Free grammar · Unit 15 of 20

The infinitive of verbs ending in ה: לִרְצוֹת, לִשְׁתּוֹת, לִקְנוֹת

Verbs whose present ends in ה, like רוֹצֶה «wants», שׁוֹתֶה «drinks», קוֹנֶה «buys», רוֹאֶה «sees», lose that ה in the infinitive and take the ending ־וֹת instead: לִרְצוֹת, לִשְׁתּוֹת, לִקְנוֹת, לִרְאוֹת. Lirtsot, lishtot, liknot, lirot: hear ot at the end and you already know the verb’s family.

The opening is the same li as for strong verbs: לִ, the first root letter with no vowel, the second with ot. And the same bend comes back: when the root starts with ע or ח, li becomes la, as in לַעֲשׂוֹת «to do», לַעֲנוֹת «to answer», לַעֲלוֹת «to go up». The ־וֹת does not move. Here it is not a feminine plural: it is simply how the infinitive ends.

The page has the explanation, a table from the present to the infinitive and the first two exercises: «I want to drink coffee» and «what do you want to do today?». The other four, including typing the infinitive yourself, open with a free account.