הוא לא רוצה ללכת לבד.

He does not want to go alone.

Breakdown of הוא לא רוצה ללכת לבד.

• הוא: he
• לרצות: to want
• לא: not
• ללכת: to go
• לבד: alone

Questions & Answers about הוא לא רוצה ללכת לבד.

How do you pronounce this sentence?

A natural pronunciation is:

hu lo rotze lalekhet levad

A rough stress guide:

hu lo ro-TZE la-LE-khet le-VAD

Notes:

• צ in רוצה sounds like ts
• כ in ללכת sounds like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach, not like English ch in chair

What does each word mean or do in the sentence?

Word by word:

• הוא = he
• לא = not
• רוצה = wants
• ללכת = to go / to walk
• לבד = alone / by himself / on his own

A very literal gloss would be:

he + not + wants + to go + alone

Why is לא used here?

לא is the normal way to negate a verb in Hebrew in the present, past, and future.

So:

• רוצה = wants
• לא רוצה = doesn't want

This is the standard pattern. You put לא before the verb or verbal expression being negated.

Why is there no separate word for doesn't?

Hebrew does not use English-style do-support.

In English, you say:

• He does not want

In Hebrew, you simply say:

• He not wants
• הוא לא רוצה

So there is no extra helping verb like do/does here.

Why is רוצה pronounced rotze here? Would it change with a female subject?

Yes. רוצה agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Here the subject is הוא (he), so רוצה is masculine singular and pronounced rotze.

With היא (she), the same spelling is usually used in normal unpointed Hebrew, but the pronunciation changes to rotza:

• היא לא רוצה ללכת לבד
• She doesn't want to go alone

This is a very common feature of Hebrew: without vowel marks, masculine and feminine singular can sometimes look identical in writing.

What is the dictionary form of רוצה?

The dictionary form is לרצות, meaning to want.

So:

• לרצות = to want
• רוצה = wants / wanting in masculine singular present tense

If you are looking words up, you would search for לרצות, not רוצה.

Why is the infinitive ללכת, with two ל letters?

Hebrew infinitives usually begin with ל־, which often corresponds to English to.

So after רוצה (wants), Hebrew uses an infinitive:

• רוצה ללכת = wants to go / wants to walk

The verb הלך has the infinitive ללכת, so the double ל is just the normal form of this word. It may look strange at first, but it is completely standard.

Does ללכת mean to go or to walk?

It can mean either to go or to walk, depending on context.

In many everyday sentences, to go is the best translation. But in some contexts, to walk is also possible.

So this sentence can mean:

• He doesn't want to go alone and in some situations also:
• He doesn't want to walk alone

What exactly does לבד mean? Could I also say לבדו?

לבד means alone, by oneself, or on one's own.

In this sentence, it means that he does not want to go by himself.

You can also say לבדו, which means more specifically by himself:

• הוא לא רוצה ללכת לבדו

That is also correct, but לבד is very common and natural in everyday Hebrew.

Do you have to say הוא, or can Hebrew leave it out?

You can sometimes leave it out if the context is clear, especially in casual speech:

• לא רוצה ללכת לבד

But in the present tense, forms like רוצה show gender and number, not person, so the pronoun is often helpful. That is why הוא לא רוצה ללכת לבד is a very normal full sentence.

Is the word order similar to English?

Mostly yes.

The structure is:

• subject
  • not
    • verb
      • infinitive
        • alone

So literally:

• הוא = he
• לא = not
• רוצה = wants
• ללכת = to go
• לבד = alone

The biggest difference from English is that Hebrew does not need a separate word like does.