תתרחקו מהדלת.

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Breakdown of תתרחקו מהדלת.

• להתרחק: to move away

Questions & Answers about תתרחקו מהדלת.

Is this talking to one person or to more than one person?

It is talking to more than one person.

The form תתרחקו is a plural you form, so it means something like you all move away.

A few useful comparisons:

• to one man: תתרחק or the imperative התרחק
• to one woman: תתרחקי or התרחקי
• to more than one person: תתרחקו or התרחקו

In everyday Hebrew, this plural form is usually used for a masculine plural or a mixed group, and very often speakers also use it generally for groups in speech.

Why is תתרחקו being used like a command? Doesn’t it look like a future form?

Yes — it does look like a future form, because grammatically it is a 2nd person plural future form.

But in Modern Hebrew, future forms are very often used to give commands, instructions, warnings, or orders. So in context, תתרחקו can mean:

• you will move away
  or
• move away!

Here, the sentence is understood as a command/instruction, not a simple prediction.

This is very common in Hebrew, so learners should get used to the idea that future forms often do the job of imperatives.

Would התרחקו מהדלת also be correct?