Questions & Answers about רציתי לשמור איתה על קשר גם אחרי הקורס.
What does רציתי literally mean, and why is it in the past tense?
רציתי is the 1st person singular past form of רצה (to want), so it literally means I wanted.
In Hebrew, this past form is often used not only for a real past desire, but also to sound a bit softer or more natural, somewhat like I wanted to... in English. In this sentence, it can simply mean a past intention: I wanted to keep in touch with her...
A useful detail: in the past tense, רציתי is the same whether the speaker is male or female.
Why is there no separate word for I in the sentence?
Hebrew often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.
So:
- רציתי = I wanted
- רצית = you wanted (with gender depending on form)
- רצה = he wanted
Because רציתי already tells us the subject is I, adding אני is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.
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