אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר עכשיו.

Breakdown of אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר עכשיו.

ספר
book
אני
I
לרצות
to want
עכשיו
now
את
direct object marker
לתת
to give
לך
for you

Questions & Answers about אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר עכשיו.

What does each word in אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר עכשיו do?

A word-by-word breakdown:

  • אני = I
  • רוצה = want
  • לתת = to give
  • לך = to you
  • את = a marker used before a definite direct object
  • הספר = the book
  • עכשיו = now

So the structure is basically:

I + want + to give + to you + [object marker] + the book + now

Why is אני included? Can Hebrew leave out the subject like some other languages?

Sometimes Hebrew can leave out the subject, but here אני is usually important.

In the present tense, Hebrew verb forms do not clearly show person the way past and future forms often do. The form רוצה tells you mainly about gender and number, not clearly I vs. he without context.

So:

  • אני רוצה = I want
  • הוא רוצה = he wants
  • היא רוצה = she wants
    (in unpointed writing, masculine and feminine singular can look the same here)

Because of that, Hebrew often keeps the subject pronoun in present-tense sentences.

Why is the verb רוצה and what does it tell us about the speaker?

רוצה is the present-tense form of לרצות, to want.

In Hebrew, present-tense verb forms agree with gender and number. In unpointed spelling, רוצה can represent:

  • rotze = a male speaker saying I want
  • rotza = a female speaker saying I want

So the written sentence could be said by either a man or a woman, but the pronunciation changes.

Why is לתת used here? Is it the infinitive?

Yes. לתת is the infinitive, meaning to give.

After a verb like רוצה (want), Hebrew normally uses an infinitive:

  • אני רוצה לתת = I want to give

The ל at the beginning of לתת is part of the infinitive form and often corresponds to English to.

Why is it לך and not אותך?

Because you is the recipient, not the direct object.

In this sentence:

  • the book is the thing being given
  • you are the person receiving it

So Hebrew uses ל + pronoun:

  • לך = to you

By contrast:

  • אותך means you as a direct object

So:

  • לתת לך את הספר = to give you the book
  • not לתת אותך..., because you are not the thing being given

Also, לך can be pronounced:

  • lekha when speaking to a male
  • lakh when speaking to a female

The spelling is the same without vowel points.

What is את doing in the sentence? It does not seem to translate into English.

את is the direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

Here, הספר means the book, which is definite, so Hebrew says:

  • את הספר

English does not have a separate word for this, so את is usually not translated.

A useful comparison:

  • אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר = I want to give you the book
  • אני רוצה לתת לך ספר = I want to give you a book

Notice that when the object is indefinite (a book), את disappears.

Why is it הספר and not just ספר?

Because ה at the beginning means the.

  • ספר = a book / book
  • הספר = the book

So the sentence is talking about a specific book, not just any book.

This also explains why את is needed: את is used before definite objects like הספר.

Why is עכשיו at the end? Can it go somewhere else?

Yes, it can move. Hebrew word order is fairly flexible.

The version with עכשיו at the end is very natural:

  • אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר עכשיו

But you could also say:

  • עכשיו אני רוצה לתת לך את הספר
  • אני רוצה עכשיו לתת לך את הספר

These versions are all possible, but the emphasis changes slightly.

Very roughly:

  • ... עכשיו = neutral, natural now at the end
  • עכשיו אני... = stronger emphasis on now
  • אני רוצה עכשיו... = emphasis on want now, as opposed to later
How is this sentence pronounced?

A common pronunciation would be:

  • ani rotze latet lekha et ha-sefer akhshav
    if the speaker is male and the listener is male

Possible variations:

  • ani rotza latet lekha et ha-sefer akhshav
    if the speaker is female and the listener is male

  • ani rotze latet lakh et ha-sefer akhshav
    if the speaker is male and the listener is female

So two words can change in pronunciation:

  • רוצה: rotze / rotza
  • לך: lekha / lakh
Is the sentence structure basically the same as in English?

Mostly yes, but with two important differences.

The structure is close to:

  • I want to give you the book now

But Hebrew does two things differently:

  • it uses לך = to you
  • it uses את before the definite direct object

So a more literal gloss would be:

  • I want to give to-you [object marker] the-book now

That is why the sentence may feel familiar overall, but still contain pieces that have no exact one-word English equivalent.

How would the sentence change if I were talking to more than one person?

The main change would be לך.

  • to one person: לך
  • to a group of males or mixed group: לכם
  • to a group of females: לכן

So:

  • אני רוצה לתת לכם את הספר עכשיו = I want to give you all the book now
  • אני רוצה לתת לכן את הספר עכשיו = same, addressing a group of females

If the speaker changes, רוצה can also change:

  • אני רוצה = I want
    written the same for a male or female speaker, but pronounced differently
  • אנחנו רוצים / רוצות = we want
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