Need, Can, Forbidden: Modal Verbs
Small words that change the whole sentence: not just what happens, but whether it has to, whether it can and whether it is allowed. And at the end, the secret of קוֹרְאִים לִי.
Every word in this lesson is followed by an infinitive: צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶת, אָסוּר לְעַשֵּׁן, כְּדַאי לִרְאוֹת.
Two families
Some words change, some are frozen
The first family behaves like a present-tense verb: צָרִיךְ, יָכוֹל, רוֹצֶה, חַיָּב. They have four forms and agree with the subject in gender and number: הוּא צָרִיךְ, הִיא צְרִיכָה.
The second family is frozen: אָסוּר, מֻתָּר, אֶפְשָׁר, כְּדַאי. They have no subject and no forms. They say something about the world, not about a particular person.
In both families the verb that follows is always an infinitive: לָלֶכֶת, לְעַשֵּׁן, לִרְאוֹת.
Change with the subject
Who needs to? Who can? The subject decides the form.
Frozen
A rule, a possibility or advice. One form for everyone.
One from each family
אֲנִי צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶת.
ani tsarikh lalekhet
I need to go. — צָרִיךְ agrees with “I” (a man).
אָסוּר לְעַשֵּׁן כָּאן.
asur le’ashen kan
Smoking is forbidden here. — אָסוּר has no subject: a rule for everyone.
Need, can, want, mustfour forms
Just like a present-tense verb
These words take the four present-tense forms: masculine, feminine, masculine plural and feminine plural. The endings are familiar: ־ָה or ־ֶת for the feminine, ־ִים for the plural, ־וֹת for the feminine plural.
The subject comes first, then the modal, then the infinitive: הִיא צְרִיכָה לַעֲבֹד.
חַיָּב is stronger than צָרִיךְ: צָרִיךְ is “need to”, חַיָּב is “have no choice”.
Four modals in all their forms
| Meaning | Masculine | Feminine | Masc. plural | Fem. plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| need, have to | צָרִיךְ | צְרִיכָה | צְרִיכִים | צְרִיכוֹת |
| can, be able to | יָכוֹל | יְכוֹלָה | יְכוֹלִים | יְכוֹלוֹת |
| want | רוֹצֶה | רוֹצָה | רוֹצִים | רוֹצוֹת |
| must | חַיָּב | חַיֶּבֶת | חַיָּבִים | חַיָּבוֹת |
In sentences
הִיא צְרִיכָה לַעֲבֹד מָחָר.
hi tsrikha la’avod makhar
She has to work tomorrow. — הִיא → צְרִיכָה.
אַתֶּם יְכוֹלִים לָבוֹא בְּשֶׁבַע?
atem yekholim lavo be-sheva?
Can you come at seven? — אַתֶּם → יְכוֹלִים. A question with no change in word order.
אֲנַחְנוּ חַיָּבִים לְדַבֵּר.
anakhnu khayavim ledaber
We must talk. — אֲנַחְנוּ → חַיָּבִים. חַיָּבִים לְדַבֵּר means it is urgent.
Want to do it, or want someone else to do it?
When I want to do something myself, an infinitive follows. When I want someone else to do it, use שֶׁ + future: English says “I want you to come”, Hebrew says “I want that you will come”. The same rule works with צָרִיךְ שֶׁ and מְבַקֵּשׁ שֶׁ.
אֲנִי רוֹצֶה לָבוֹא.
ani rotse lavo
I want to come. — I will come: infinitive.
אֲנִי רוֹצֶה שֶׁתָּבוֹא.
ani rotse she-tavo
I want you to come. — you will come: שֶׁ + future.
Quick check
Dana has to go home. Choose the right form.
דָּנָה ___ לָלֶכֶת הַבַּיְתָה.
Forbidden, allowed, possible, worth itone form
No subject, with לְ
These words never change. אָסוּר לְעַשֵּׁן is a rule for everyone. There is no “אני אסור” and no “היא אסורה לעשן”.
To say who it is forbidden for or worth it for, add לְ + pronoun: לִי, לְךָ, לָךְ, לוֹ, לָהּ, לָנוּ, לָכֶם, לָהֶם. אָסוּר לְךָ לְעַשֵּׁן (you’re not allowed to smoke), כְּדַאי לָנוּ לָלֶכֶת (we’d better go).
This is the same לְ as in יֵשׁ לִי. In Hebrew, the person something “happens to” comes with לְ and is not the subject of the sentence.
Seven frozen words
forbidden, not allowed
allowed
possible; also “can I have…?”
impossible
worth it, you should; advice
one has to (in general, no subject)
a pity, too bad
Adding who
אָסוּר לְךָ לְעַשֵּׁן.
asur lekha le’ashen
You’re not allowed to smoke. — לְךָ: forbidden for you in particular.
מֻתָּר לִי לְהִכָּנֵס?
mutar li lehikanes?
May I come in? — a polite question: מֻתָּר לִי?
כְּדַאי לָךְ לָנוּחַ קְצָת.
kedai lakh lanuakh ktsat
You should rest a little. — advice to a woman: לָךְ.
אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְדַבֵּר אִתּוֹ.
i efshar ledaber ito
It’s impossible to talk to him. — אִי אֶפְשָׁר = not possible at all.
Without לְ the sentence is general: כְּדַאי לָנוּחַ (it’s a good idea to rest). With לְ it is personal: כְּדַאי לָךְ לָנוּחַ (you should rest).
The same structure for feelings: קָשֶׁה לִי, נָעִים לִי
Feelings are built the same way: frozen adjective + לְ + infinitive. Hebrew does not say “I am hard” but קָשֶׁה לִי, “it is hard for me to do something”.
kashe li lakum ba-boker
it’s hard for me to get up in the morning
khashuv lanu lilmod
it’s important to us to learn
na’im li po
I like it here (lit. it is pleasant to me)
khaval she-lo bata
too bad you didn’t come
Quick check
How do you say “I’m not allowed to smoke in the restaurant”?
___ לְעַשֵּׁן בַּמִּסְעָדָה.
In the past and the future
הָיָה and יִהְיֶה do the work
The frozen words move into the past and the future with הָיָה and יִהְיֶה. These are frozen too, always masculine singular: הָיָה אָסוּר (it was forbidden), יִהְיֶה אֶפְשָׁר (it will be possible).
The family that changes has its own past and future: רָצִיתִי, יָכֹלְתִּי, אֶרְצֶה, אוּכַל. For צָרִיךְ, use הָיִיתִי צָרִיךְ in the past, and אֶצְטָרֵךְ (or אֶהְיֶה צָרִיךְ) in the future.
תּוּכַל, the future of יָכוֹל, is one of the most polite ways to ask in Hebrew: תּוּכַל לַעֲזֹר לִי? (could you help me?)
Present, past and future
| Present | Past | Future |
|---|---|---|
| אָסוּר | הָיָה אָסוּר | יִהְיֶה אָסוּר |
| אֶפְשָׁר | הָיָה אֶפְשָׁר | יִהְיֶה אֶפְשָׁר |
| כְּדַאי | הָיָה כְּדַאי | יִהְיֶה כְּדַאי |
| אֲנִי צָרִיךְ | הָיִיתִי צָרִיךְ | אֶצְטָרֵךְ |
| אֲנִי יָכוֹל | יָכֹלְתִּי | אוּכַל |
| אֲנִי רוֹצֶה | רָצִיתִי | אֶרְצֶה |
In the top three rows הָיָה and יִהְיֶה do not change. In the bottom three the verb agrees with “I”.
הָיִיתִי צָרִיךְ: what should have happened
הָיִיתָ צָרִיךְ לְהַגִּיד לִי!
hayita tsarikh lehagid li!
You should have told me! — criticism: you didn’t tell me, and you should have.
הָיָה כְּדַאי לְהַזְמִין מֵרֹאשׁ.
haya kedai lehazmin me-rosh
We should have booked in advance. — regret: we didn’t book, and now there’s no room.
הָיָה צָרִיךְ and הָיָה כְּדַאי often express regret or criticism: it didn’t happen, and that’s a pity.
Quick check
Yesterday it was forbidden to enter the park. Which form of הָיָה?
אֶתְמוֹל ___ אָסוּר לְהִכָּנֵס לַפַּארְק.
Impersonal sentences: אוֹמְרִים שֶׁ…real Hebrew
A plural verb with no subject
When it does not matter who does the action, Hebrew takes the masculine plural verb and drops the subject: אוֹמְרִים, כּוֹתְבִים, אוֹכְלִים. Where English uses “one”, “they”, “you” or “people”, Hebrew uses the verb on its own.
The most famous sentence is built this way: קוֹרְאִים לִי דָּנָה, word for word “(they) call me Dana”. This is how you introduce yourself in Hebrew.
It works in every tense: גָּנְבוּ לִי אֶת הָאוֹפַנַּיִם (someone stole my bike), יַגִּידוּ לָכֶם מָחָר (someone will tell you tomorrow).
Five impersonal sentences
קוֹרְאִים לִי דָּנָה.
kor’im li Dana
My name is Dana. — lit. “(they) call me”.
אֵיךְ אוֹמְרִים אֶת זֶה בְּעִבְרִית?
eikh omrim et ze be-ivrit?
How do you say this in Hebrew? — the most useful question for learners.
כָּאן לֹא מְעַשְּׁנִים.
kan lo me’ashnim
There’s no smoking here. — a rule.
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹכְלִים הַרְבֵּה חוּמוּס.
be-yisra’el okhlim harbe khumus
In Israel people eat a lot of hummus. — a general habit.
גָּנְבוּ לִי אֶת הָאוֹפַנַּיִם!
ganvu li et ha-ofanayim!
My bike got stolen! — past: someone stole it, and nobody knows who.
Why is this useful?
An impersonal sentence lets you talk about rules and habits without blaming anyone and without “people” in every sentence. It sounds very natural, and much more Israeli than אֲנָשִׁים אוֹמְרִים שֶׁ… (people say that…).
Quick check
Impersonal sentence: what do people say on Friday?
בְּיוֹם שִׁשִּׁי ___ שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם.
Mistakes and summary
Common mistakes
- אֲנִי אָסוּר לְעַשֵּׁןאָסוּר לִי לְעַשֵּׁן
אָסוּר takes no subject. The person it is forbidden for comes with לְ.
- הִיא צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶתהִיא צְרִיכָה לָלֶכֶת
צָרִיךְ agrees with the subject: הִיא צְרִיכָה.
- אֲנִי צָרִיךְ הוֹלֵךְאֲנִי צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶת
A modal is followed by an infinitive, not a present-tense verb.
- הָיְתָה אֲסוּרָה לְעַשֵּׁןהָיָה אָסוּר לְעַשֵּׁן
The frozen words never change, and the הָיָה before them stays masculine singular too.
- אֲנִי רוֹצֶה אַתָּה תָּבוֹאאֲנִי רוֹצֶה שֶׁתָּבוֹא
Wanting someone else to do something: שֶׁ + future.
What to remember
- צָרִיךְ, יָכוֹל, רוֹצֶה, חַיָּב agree with the subject, like a present-tense verb.
- אָסוּר, מֻתָּר, אֶפְשָׁר, כְּדַאי are frozen. For whom: לְ + pronoun.
- Past and future: הָיָה / יִהְיֶה + the frozen word.
- Impersonal sentence = plural verb with no subject: אוֹמְרִים, קוֹרְאִים לִי.
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Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between צָרִיךְ and חַיָּב?
- Both express obligation, but חַיָּב is stronger. אֲנִי צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶת (I need to go) is an ordinary fact; אֲנִי חַיָּב לָלֶכֶת (I must go) says there is no choice, and usually that it is urgent.
- Why is it אָסוּר לִי and not אֲנִי אָסוּר?
- Because אָסוּר describes a state of the world, not a person. The sentence says “smoking is forbidden”, and the person the ban applies to appears with לְ: אָסוּר לִי. The same goes for מֻתָּר, כְּדַאי, קָשֶׁה and חָשׁוּב.
- Can אֶפְשָׁר also be a request?
- Yes, and it is one of its most common uses: אֶפְשָׁר קָפֶה? (can I have a coffee?) אֶפְשָׁר לְשַׁלֵּם בְּכַרְטִיס? (can I pay by card?) It is the easiest way to ask for something in a shop or a restaurant.
- קוֹרְאִים לִי sounds like “they call me”. Who are “they”?
- No one in particular. It is an impersonal sentence: a masculine plural verb with no subject, meaning “people in general”. קוֹרְאִים לִי דָּנָה = “my name is Dana”. אוֹמְרִים שֶׁ… (they say that…) and אֵיךְ כּוֹתְבִים…? (how do you spell…?) are built the same way.
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