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Learn Hardcore Hebrew: אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה. - I want to go after that.

Hardcore Hebrew
/Lesson 4
/אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה.

אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה.

אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה.ani rotse lalekhet akharei ze

I want to go after that.

Breakdown of אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה.

Questions & Answers about אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה.

How do you pronounce אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה?

A common pronunciation is:

ani rotze lalékhet akharei ze if the speaker is male
ani rotza lalékhet akharei ze if the speaker is female

A rough breakdown:

אני = ani
רוצה = rotze / rotza
ללכת = lalekhet
אחרי = akharei
זה = ze

Notice that רוצה is written the same way for masculine and feminine in normal Hebrew spelling, but it is pronounced differently.

Why is רוצה sometimes rotze and sometimes rotza?

Because רוצה agrees with the speaker’s gender in the present tense:

אני רוצה = I want said by a male speaker
אני רוצה = I want said by a female speaker

In unpointed Hebrew, both are spelled exactly the same: רוצה. You usually know which one it is from context, from who is speaking, or from vowel marks if they are written.

What does ללכת mean here? Is it to go or to walk?

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

In this sentence, English speakers will often understand it as to go:

I want to go after that / after this / later.

But in another context it could sound more like to walk:

I want to walk after that.

Hebrew often uses ללכת in places where English prefers go.

Why is there a ל־ at the start of ללכת?

The ל־ here is part of the infinitive form, like English to in to go.

So:

רוצה = want
ללכת = to go / to walk

Together:

רוצה ללכת = want to go

This is very common in Hebrew: after a verb like want, the next verb is often in the infinitive with ל־.

What exactly does אחרי זה mean?

אחרי זה usually means:

after this
after that
afterwards
later

The exact translation depends on context. In everyday Hebrew, it often works like after that or later.

So the sentence could mean things like:

I want to go after this.
I want to go after that.
I want to go later.

Does זה mean this or that here?

It can be either, depending on context.

In spoken Hebrew, זה is very flexible and can mean:

this
that
sometimes even it

So אחרי זה does not always map neatly to just one English phrase. You choose this or that based on the situation.

Why is it אחרי זה and not something with את?

Because אחרי is a preposition, and prepositions in Hebrew take their object directly.

אחרי זה = after that/this

The word את is used to mark a definite direct object of a verb, not the object of a preposition.

So:

אני רואה את זה = I see that/it
אני הולך אחרי זה = I go after that / later

No את is needed after אחרי.

Can אחרי also mean behind, not just after?

Yes. אחרי can mean either:

after in time
behind in space

Examples:

אחרי הארוחה = after the meal
הוא עומד אחרי הבית = he is standing behind the house

In אחרי זה, the meaning is usually temporal: after this/that.

Is the word order fixed?

The sentence אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה is a normal, natural word order.

But Hebrew does allow some flexibility for emphasis. For example:

אחרי זה אני רוצה ללכת = After that, I want to go
אני רוצה אחרי זה ללכת = possible, but less neutral and more marked

The original version is probably the safest and most natural for a learner.

Do I have to say אני, or can I leave it out?

You can sometimes leave it out, especially in conversation, if the subject is already clear.

So both can occur:

אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה
רוצה ללכת אחרי זה

However, including אני is very common and often clearer for learners.

One important point: in the present tense, Hebrew verbs do not always clearly show the person as strongly as in some other tenses, so pronouns are often used.

Is אחרי זה the most natural way to say afterward/later?

It is natural, especially in speech, but another very common phrase is אחר כך.

Compare:

אני רוצה ללכת אחרי זה
אני רוצה ללכת אחר כך

Both can mean I want to go later / afterward.

A small difference:

אחרי זה often points more directly to something just mentioned: after this/that
אחר כך is a very common general word for afterward / later

Is this sentence specifically about the future, even though רוצה looks like present tense?

Yes, the wanting is present, but the action ללכת is something the speaker wants to do later.

So literally it is:

I want now
to go later / after that

This is very normal in Hebrew and in English too. The main verb רוצה is in the present tense, while the infinitive ללכת expresses the desired action.

Could this sentence sound ambiguous?

Yes, in a few ways:

רוצה could be masculine or feminine in writing.
ללכת could mean go or walk.
זה could mean this or that.
אחרי זה could mean after this/that or more loosely later.

Usually context makes the intended meaning clear, so native speakers would not find this strange.

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