אל תפתחי את המכסה עכשיו; הקומקום חם מאוד.

Don’t open the lid now; the kettle is very hot.

Breakdown of אל תפתחי את המכסה עכשיו; הקומקום חם מאוד.

• עכשיו: now
• את: direct object marker
• לפתוח: to open
• חם: hot

Questions & Answers about אל תפתחי את המכסה עכשיו; הקומקום חם מאוד.

Why does the sentence use אל and not לא for don’t?

In Hebrew, אל is commonly used for a negative command: don’t ...

So:

• אל תפתחי = don’t open (said to one female)
• לא תפתחי would usually not be the normal way to give a command

A useful shortcut:

• לא = ordinary negation, not
• אל = negation in commands, don’t

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Why is it תפתחי? What does that ending mean?

תפתחי is the 2nd person feminine singular future form of the verb לפתוח (to open).

In Hebrew, negative commands are often formed with:

• אל + future form

So:

• אל תפתחי = don’t open (to one woman/girl)
• אל תפתח = don’t open (to one man/boy)

The ending -י here signals that the speaker is addressing a female singular.

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If I were speaking to a man, how would the sentence change?