Questions & Answers about אל תדלג על הפסקה הזאת; יש בה רמז חשוב לפירוש של המילה.
Because אל is the normal word for a negative command in Hebrew.
- אל תדלג = Don’t skip
- לא תדלג would usually not be the normal everyday way to give this command
A useful contrast:
- אני לא מדלג = I’m not skipping / I don’t skip
- אל תדלג = Don’t skip
So אל is used for telling someone not to do something.
תדלג is a future-tense form that Hebrew also uses for commands after אל.
Here it is:
- root: ד־ל־ג
- basic idea: skip / leap over
- form: you (masculine singular) will skip
After אל, that future form means:
- אל תדלג = don’t skip
So even though it looks like a future form, in this sentence it functions as a command.