Irregular Infinitives: לתת, לקחת, לצאת, לרדת, לשבת, ללכת | Hebrew Grammar

The familiar Pa'al infinitive לכתוב can tempt you into treating ל + root as a formula. It is not. The most common Hebrew verbs include a stubborn cluster of infinitives—לתת, לצאת, לשבת, ללכת, and others—whose vowels, shortened stems, or disappearing radicals must be learned with the verb. There is no single shortcut that generates all of them correctly.

אל תשכחי לקחת מטען, הסוללה שלך כמעט ריקה.

al tishkekhí lakákhat mat'én, hasolelá shelákh kim'át reiká

Don't forget to take a charger — your battery is nearly empty. (to a woman)

אנחנו צריכים לצאת עכשיו כדי לא לאחר.

anákhnu tsrikhím latsét akhsháv kdei lo le'akhér

We need to leave now so we won't be late.

The practical inventory

The table pairs each 3rd-person masculine singular past form—the usual dictionary anchor—with the infinitive you actually need. The pointed forms show pronunciation; ordinary unpointed spelling appears in the first line of each cell.

Past “he…”	Infinitive	Reading	Meaning
נתן נָתַן	לתת לָתֵת	natán → latét	give
לקח לָקַח	לקחת לָקַחַת	lakákh → lakákhat	take
יצא יָצָא	לצאת לָצֵאת	yatsá → latsét	go out, leave
ירד יָרַד	לרדת לָרֶדֶת	yarád → larédet	go down, get off
ישב יָשַׁב	לשבת לָשֶׁבֶת	yasháv → lashévet	sit, stay
ידע יָדַע	לדעת לָדַעַת	yadá → ladá'at	know
ניגש נִיגַּשׁ	לגשת לָגֶשֶׁת	nigásh → lagéshet	approach, go up to
הלך הָלַךְ	ללכת לָלֶכֶת	halákh → lalékhet	go, walk
ראה רָאָה	לראות לִרְאוֹת	ra'á → lir'ót	see
קנה קָנָה	לקנות לִקְנוֹת	kaná → liknót	buy
היה הָיָה	להיות לִהְיוֹת	hayá → lihyót	be
אכל אָכַל	לאכול לֶאֱכוֹל	akhál → le'ekhól	eat
אהב אָהַב	לאהוב לֶאֱהוֹב	aháv → le'ehóv	love

These are not one morphological class. לצאת, לרדת, לשבת, and לדעת are pa'al initial-yod verbs; הלך is a separate root that inflects on that pattern in these weak forms. לגשת is the mixed case: its past and present are nif'al-shaped in traditional analysis, while its future, imperative, and infinitive behave like pa'al with loss of the root-initial nun. Modern dictionaries may therefore classify the lexeme differently. לתת belongs to a weak initial-nun root; לקחת has its own high-frequency irregular pattern; לראות, לקנות, and להיות are final-he verbs; לאכול and לאהוב show a guttural with a reduced vowel. The shared practical fact is simply that none is safely built by copying לכתוב.

English usually marks an infinitive by adding to to a stable base form—took but to take, went but to go. Hebrew has no separate to: ל belongs to the infinitive, and the stem itself may change shape. That is why recognizing the past form does not guarantee that you can pronounce the unpointed infinitive.

The לָ־ group and the segolate rhythm

Several high-frequency forms begin לָ־, not the expected לִ־: לָתֵת, לָקַחַת, לָצֵאת, לָרֶדֶת, לָשֶׁבֶת, לָדַעַת, לָגֶשֶׁת, לָלֶכֶת. Within that group, לרדת, לשבת, לגשת, and ללכת share a conspicuous -é-et or segolate-like rhythm. That is a useful memory family, but not a production rule: לתת and לצאת also begin לָ־ and do not end that way, while לקחת and לדעת have still other shapes.

אפשר לשבת כאן, או שהמקום שמור?

efshár lashévet kan, o shehamakóm shamúr?

Can we sit here, or is the seat reserved?

צריך לרדת בתחנה הבאה ולהחליף קו.

tsaríkh larédet batakhaná haba'á ulehakhalíf kav

You need to get off at the next stop and change lines. (generic masculine singular)

אני חייב לדעת אם ההזמנה אושרה לפני שאני יוצא.

aní khayáv ladá'at im hahazmaná ushrá lifnéi she'aní yotsé

I have to know whether the booking was confirmed before I leave. (m. speaker)

אפשר לגשת לדלפק ברגע שהמספר שלך מופיע.

efshár lagéshet ladélpek baréga shehamispár shelkhá mofía

You can go up to the counter as soon as your number appears. (to a man)

💡

Memorize these as spoken chunks with their stress, not as unpointed letter strings: latét, latsét, larédet, lashévet, ladá'at, lagéshet, lalékhet. Unpointed Hebrew hides the vowels that distinguish the family.

הלך deserves an honest note. Its paradigm is historically and synchronically unusual, but calling it “suppletive” suggests that ללכת comes from an unrelated lexical root, which is misleading. In the relevant weak forms it behaves as though an initial yod underlies the paradigm. For learning, link הלך directly to ללכת and treat the pair as a unit; the detailed behavior is on הלך.

Final-ה and guttural patterns

Final-ה verbs often lose the final ה of the past stem before וֹת in the infinitive: ראה (ra'á) gives לראות, קנה (kaná) gives לקנות, and היה (hayá) gives להיות. This family is productive enough to recognize, but the preceding vowels still belong with the individual verb.

רציתי לראות את הדירה שוב לפני שחותמים.

ratsíti lir'ót et hadirá shuv lifnéi shekhotmím

I wanted to see the flat again before signing.

יצאנו לקנות שולחן וחזרנו עם מנורה.

yatsánu liknót shulkhán vekhazárnu im menorá

We went out to buy a table and came back with a lamp.

קשה להיות סבלני כשמחכים כבר שעתיים.

kashé lihyót savlaní kshemekhakím kvar sha'atáyim

It's hard to be patient when you've already been waiting for two hours. (generic masculine singular)

With initial gutturals, לאכול and לאהוב begin לֶאֱ־ in careful pointing. Everyday pronunciation compresses the sequence for many speakers, but the standard forms and the stress remain le'ekhól and le'ehóv. Do not infer either from an imagined ליכתוב-type template.

💡

Store a two-card lexical pair—past plus infinitive—whenever a verb enters your active vocabulary: נתן–לתת, יצא–לצאת, הלך–ללכת. The pair is more useful than an abstract root because it gives you the two forms that weak roots most often disguise.

בואו לאכול לפני שהכול מתקרר.

bó'u le'ekhól lifnéi shehakól mitkarér

Come and eat before everything gets cold. (to a group)

קל לאהוב את העיר הזאת בחורף, כשהרחובות שקטים.

kal le'ehóv et ha'ír hazót bakhóref, ksheharekhovót shketím

It's easy to love this city in winter, when the streets are quiet.

Common Mistakes

1. Regularizing לתת after לכתוב. The form is לָתֵת, with final stress; neither the past נתן nor a guessed *לנתון supplies it mechanically.

❌ לתת

lintón

Incorrect reading — this infinitive is latét, with stress on the final syllable.

✅ תן לי לתת לך עצה אחת לפני שאתה מחליט.

ten li latét lekhá etsá akhát lifnéi she'atá makhlít

Let me give you one piece of advice before you decide. (to a man)

2. Keeping the visible י of ישב in the infinitive. Historical weak-root behavior removes it and changes the vowels.

❌ לישבת ליד החלון

Incorrect — the infinitive of ישב is לשבת, not לישבת.

✅ אני מעדיפה לשבת ליד החלון אם אפשר.

aní ma'adifá lashévet leyád hakhalón im efshár

I'd prefer to sit by the window if possible. (f. speaker)

3. Confusing לראות “see” with להראות “show.” Both are valid, so this is a meaning contrast, not a bad-form contrast.

✅ אני רוצה לראות את התמונות מהטיול.

aní rotsé lir'ót et hatmunót mehatiyúl

I want to see the photos from the trip. (m. speaker)

✅ אני רוצה להראות לך את התמונות מהטיול.

aní rotsé lehar'ót lekhá et hatmunót mehatiyúl

I want to show you the photos from the trip. (m. speaker, to a man)

4. Reading ללכת from the visible letters without knowing the lexical pair. Its standard reading is lalékhet, not a guessed form based on הלך.

❌ ללכת

lehalókh

Incorrect reading — the infinitive is lalékhet.

✅ החלטנו ללכת ברגל כי לא מצאנו מונית.

hekhlátnu lalékhet barégel ki lo matsánu monít

We decided to walk because we couldn't find a taxi.

Key Takeaways

Learn each common past–infinitive pair directly; there is no universal ל + root formula.
The לָ־ cluster contains several patterns, including the memorable -é-et group לרדת, לשבת, לגשת, ללכת.
Final-ה verbs give לראות, לקנות, להיות; guttural verbs include לֶאֱכוֹל and לֶאֱהוֹב.
הלך–ללכת is irregular and best memorized as a pair, but “suppletive” is not an accurate learner explanation.

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