The neutral personal equivalent of English don't is אל plus a second-person future: אל תלך, אל תדאגי, אל תשכחו. The positive dedicated imperative contributes no negative form—לך does not become a negative by adding a particle to it. A second construction, לא + future, gives categorical or solemn prohibition as well as ordinary future negation. Both constructions use future morphology, but they do different social work.
אל plus the second-person future
| Addressee | Don't go | Don't worry | Don't forget |
|---|---|---|---|
| one man | אַל תֵּלֵךְ al telékh | אַל תִּדְאַג al tid'ág | אַל תִּשְׁכַּח al tishkákh |
| one woman | אַל תֵּלְכִי al telkhí | אַל תִּדְאֲגִי al tid'agí | אַל תִּשְׁכְּחִי al tishkekhí |
| a group | אַל תֵּלְכוּ al telkhú | אַל תִּדְאֲגוּ al tid'agú | אַל תִּשְׁכְּחוּ al tishkekhú |
אל never changes; the future verb carries gender and number. Modern plural forms address groups of every gender. The particle is a separate word in ordinary spelling—אל תלך, with a space and no maqaf.
אל תדאגי, שמרנו לך מקום לידנו.
al tid'agí, shamárnu lakh makóm leyadénu.
Don't worry; we saved you a seat next to us. (reassurance, to a woman)
אל תשכחו להביא מים וכובעים.
al tishkekhú lehaví máyim vekhova'ím.
Don't forget to bring water and hats. (to a group)
אל תיקח את ההערה הזאת ללב.
al tikákh et hahe'ará hazót lalév.
Don't take that comment to heart. (to a man)
The last two frequent formulas should be learned whole: אל תשכח ל־ “don't forget to…” and אל תיקח ללב “don't take it to heart.” Ktiv male keeps the yod in תיקח.
Why the classical-versus-future choice disappears
A positive instruction can choose between שב and תשב, or כתוב and תכתוב, according to verb and register. There is no corresponding short negative imperative. Neutral negative directives therefore use אל תשב, אל תכתוב in conversation, formal prose and direct personal warnings alike.
כתוב את התאריך בראש הטופס.
ktov et hata'aríkh berósh hatófes.
Write the date at the top of the form. (formal positive, to a man)
אל תכתוב בשוליים של הטופס.
al tikhtóv bashuláyim shel hatófes.
Don't write in the margins of the form. (formal negative, to a man)
The future morphology is not a modern workaround. The Academy explicitly notes that negated commands are built on future forms and cites both Biblical לא תרצח and אל תשלח. What varies is the negator and the force, not the conjugational set.
אל versus לא: neutral request and categorical prohibition
אל + future is the ordinary way to ask, advise or warn someone not to do something. לא + future has two readings. In an ordinary statement it simply negates the future: “will not.” As a directive, it is categorical—commandment, rule, contract, or a speaker closing off negotiation.
| Pattern | Typical force | Typical setting |
|---|---|---|
| אל + future | don't; personal request, advice or warning | ordinary interaction and direct instruction |
| לא + future statement | will not | prediction or report |
| לא + future prohibitive | shall not; absolutely will not | scripture, law, rules, contracts, emphatic authority |
אל תלך לשם לבד, הרחוב חשוך בלילה.
al telékh leshám levád, harekhóv khashúkh baláyla.
Don't go there alone; the street is dark at night. (ordinary warning, to a man)
אמרת שמחר לא תלך לעבודה.
amárta shemakhár lo telékh la'avodá.
You said that tomorrow you won't go to work. (future statement, to a man)
אתה לא תלך לשם לבד, זה מסוכן מדי.
atá lo telékh leshám levád, ze mesukán midái.
You are not going there alone; it's too dangerous. (categorical/emphatic, to a man)
This last modern use matters: categorical לא is not confined to ancient scripture or legal boilerplate. A parent, teacher or commander can use it to present a decision as settled. It is not the neutral translation of conversational don't, but it is real modern Hebrew and must not be marked ungrammatical.
The solemn prohibitive
The Decalogue supplies the famous model:
לא תרצח.
lo tirtsákh.
You shall not murder. (Biblical/solemn; Exodus 20:13)
The form תרצח is future/prefix conjugation, just like תלך after אל. Modern legal and contractual prose often embeds the same categorical logic in a named subject: המשתמש לא יעביר, “the user shall not transfer.” That can look like a prediction in isolation; the document genre supplies deontic force.
העובד לא יעביר מידע סודי לצד שלישי.
ha'ovéd lo ya'avír meidá sodí letsád shlishí.
The employee shall not transfer confidential information to a third party. (formal/legal)
Bare אל: an immediate “don't!”
When the threatened action is obvious and urgent, אל! can stand alone. It is especially natural while stopping a child or interrupting an immediate reach. The full clause normally follows when there is time to name the action.
אל! הסיר עדיין חם.
al! hasír adáyin kham.
Don't! The pot is still hot. (urgent, informal)
אל תיגע בסיר, הוא יצא עכשיו מהתנור.
al tigá basír, hu yatsá akhsháv mehatanúr.
Don't touch the pot; it just came out of the oven. (to a man)
Public impersonal prohibitions such as נא לא לעשן and אין להיכנס belong to infinitive commands; this page concerns commands aimed at a person.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the short imperative after אל. אל selects a future form.
❌ אל לך עכשיו
Incorrect — לך is the positive imperative. After אל use אל תלך.
✅ אל תלך עכשיו, תחכה עד שהגשם ייחלש.
al telékh akhsháv, tekhaké ad shehagéshem yekhalésh.
Don't leave now; wait until the rain eases. (to a man)
2. Freezing the verb in the masculine. אל does not mark the addressee; the verb must.
❌ אל תדאג, את לא לבד
Incorrect agreement — את addresses a woman, so use אל תדאגי.
✅ אל תדאגי, את לא לבד.
al tid'agí, at lo levád.
Don't worry; you're not alone. (to a woman)
3. Treating לא תלך as automatically ungrammatical. It can be a prediction or a categorical directive; it is simply not the neutral everyday “don't go.”
אל תלך בלי להודיע לי.
al telékh bli lehodía li.
Don't leave without telling me. (neutral personal request, to a man)
אתה לא תלך בלי להודיע לי.
atá lo telékh bli lehodía li.
You are not leaving without telling me. (categorical/emphatic, to a man)
Key Takeaways
- Neutral personal negative commands use separate אל + second-person future.
- The verb after אל agrees with one man, one woman or a group.
- No short imperative has a negative counterpart; both אל and prohibitive לא select future morphology.
- לא + future may be a statement or a categorical prohibition in scripture, law and emphatic modern speech.
- Bare אל! can stop an obvious action immediately.
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- אל: The Negative CommandA2 — To tell somebody not to do something, Hebrew uses אל plus a second-person future — אל תלך, never the imperative form itself. That is why לך and אל תלך look unrelated, and why the textbook line that לא plus the future is 'wrong' is itself wrong: it is a different register, not a different grammar.
- The Everyday Imperative Is Actually the FutureA2 — Use the unchanged second-person future as the productive spoken command, with the right gender, number, pronouns and ktiv-male spelling.
- Infinitive as Impersonal Command (נא לא לעשן)B1 — Read and produce impersonal instructions with נא, אין and the bare infinitive, while distinguishing infinitive prohibitions from noun signs such as אין כניסה.
- לא: The Basic NegatorA1 — לא is Hebrew's ordinary 'not'. It is one invariable word that stands immediately in front of whatever it negates — verb, adjective, noun or pronoun — and Hebrew has no auxiliary verb for it to lean on, so English 'don't', 'didn't' and 'doesn't' have nothing at all to correspond to.