׁ | yitlabésh | chirik + a whole תְ syllable |
Say them in a row — yikhtóv, yedabér, yatkhíl, yitlabésh — and the ya- stands out. It is the one prefix in the system with an a, and every hif'il future has it: אַסְבִּיר, תַּזְמִין, נַכְנִיס, יַחְלִיט.
The stress does not move, and everywhere else it does
Here is the fact this page exists to install. The general rule in Hebrew is that adding ־י or ־וּ pulls the stress onto the ending: תִּכְתְּבִי tikhteví, יִכְתְּבוּ yikhtevú, יְדַבְּרוּ yedabrú. Hif'il is the main exception. The long i of the stem keeps the beat and the ending never takes it:
| no ending | with ־י / ־וּ | |
|---|---|---|
| pa'al | תִּכְתּוֹב tikhtóv | תִּכְתְּבִי tikhteví · יִכְתְּבוּ yikhtevú — מלרע |
| pi'el | תְּדַבֵּר tedabér | תְּדַבְּרִי tedabrí · יְדַבְּרוּ yedabrú — מלרע |
| hif'il | תַּתְחִיל tatkhíl | תַּתְחִילִי tatkhíli · יַתְחִילוּ yatkhílu — מלעיל |
הילדים ירגישו את זה מייד, אל תשקרי להם.
hayeladím yargíshu et ze miyád, al teshakrí lahém
The kids will pick up on it straight away — don't lie to them. (to a woman)
תתחיל, with two tavs
The 2ms and 3fs cell is spelled תתחיל — one ת for the person prefix, one for the first root letter — and it alarms people on first sight. It is entirely regular: the same doubling shows up in תתאים and תתמיד, and in any hif'il whose root begins with ת.
It also produces a shape hif'il has to share. תתחיל (hif'il, tatkhíl) and תתלבש (hitpa'el, titlabésh) are built to the same unpointed pattern — ת, ת, three more letters — and nothing on the page tells you which prefix vowel is under that first ת: the entire difference sits in a single unstressed ta- against ti-. That is a listening problem rather than a spelling one, and the reliable fix is the one from the present tense — matkhíl is hif'il, mitlabésh is hitpa'el.
Hollow roots: a kamatz instead
The patach generalisation has one class of exceptions, and it contains some of the most-used verbs in the language. ע״ו and ע״י roots take a kamatz on the prefix, and their middle radical is swallowed by the long i — nothing in יָבִין shows you the yod of ב־י־ן or the vav of כ־ו־ן:
| Root | I | you (m.) | he | they |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ב־י־ן understand | אָבִין avín | תָּבִין tavín | יָבִין yavín | יָבִינוּ yavínu |
| כ־ו־ן prepare | אָכִין akhín | תָּכִין takhín | יָכִין yakhín | יָכִינוּ yakhínu |
| ב־ו־א bring | אָבִיא aví | תָּבִיא taví | יָבִיא yaví | יָבִיאוּ yaví'u |
| ק־ו־ם set up | אָקִים akím | תָּקִים takím | יָקִים yakím | יָקִימוּ yakímu |
Since Israeli Hebrew pronounces patach and kamatz identically, this difference is inaudible — tatkhíl and tavín have the same first vowel in anyone's mouth. It shows up when you point a text, and it matters for reading pointed material aloud.
תכין משהו קטן, לא צריך ארוחה שלמה.
takhín máshehu katán, lo tsaríkh arukhá shlemá
Just make something small — there's no need for a whole meal. (to a man)
מתי תביא לי את המפתחות?
matáy taví li et hamaftekhót?
When are you going to bring me the keys? (to a man)
The feminine plural
The classical paradigm has a separate feminine plural, תַּתְחֵלְנָה tatkhélna, serving both אתן and הן — note the tsere, not the stem's usual i. Pealim prints the cell and marks it as one where the masculine form is generally used instead, and the Academy holds both options to be correct. So תתחילו and יתחילו are correct Hebrew for a group of women, not a tolerated slip; the ־נָה forms are simply rare in speech and belong to legal drafting, liturgy and poetry (literary). The wider retreat is on where the נָה forms went.
The future is the everyday imperative
For most verbs, most of the time, an Israeli giving an instruction uses the second-person future, not the true imperative. תתחיל, תסבירי, תגידו are commands, and they are not rude or sloppy — this is עתיד בתפקיד ציווי, a recognised construction.
תתחילו בלעדיי, אני נתקע בפקק.
tatkhílu bil'adái, aní nitká bapkák
Start without me — I'm stuck in traffic. (to a group)
Negation works the same way and has no alternative: אַל plus the second-person future. There is no negative imperative in Hebrew at all.
אל תתחיל איתי עכשיו, אני לא במצב.
al tatkhíl ití akhsháv, aní lo bematsáv
Don't start with me right now — I'm not in the mood. (to a man)
Common Mistakes
1. Moving the stress onto ־י or ־וּ. The general rule really does say to, and hif'il really is the exception.
❌ תסבירי
tasbirí
Incorrect — tasbíri, with the beat on the stem. Same for tatkhíli, yatkhílu, targíshi, tagídu. Only the hollow verbs behave this way too.
✅ תסבירי לי לאט, אני לא מבין את הטופס הזה.
tasbíri li le'át, aní lo mevín et hatófes hazé
Explain it to me slowly — I don't understand this form. (m. speaker, to a woman)
2. Writing the י prefix double. Some pa'al futures do take a double yod in ktiv male; no hif'il future does.
❌ ייתחיל
Incorrect as a spelling — יתחיל, one yod. The two yods of pa'al's ייפול and nif'al's ייכנס are a prefix yod plus a second one spelling the chirik in front of a doubled letter; the hif'il prefix has a patach, so there is no vowel there to spell.
✅ השיעור יתחיל בעוד חמש דקות, תיכנסו.
hashi'úr yatkhíl be'ód khamésh dakót, tikansú
The lesson starts in five minutes — come in. (to a group)
3. Addressing a woman with the bare form. The ־י is not optional, and תתחיל already means something else.
❌ את תתחיל בשעה שמונה
Incorrect — with את the verb needs the ־י ending: את תתחילי. Bare תתחיל is 'you (m.) will start' or 'she will start'.
✅ את תתחילי בשעה שמונה, ואני אחליף אותך באחת.
at tatkhíli besha'á shmóne, va'aní akhlíf otákh be'akhát
You'll start at eight and I'll take over from you at one. (to a woman)
4. Putting a finite future after a modal. After רוצה, צריך, יכול and אפשר, Hebrew takes the infinitive — never a conjugated verb.
❌ אני רוצה אתחיל מוקדם יותר
Incorrect — a modal is followed by the infinitive: אני רוצה להתחיל. אתחיל is already a full sentence, 'I will start', which leaves two finite verbs with nothing joining them.
✅ אני רוצה להתחיל מוקדם יותר, אז נסגור על שבע.
aní rotsé lehatkhíl mukdám yotér, az nisgór al shéva
I'd like to start earlier, so let's say seven.
Key Takeaways
- The hif'il future is patach + stem with a long i: אַתְחִיל · תַּתְחִיל · תַּתְחִילִי · יַתְחִיל · נַתְחִיל · תַּתְחִילוּ · יַתְחִילוּ.
- The prefix vowel identifies the binyan: yi- pa'al, ye- pi'el, ya- hif'il, yit- hitpa'el.
- The stress stays on the stem before ־י and ־וּ — tatkhíli, yatkhílu, tagídi, tasbíru — against the general rule, which hif'il and the hollow verbs are the only classes to break.
- Hollow roots take a kamatz: יָבִין, יָכִין, יָבִיא, יָקִים. Inaudible in Israeli Hebrew, but it is what a pointed text will show you.
- תתחיל has two tavs (prefix + first radical) and shares its written shape with hitpa'el's תתלבש; only the unstressed prefix vowel separates tatkhíl from titlabésh.
- תַּתְחֵלְנָה is correct and rare. תתחילו and יתחילו serve groups of women in ordinary Hebrew; both options are normative.
- The future is the everyday command form (תתחילו, תסבירי) and the only way to negate one: אל + future.
- אני יתחיל / אני יגיד is genuine colloquial Israeli, not an error to correct — but produce אתחיל yourself.
Now practice Hebrew
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Hif'il Past: התחלתי, הסברת, הרגישA2 — Nine cells, the same personal endings as every other binyan, and one thing of its own: the stem vowel swings between a long i and a patach on a rule you can see at a glance — third person keeps the i, everyone else shortens it. This is also one of only three places where the hif'il ה is visible at all.
- Hif'il Infinitive (להתחיל) and ImperativeA2 — The infinitive is where the ה comes back — לְהַתְחִיל, not the form a learner would predict from מַתְחִיל. The imperative is הַתְחֵל with a tsere, and honestly it is a reading skill rather than a speaking one: Israelis command with the future.
- Israelis Regularise: Spoken Forms That Break the RulesC1 — The gap between the paradigms in a Hebrew grammar and the forms Israelis actually produce is wide, systematic, and always running the same direction — toward fewer distinct forms. Here is each change, with the prescriptive form, the spoken form, and an honest verdict on where each one still lives.
- Stress Shifts Inside a Verb ParadigmB1 — Hebrew stress is final almost everywhere, and the verb paradigm is the main place it moves: katáv but katávti, kotév but kotévet, and the hollow verbs where the beat alone separates bá'a 'she came' from ba'á 'she comes'.
- When to Add ו and י: The Academy's RulesB1 — The whole of Hebrew's plene spelling comes down to one line: only i, o and u get a letter, and a and e get nothing. Here is that rule in operating form — where the ו goes, where the י goes, and the exceptions you will actually meet in print.