Breakdown of אם תרצו לראות את הזריחה וגם את השקיעה, כדאי שתישארו שם לילה אחד.
Questions & Answers about אם תרצו לראות את הזריחה וגם את השקיעה, כדאי שתישארו שם לילה אחד.
This is a very common point of confusion.
In Hebrew, after אם (if), a real future condition is usually expressed with the future tense:
- אם תרצו = if you want / if you will want
- אם תלכו = if you go
- אם תראו = if you see
So even though English normally uses the present after if, Hebrew often uses the future.
That means:
- אם תרצו לראות... literally looks like if you will want to see...
- but it is naturally translated as if you want to see...
תרצו is second person plural future: you (plural) will want.
So this sentence is addressed to more than one person.
Related forms:
- אם תרצה = if you want (masculine singular)
- אם תרצי = if you want (feminine singular)
- אם תרצו = if you all want
The same thing happens later with שתישארו, which is also plural.