The dedicated Hebrew imperative has second-person forms for one man, one woman and a group. For a regular pa'al verb, it is historically and practically related to the second-person future: remove the ת־ and let the vowels resettle. That last clause matters—תכתוב leads to כתוב, but feminine תכתבי leads to כתבי kitví, not a form that preserves the masculine o.
From future to imperative
| Future form | Remove ת־ and adjust | Result |
|---|---|---|
| תִּכְתּוֹב tikhtóv | the remaining initial כ carries shva | כְּתוֹב ktov |
| תִּכְתְּבִי tikhteví | two initial shvas cannot remain; the first becomes chirik | כִּתְבִי kitví |
| תִּכְתְּבוּ tikhtevú | the same repair applies before the plural ending | כִּתְבוּ kitvú |
The relation is a learning aid, not a command to derive every verb mechanically. Weak roots may lose a radical or rebuild the stem. The Academy's paradigms and current conjugation tables confirm each cell; the page on regular pa'al imperatives handles the strong pattern in more detail.
| Verb | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| write | כְּתוֹב ktov | כִּתְבִי kitví | כִּתְבוּ kitvú |
| guard, keep | שְׁמוֹר shmor | שִׁמְרִי shimrí | שִׁמְרוּ shimrú |
| sit | שֵׁב shev | שְׁבִי shví | שְׁבוּ shvú |
| go | לֵךְ lekh | לְכִי lekhí | לְכוּ lekhú |
| come | בּוֹא bo | בּוֹאִי bo'í | בּוֹאוּ bo'ú |
Modern plural כתבו, שמרו, בואו addresses groups of every gender. Dedicated feminine-plural forms such as כְּתוֹבְנָה are formal, literary or archaic in modern production; learners mainly need recognition.
כתבי את שמך ואת מספר הטלפון בראש העמוד.
kitví et shemékh ve'ét mispár hatélefon berósh ha'amúd.
Write your name and phone number at the top of the page. (formal instruction, to a woman)
שמרו את הקבלה עד סוף תקופת האחריות.
shimrú et hakabalá ad sof tkufát ha'akhrayút.
Keep the receipt until the warranty period ends. (written instruction, to a group)
Weak verbs can subtract a radical
Several very common imperatives are shorter than the future would predict. תיתן corresponds to תן, תיקח to קח, תיסע to סע, תיגש to גש, and תרד to רד. The missing consonant is a root radical, not merely the future prefix.
| Infinitive | Future to one man | Imperative to one man |
|---|---|---|
| לָתֵת latét | תִּיתֵּן titén | תֵּן ten |
| לָקַחַת lakákhat | תִּיקַּח tikákh | קַח kakh |
| לִנְסוֹעַ linsóa | תִּיסַע tisá | סַע sa |
| לָגֶשֶׁת lagéshet | תִּיגַּשׁ tigásh | גַּשׁ gash |
| לָרֶדֶת larédet | תֵּרֵד teréd | רֵד red |
הלך needs a more precise description. It is irregular and conjugates in these forms as though its first radical were yod; that is why the written ה disappears in לך, לכי, לכו. It is not a suppletive verb assembled from unrelated roots.
קח מטרייה, אמור לרדת גשם אחר הצוהריים.
kakh mitriyá, amúr larédet géshem akhár hatsohoráyim.
Take an umbrella; it's supposed to rain this afternoon. (everyday surviving imperative, to a man)
רדו בתחנה הבאה והחליפו לקו שמונה.
redú batakhaná haba'á vehakhalífu lekáv shmóne.
Get off at the next stop and change to line eight. (formal directions, to a group)
Final־ה pa'al verbs: the feminine loses ה
Pa'al verbs whose root ends in ה keep that letter in the masculine singular imperative, normally with tsere: ראה, עשה, קנה. The feminine singular drops the ה entirely and ends in ־י: ראי, עשי, קני. There is no feminine form pronounced re'éi.
| Verb | Masculine singular | Feminine singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| see | רְאֵה re'é | רְאִי re'í | רְאוּ re'ú |
| do, make | עֲשֵׂה asé | עֲשִׂי así | עֲשׂוּ asú |
| buy | קְנֵה kné | קְנִי kní | קְנוּ knú |
ראי כמה יפה הים היום.
re'í káma yafé hayám hayóm.
Look how beautiful the sea is today. (to a woman)
עשה עותק נוסף ושמור אותו בתיקייה אחרת.
asé ótek nosáf ushmór otó betikiyá akhéret.
Make another copy and save it in a different folder. (formal instruction, to a man)
Unpointed עשה is a useful collision: עֲשֵׂה asé is the masculine imperative, while עָשָׂה asá is “he did.” Syntax and context supply the reading, just as they do for many unpointed Hebrew homographs.
אתמול הוא עשה את כל העבודה לבד.
etmól hu asá et kol ha'avodá levád.
Yesterday he did all the work alone. (עשה is past)
Where the true forms live now
The Academy treats שב versus תשב as a question of style and notes that future forms already served imperative functions in classical sources. It does not reject the dedicated imperative. Modern formal instructions and signs use it naturally: עצור, האט, שמור מרחק. Military drill and clipped urgent speech also preserve it, while everyday interaction favors the future-shaped command except for common survivors.
עצור לפני מעבר החצייה.
atsór lifnéi ma'avár hakhatsiyá.
Stop before the pedestrian crossing. (formal road instruction, to a man)
כתוב לי כשתגיע הביתה.
ktov li kshetagía habáyta.
Write to me when you get home. (correct but formal or unusually clipped, to a man)
תכתוב לי כשתגיע הביתה.
tikhtóv li kshetagía habáyta.
Text me when you get home. (ordinary conversation, to a man)
Common Mistakes
1. Preserving the masculine vowel before feminine ־י. The feminine is כתבי, not כתובי.
❌ כתובי את הכתובת כאן
Incorrect — the stem reduces before feminine ־י: כתבי, kitví.
✅ כתבי את הכתובת כאן וחתמי למטה.
kitví et haktóvet kan vekhitmí lemáta.
Write the address here and sign below. (formal instruction, to a woman)
2. Keeping final ה in the feminine. The written form קני is pronounced kní, not kenéi.
❌ קני
kenéi
Incorrect as a reading of the feminine imperative — final־ה has disappeared; this is one syllable, kní.
✅ קני רק מה שצריך, המקרר כבר מלא.
kní rak ma shetsaríkh, hamekarér kvar malé.
Buy only what we need; the fridge is already full. (to a woman)
3. Putting a true imperative after אל. Hebrew has no short negative imperative form.
❌ אל כתוב על הקיר
Incorrect — אל is followed by the second-person future: אל תכתוב.
✅ אל תכתוב על הקיר, הצבע עדיין טרי.
al tikhtóv al hakír, hatséva adáyin tarí.
Don't write on the wall; the paint is still fresh. (to a man)
Key Takeaways
- Regular true imperatives relate to the second-person future minus ת־, but their vowels resettle.
- Short weak verbs can lose a root radical: תן, קח, סע, גש, רד.
- הלך behaves as though its first radical were yod; it is irregular, not suppletive.
- Final־ה masculine forms keep ה (ראה, עשה, קנה), while feminine forms drop it (ראי, עשי, קני).
- The Academy treats the true-versus-future choice as style; formal instructions favor the true form, conversation productively favors the future.
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Pa'al Imperative: כתוב! כתבי! כתבו!A2 — Three live cells, derived from the future by knocking off the ת — and a register fact no paradigm table tells you: outside the army, signage and a short list of frozen forms, Israelis give orders with the future tense instead, and that is style rather than error.
- Frozen Imperatives Israelis Keep: סע, תן, קח, שב, לךB1 — Memorize the compact true imperatives that remain natural in Israeli speech, their future competitors, and the discourse-marker uses of עזוב and שמע.
- 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.
- The Academy vs What Israelis Actually SayB2 — Separate the Academy's legal decisions, its style advice, and documented Israeli usage so that ‘standard’ and ‘common’ stop masquerading as the same claim.
- Giving an Order in Hebrew: Three WaysA2 — Choose among the everyday future command, the true imperative and the impersonal infinitive, then form personal negative commands with אל.