אם אתה כבר מוכן, אפשר ללכת.

If you are already ready, we can go.

Breakdown of אם אתה כבר מוכן, אפשר ללכת.

• אתה: you
• ללכת: to go
• כבר: already
• מוכן: ready
• אפשר: possible
• אם: whether

Questions & Answers about אם אתה כבר מוכן, אפשר ללכת.

Why does the sentence begin with אם? Doesn’t אם usually mean if?

Yes. אם normally means if.

In this sentence, it introduces a condition: if you’re already ready, .... In natural English, this can sometimes sound close to when depending on context, but grammatically Hebrew is using a conditional idea here, not a true when word.

If you wanted a more definite when, Hebrew would more often use כש־ or כאשר.

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What does כבר mean here, and why is it included?

כבר usually means already.

Here it adds the sense that the person may now be ready, perhaps after some waiting. It often gives the sentence a very natural conversational tone.

Compare:

• אם אתה מוכן, אפשר ללכת. = If you’re ready, we can go.
• אם אתה כבר מוכן, אפשר ללכת. = If you’re already ready, we can go.

So כבר does not change the basic structure, but it adds nuance.

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Why is it מוכן? Is that an adjective?

Yes. מוכן is an adjective meaning ready/prepared.

It agrees with the person it describes:

• אתה מוכן = you are ready (masculine singular)
• את מוכנה = you are ready (feminine singular)
• אתם מוכנים = you are ready (masculine plural or mixed group)
• אתן מוכנות = you are ready (feminine plural)

So מוכן is used here because the sentence is speaking to אתה, a singular masculine you.

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Why is אתה included? Could Hebrew leave it out?

Yes, Hebrew can often leave subject pronouns out, especially when the verb already shows the person.

But here there is no finite verb like you are in the first part. Hebrew often omits the verb to be in the present tense, so the phrase is simply:

• אתה מוכן = you ready / you are ready

Because there is no present-tense verb ending to show the subject, the pronoun אתה is usually needed for clarity.

Without it, אם כבר מוכן would sound incomplete or unnatural in most contexts.

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Where is the word are? Why isn’t there a Hebrew verb for you are ready?

In Hebrew, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• אתה מוכן literally looks like you ready
• but it means you are ready

This is one of the most important things for English speakers to get used to. Hebrew does use forms of to be in the past and future, but not normally in the present.

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What does אפשר mean here?

אפשר means something like it is possible, one can, or it’s possible to.

In everyday Hebrew, it is very common as an impersonal expression. That means it does not have a normal subject like I, you, or we.

So:

• אפשר ללכת = it’s possible to go / we can go / one can go

In context, English often translates it as we can go, even though Hebrew does not literally say we.

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Why is it ללכת after אפשר?

After אפשר, Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive, usually with ל־.

So:

• אפשר ללכת = it is possible to go
• אפשר להתחיל = it is possible to begin / we can begin
• אפשר לשבת = one may sit / you can sit

This is a very common structure:

אפשר + infinitive

So ללכת is the infinitive to go / to walk.

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Why doesn’t the sentence say נלך or נוכל ללכת instead?

It could, but that would be a different wording.

• אפשר ללכת is impersonal and very common in spoken Hebrew.
• נוכל ללכת means we will be able to go and sounds a bit more explicitly like we can go.
• נלך means we will go / let’s go, which is not exactly the same idea.

So אפשר ללכת is a natural way to express general possibility or permission without directly naming the subject.

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Is the comma necessary?

The comma is natural and helpful here because the first part is a conditional clause:

• אם אתה כבר מוכן, ...

Then comes the main clause:

• אפשר ללכת.

In modern Hebrew writing, punctuation can sometimes be less strict than in English, especially in informal writing, but using the comma here is normal and clear.

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Is this sentence formal or informal?

It is neutral and very natural.

It is not especially formal, but it is perfectly normal in everyday speech and writing. It sounds polite and straightforward.

A more casual spoken version might be something like:

• אם אתה כבר מוכן, אז הולכים.
• אם אתה מוכן, אפשר לצאת.

But אם אתה כבר מוכן, אפשר ללכת. is completely standard.

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How would the sentence change if I were speaking to a woman or to more than one person?

Only the part that agrees with you changes.

To one woman

אם את כבר מוכנה, אפשר ללכת.

To a group of men or a mixed group

אם אתם כבר מוכנים, אפשר ללכת.

To a group of women

אם אתן כבר מוכנות, אפשר ללכת.

The second part, אפשר ללכת, stays the same.

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Does ללכת mean to go or to walk?

It can mean both, depending on context.

In many everyday situations, ללכת works like English to go:

• אפשר ללכת = we can go

But in other contexts it can mean actual walking:

• אני הולך ברגל = I’m going on foot / walking

So the exact sense comes from context. In your sentence, it is most naturally understood as to go.

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How is the sentence pronounced?

A common pronunciation would be:

im a-TA ka-VAR mu-KHAN, ef-SHAR la-LE-khet

A few notes:

• אם = im
• אתה is stressed on the last syllable: a-TA
• כבר is often pronounced kvar or kfar, depending on accent
• מוכן is masculine singular: mu-KHAN
• אפשר is commonly pronounced ef-SHAR
• ללכת is la-LE-khet, with the final kh sound like the ch in Scottish loch

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Could Hebrew also say מוכן כבר instead of כבר מוכן?

Yes, but the nuance can shift slightly.

• כבר מוכן is the more natural order here for already ready
• מוכן כבר can also occur, especially in speech, and may sound a bit more emphatic depending on intonation

In this sentence, אם אתה כבר מוכן is the most neutral and standard phrasing.