Questions & Answers about אני מבטיח שאבוא בזמן ולא אשכח את הכרטיס.
Why is מבטיח used for I promise? Isn’t that a present form?
Yes. מבטיח is the masculine singular present form of להבטיח. In Hebrew, the present form is often used where English uses the simple present, so אני מבטיח means I promise.
If you wanted I promised, you would use הבטחתי. If you wanted I will promise, you would use אבטיח. But in this sentence, the act of promising is happening now, so אני מבטיח is the natural choice.
How would a woman say this sentence?
A woman would say:
אני מבטיחה שאבוא בזמן ולא אשכח את הכרטיס.
Only מבטיח changes to מבטיחה. That is because Hebrew present forms usually show gender. The future verbs אבוא and אשכח stay the same, because first-person singular future does not change for masculine vs. feminine.
What does the ש in שאבוא mean?
The ש־ means that.
So:
- שאבוא = that I will come
- literally: ש + אבוא
In Hebrew, this ש־ is attached directly to the next word, so it is written as one unit.