Breakdown of אם תשקר לי עוד פעם, יהיה לי קשה להאמין לך, אפילו אם תגיד את האמת אחר כך.
Questions & Answers about אם תשקר לי עוד פעם, יהיה לי קשה להאמין לך, אפילו אם תגיד את האמת אחר כך.
Why does the sentence start with אם? What exactly does it mean here?
Here אם means if and introduces a condition: If you lie to me again...
A useful extra note: אם can also mean whether in other contexts, but in this sentence it clearly means if.
Why are תשקר and תגיד in the future tense? In English we say if you lie, not if you will lie.
That is a very common Hebrew-English difference.
In Hebrew, when you talk about a real future condition, you normally use the future tense after אם:
- אם תשקר לי... = if you lie to me...
- אם תגיד את האמת... = if you tell the truth...
So although English uses a present form after if, Hebrew usually uses future forms.
Who is תשקר addressed to? Is it masculine, feminine, or neutral?
תשקר is second person masculine singular: you said to one male.
The same is true for תגיד.
If you were speaking to a female, you would say:
- אם תשקרי לי עוד פעם...
- אפילו אם תגידי את האמת אחר כך...
If you were speaking to more than one person:
- אם תשקרו לי עוד פעם...
- אפילו אם תגידו את האמת אחר כך...
What does עוד פעם mean exactly? Is it the same as שוב?
עוד פעם means again or one more time.
In this sentence, it has the sense of again / one more time:
- אם תשקר לי עוד פעם = if you lie to me again / one more time
Yes, שוב can often mean the same thing:
- אם תשקר לי שוב...
The difference is mostly style:
- עוד פעם is very common and conversational
- שוב is also common, but can sound slightly more neutral or a bit more concise
Why is לי used twice?
Because it plays two different roles:
- תשקר לי = you will lie to me
- יהיה לי קשה = it will be hard for me
So the first לי is the person receiving the lie, and the second לי is the person experiencing the difficulty.
How does יהיה לי קשה work? It feels different from English.
Literally, יהיה לי קשה is something like will be to me hard.
Natural English is:
- it will be hard for me
This is a very common Hebrew structure:
- קשה לי = it is hard for me
- היה לי קשה = it was hard for me
- יהיה לי קשה = it will be hard for me
So Hebrew often uses: היה / יהיה + ל־ + adjective
Why is it יהיה and not something that matches לי?
Because לי is not the grammatical subject. It means to me / for me.
The phrase יהיה לי קשה is an impersonal kind of construction, like English it will be hard for me. Hebrew uses יהיה in the default third person masculine singular form here.
So:
- יהיה לי קשה does not mean he will be hard to me
- it is just the normal way to say it will be hard for me
Why is it להאמין לך and not a direct-object form like להאמין אותך?
Because the verb להאמין normally takes ל־ before the person you believe.
So:
- אני מאמין לך = I believe you
- קשה לי להאמין לך = it is hard for me to believe you
That is just how this verb works in Hebrew.
A helpful contrast:
- להאמין לך = believe you
- להאמין בך = believe in you
So ל־ and ב־ give different meanings.
What does אפילו אם mean? Why not just use אם again?
אפילו אם means even if.
It adds a stronger contrast:
- אפילו אם תגיד את האמת אחר כך = even if you tell the truth afterward
If you used only אם, the meaning would be weaker. אפילו אם emphasizes that trust will still be damaged, even in that case.
Why does Hebrew use תגיד את האמת here? Could it also be תאמר את האמת?
Yes, both are correct.
- תגיד את האמת = very natural, everyday Hebrew
- תאמר את האמת = also correct, often a bit more formal or literary
In ordinary spoken Hebrew, להגיד is extremely common, so תגיד את האמת sounds very natural.
What does אחר כך mean, and why is it placed at the end?
אחר כך means afterward, later, or after that.
So:
- תגיד את האמת אחר כך = tell the truth afterward / later
Putting it at the end is very normal in Hebrew. Time expressions often come near the end of the clause, especially when they modify the whole action.
Is the whole sentence natural Hebrew, or is it very literal?
It is natural and idiomatic.
A native speaker would understand it immediately, and it sounds normal. You might also hear small variations such as:
- אם תשקר לי שוב, יהיה לי קשה להאמין לך...
- גם אם תגיד את האמת אחר כך...
But the original sentence is perfectly good Hebrew.
What is the overall structure of the sentence?
It has three parts:
אם תשקר לי עוד פעם
= If you lie to me againיהיה לי קשה להאמין לך
= it will be hard for me to believe youאפילו אם תגיד את האמת אחר כך
= even if you tell the truth afterward
So the full logic is:
If you lie to me again, it will be hard for me to believe you, even if you tell the truth afterward.
This is a very common Hebrew pattern:
- condition with אם
- main result clause
- added contrast with אפילו אם
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