אם האינטרקום לא יעבוד בערב, תבקשי מהאורחים לחכות ליד הדלת.

In Hebrew, when אם means if in a real future condition, the verb after it is usually in the future tense.

So:

• אם האינטרקום לא יעבוד בערב = If the intercom doesn’t work in the evening

This is different from English, where we often use the present after if: if it doesn’t work. Hebrew normally prefers the future here.

Because the sentence is talking about a possible situation in the future, not a general present fact.

• לא עובד = is not working / doesn’t work in a present or habitual sense
• לא יעבוד = will not work / won’t work

Since the sentence means if the intercom doesn’t work tonight / in the evening, Hebrew uses the future form יעבוד.

The root meaning of לעבוד is to work. In this sentence, יעבוד means will work / will function.

So for machines or devices, Hebrew often uses לעבוד just like English uses work:

• המחשב לא עובד = The computer isn’t working
• האינטרקום לא יעבוד = The intercom won’t work

תבקשי is the future tense, 2nd person singular feminine form of לבקש (to ask / request).

That means the speaker is talking to one female:

• תבקשי = you will ask / ask (to a woman)

In this kind of sentence, future tense is often used like an instruction:

• If X happens, ask the guests...

So even though it looks like future, in English it may sound more like an instruction or polite directive.

Then תבקשי would become תבקש.

So:

• אם האינטרקום לא יעבוד בערב, תבקש מהאורחים לחכות ליד הדלת.

That is the same sentence addressed to one male.

Not exactly. It is technically a future tense form, not the formal imperative.

Hebrew often uses future tense for commands, requests, or instructions, especially in everyday speech.

So:

• תבקשי מהאורחים... literally looks like you will ask the guests...
• but functionally it often means ask the guests...

A true imperative of לבקש is much less common in ordinary speech here.

Because the verb לבקש often takes the pattern לבקש מ־ מישהו = to ask someone.

So:

• לבקש מהאורחים = to ask the guests

The מ־ here means from, even though in natural English we usually just say ask the guests, not ask from the guests.

This is a common difference between Hebrew and English.

Usually no, not with this meaning.

• לבקש מ־מישהו לעשות משהו = to ask someone to do something
• לבקש משהו = to request something

So in this sentence:

• תבקשי מהאורחים לחכות = ask the guests to wait

But:

• לבקש את האורחים would sound unnatural here

Hebrew distinguishes between asking a person and asking for a thing differently than English does.

After לבקש מ־מישהו, Hebrew commonly uses an infinitive:

• לבקש ממישהו לחכות = to ask someone to wait

So:

• תבקשי מהאורחים לחכות = ask the guests to wait

You may also encounter structures with ש־ in some contexts, but the infinitive is very standard and natural here.

לחכות means to wait.

A very common alternative is להמתין, which is a bit more formal.

Compare:

• לחכות ליד הדלת = to wait by the door
• להמתין ליד הדלת = same meaning, slightly more formal

In everyday spoken Hebrew, לחכות is extremely common.

Literally it means next to the door / by the door.

• ליד = next to / beside / by
• הדלת = the door

So לחכות ליד הדלת is to wait by the door.

Hebrew uses ה־ as the definite article, meaning the.

So:

• האורחים = the guests
• הדלת = the door
• האינטרקום = the intercom

In this sentence, all three are definite because the speaker likely has specific guests, a specific door, and a specific intercom in mind.

בערב means in the evening / tonight in the evening context.

It is made of:

• ב־ = in
• ערב = evening

So:

• בערב = in the evening

It tells you when the possible problem may happen: if the intercom doesn’t work in the evening.

Hebrew commonly puts the conditional clause first:

• אם האינטרקום לא יעבוד בערב, תבקשי מהאורחים לחכות ליד הדלת.

That structure is very natural:

1. If X happens...
2. then do Y

You could think of it as:

• If the intercom doesn’t work in the evening, ask the guests to wait by the door.

This mirrors a common English structure quite closely.

Yes, it is standard to put a comma after the אם clause when it comes first.

So:

• אם האינטרקום לא יעבוד בערב, תבקשי...

This helps separate the condition from the main clause, just like in English:

• If the intercom doesn’t work in the evening, ask...

In modern Hebrew, אם most commonly means if.

It can also mean whether in some contexts:

• אני לא יודע אם הוא יבוא = I don’t know whether he will come

But in your sentence, it clearly means if, because it introduces a condition.

It sounds like normal, natural everyday Hebrew.

Nothing in it is especially literary or old-fashioned. In fact:

• יעבוד for a device functioning
• תבקשי as an instruction
• לחכות ליד הדלת

all sound very ordinary and practical in spoken or written modern Hebrew.