An infinitive is a verb form, but an entire infinitive phrase can occupy a place where a noun phrase would normally stand. In לעשן זה מסוכן, “smoking” is the subject of “is dangerous”; inside that subject, however, לעשן remains a verb. That double life explains both the freedom of the construction and the mistakes English speakers make with it.
לנסוע לבד בלילה זה לא תמיד פשוט.
linsóa levád baláyla ze lo tamíd pashút
Travelling alone at night isn't always easy.
לדבר איתו עכשיו זה בזבוז זמן, הוא בכלל לא מקשיב.
ledabér itó akhsháv ze bizbúz zman, hu bikhlál lo makshív
Talking to him now is a waste of time — he isn't listening at all.
An infinitive phrase as the subject
The infinitive phrase can come first and name the activity being evaluated. In ordinary speech, Hebrew usually follows that long subject with זה before the predicate: לעשן ליד ילדים | זה מסוכן. The זה is a resumptive bridge: it picks up the activity and lets the listener hear a clear subject–predicate boundary.
לעשן ליד ילדים זה מסוכן גם כשהחלון פתוח.
le'ashén leyád yeladím ze mesukán gam kshehakhalón patúakh
Smoking near children is dangerous even when the window is open.
לשנות את כל התוכנית ברגע האחרון זה רעיון גרוע.
leshanót et kol hatokhnít baréga ha'akharón ze ra'ayón garúa
Changing the entire plan at the last minute is a bad idea.
Careful written Hebrew can omit the resumptive זה. That version is compact and somewhat bookish, not ungrammatical. In speech, especially with a long infinitive phrase, זה makes the structure much easier to process.
✅ לעשן ליד ילדים מסוכן.
le'ashén leyád yeladím mesukán
Smoking near children is dangerous. (careful/bookish written style)
✅ לעשן ליד ילדים זה מסוכן.
le'ashén leyád yeladím ze mesukán
Smoking near children is dangerous. (ordinary speech)
The dummy and resumptive זה does not agree with the activity. It is the fixed neuter-like discourse form זה, regardless of whether the predicate noun is masculine or feminine.
The infinitive as a predicate complement
An infinitive phrase can also complete a noun such as מטרה “goal,” תוכנית “plan,” חלום “dream,” or תפקיד “role.” Here it identifies the content of that noun: the goal is to finish, the dream is to open. English uses the same broad pattern, but Hebrew normally includes the present-tense copular pronoun היא or הוא because the subject is a definite noun phrase.
המטרה שלנו היא לסיים את השיפוץ לפני החגים.
hamatará shelánu hi lesayém et hashipúts lifnéi hakhagím
Our goal is to finish the renovation before the holidays.
החלום שלה הוא לפתוח מסעדה קטנה ליד הים.
hakhalóm shelá hu liftóakh mis'adá ktaná leyád hayám
Her dream is to open a small restaurant by the sea.
These complements are not tense-bearing clauses. If the goal belongs to the past or future, the copular element carries that time: המטרה הייתה לסיים, המטרה תהיה לסיים. The infinitive itself stays unchanged.
Evaluations: קשה, כיף, נעים
Many Hebrew evaluations place the adjective or evaluative word first and the infinitive second: קשה להסביר, “it is hard to explain”; כיף לטייל, “it is fun to hike.” There is no overt English-style dummy it. The infinitive phrase supplies the activity being judged.
קשה להסביר את ההבדל בלי לראות את שני המסמכים.
kashé lehasbír et hahevdél bli lir'ót et shnei hamismakhím
It's hard to explain the difference without seeing both documents.
כיף לטייל כאן באביב, לפני שמתחיל החום.
kef letayél kan ba'avív, lifnéi shematkhíl hakhóm
It's lovely to hike here in spring, before the heat starts.
נעים להכיר, שמעתי עלייך הרבה דברים טובים.
na'ím lehakír, shamáti aláyikh harbé dvarím tovím
Nice to meet you — I've heard lots of good things about you. (to a woman)
The predicate-first order is the default for a broad evaluation. Infinitive-first with זה turns the activity into an explicit topic: קשה לדבר איתו is a neutral assessment, while לדבר איתו זה קשה sounds more like “talking to him — that is hard.” See impersonal predicates for the wider family.
Still verbal on the inside
Calling the phrase “noun-like” does not turn the infinitive into a lexical noun. It still takes the same objects, prepositions, and adverbs as the verb. In לשנות את כל התוכנית, definite כל התוכנית is marked with את because it is the object of לשנות. An adverb such as במהירות can modify the action directly.
לפתור את הבעיה במהירות יהיה קשה בלי עזרה טכנית.
liftór et habe'ayá bimhirút yihyé kashé bli ezrá tékhnit
Solving the problem quickly will be difficult without technical support. (careful written style)
לענות לכל ההודעות בבוקר לוקח לי לפחות שעה.
la'anót lekhol hahoda'ót babóker lokéakh li lefakhót sha'á
Answering all the messages in the morning takes me at least an hour.
A שם פעולה, or verbal noun, is different. עישון “smoking,” נסיעה “travel/journey,” and כתיבה “writing” are genuine nouns: they can take adjectives, definite articles, and noun-style complements. They dominate headings, signs, regulations, and formal abstract prose. The infinitive phrase is more dynamic and especially natural in speech.
העישון בכניסה אסור על פי התקנון.
ha'ishún baknisá asúr al pi hatakanón
Smoking at the entrance is prohibited under the regulations. (formal/signage style)
לעשן בכניסה זה אסור, בוא נצא החוצה.
le'ashén baknisá ze asúr, bo netsé hakhútsa
You can't smoke at the entrance — let's go outside. (ordinary speech)
There is no mechanical interchangeability. שם פעולה can name an established practice, product, or event; an infinitive phrase profiles the act itself. The fuller contrast belongs to using the verbal noun.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating the omission of זה as a universal error. Both forms are grammatical; their information structure and register differ.
✅ לבטל את התוכנית עכשיו יהיה מסוכן.
levatél et hatokhnít akhsháv yihyé mesukán
Cancelling the plan now would be dangerous. (compact, careful writing)
✅ לבטל את התוכנית עכשיו זה יהיה מסוכן.
levatél et hatokhnít akhsháv ze yihyé mesukán
Cancelling the plan now — that would be dangerous. (ordinary spoken framing)
2. Forgetting that the infinitive still governs its object. A definite direct object still needs את.
❌ לקרוא הספר הזה ברכבת זה קשה
Incorrect — הספר הזה is the definite object of לקרוא, so it needs את.
✅ לקרוא את הספר הזה ברכבת זה קשה, יש יותר מדי רעש.
likró et haséfer hazé barakévet ze kashé, yesh yotér midái rá'ash
Reading this book on the train is hard — there's too much noise.
3. Trying to give a bare infinitive an independently stated subject. For an explicit doer, Hebrew usually recasts the idea with ל־ “for” or with a finite ש-clause.
❌ חשוב הילדים לנוח אחרי הטיול
Incorrect — הילדים cannot simply stand as the subject of לנוח. Say לילדים חשוב לנוח, or חשוב שהילדים ינוחו.
✅ חשוב שהילדים ינוחו אחרי הטיול הארוך.
khashúv shehayeladím yanúkhu akharéi hatiyúl ha'arókh
It's important that the children rest after the long trip.
4. Assuming a verbal noun is always the more natural equivalent of English “-ing.” English gives no reliable answer; Hebrew register and meaning decide.
✅ הצילום במקום אסור.
hatsilúm bamakóm asúr
Photography on the premises is prohibited. (formal notice; established activity)
✅ לצלם פה זה אסור, המאבטח כבר העיר לי.
letsalém po ze asúr, hame'avtéakh kvar he'ír li
You're not allowed to take pictures here — the guard has already told me off. (speech; concrete act)
Key Takeaways
- An infinitive phrase can be a subject, a predicate complement, or the activity evaluated after קשה, כיף, and similar predicates.
- Subject-first infinitives normally resume with זה in speech; omitting it is compact and bookish, not wrong.
- The phrase is noun-like outside but verbal inside, so it keeps verbal objects, את, prepositions, and adverbs.
- A שם פעולה is a true noun and is especially common in formal abstraction, signage, and headings; the infinitive is often more eventive and conversational.
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- Using a Verbal Noun Instead of a ClauseC1 — Hebrew verbal nouns turn events into compact noun phrases for time frames, headlines and formal prose, while construct chains and prepositions preserve their participants.
- The Dummy זה: זה כיף, זה נכון ש…B1 — זה can fill the subject slot of an evaluation without referring to any object: זה כיף, זה מוזר שהיא לא באה. It stays masculine, introduces infinitives and ש־ clauses, and must not be confused with English weather and time ‘it,’ for which Hebrew uses no subject at all.
- Impersonal Predicates: כיף, נעים, חבל, קשה, כדאיB1 — Build Hebrew experiencer sentences with a default masculine-singular predicate and a ל־marked person, while recognizing where the same words agree outside this frame.
- Verbs That Take an Infinitive (רוצה, אוהב, מנסה, מתחיל)A1 — The first two-verb sentence a beginner can build: one conjugated verb, then an infinitive that never changes for anything. The whole pattern turns on a single question — is the second action done by the same person as the first? If it is, use the infinitive; if it is not, Hebrew switches to ש plus a finite verb.