אם לא נצא עכשיו, נאחר לפגישה.

אם means if. It introduces the condition: אם לא נצא עכשיו = if we don’t leave now.

So the sentence has two parts:

• אם לא נצא עכשיו = the condition
• נאחר לפגישה = the result

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

So:

• נצא = we will leave / go out
• לא נצא = we will not leave / we won’t leave

In this sentence, it is not a command like Don’t leave! It is just part of the condition: if we don’t leave now.

נצא is the future-tense form of לצאת, which means to go out or to leave.

The נ־ at the beginning marks we in the future tense. So נצא means we will go out / we will leave.

In this context, English naturally translates it as leave:

• אם לא נצא עכשיו = if we don’t leave now

This is a very common question for English speakers.

In English, future conditions usually use the present after if:

• If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late

In Hebrew, it is normal to use the future in both parts when talking about a future possibility:

• אם לא נצא עכשיו, נאחר לפגישה

So literally, Hebrew is closer to:

• If we will not leave now, we will be late

That sounds wrong in English, but it is normal in Hebrew.

Because the verb already tells you the subject.

In Hebrew, many verb forms include the person and number. Here:

• נצא = we will leave
• נאחר = we will be late

So Hebrew does not need אנחנו unless you want extra emphasis or contrast.

For example:

• אם לא נצא עכשיו, נאחר לפגישה = neutral
• אם לא נצא עכשיו, אנחנו נאחר לפגישה = more emphasis on we

Literally, לצאת means to go out. But very often, in context, it means to leave.

So:

• נצא מהבית = we’ll go out of the house / leave the house
• נצא עכשיו = we’ll leave now

English often prefers leave, while Hebrew commonly uses go out for that idea.

נאחר means we will be late or we will arrive late.

It comes from the verb לאחר. In everyday Hebrew, this verb is used for being late:

• אני מאחר = I’m late
• נאחר = we’ll be late

So נאחר לפגישה means we’ll be late for the meeting.

The prefix ל־ usually means to, for, or toward, depending on context.

With נאחר, Hebrew uses ל־ where English usually says for:

• נאחר לפגישה = we’ll be late for the meeting

So the Hebrew structure is slightly different from English.

In unpointed Hebrew writing, לפגישה can represent either:

• לְפגישה = to/for a meeting
• לַפּגישה = to/for the meeting

They are written the same without vowel marks, so context decides the meaning.

In this sentence, English would usually understand it as the meeting:

• If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late for the meeting

Yes, but the given placement is the most natural and neutral.

• אם לא נצא עכשיו, נאחר לפגישה = natural, standard
• אם עכשיו לא נצא, נאחר לפגישה = possible, but more marked

Putting עכשיו after the verb phrase feels most natural for leave now.

The comma is normal and helpful because it separates the if clause from the main clause:

• אם לא נצא עכשיו, נאחר לפגישה.

In speech, you would usually make a small pause there. In informal writing, people may sometimes omit the comma, but using it is standard and clearer.