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Free grammar · Unit 46 of 51

«If»: אִם with the future, אִלּוּ with הָיִיתִי

A real condition, something that may happen, uses אִם and the future in both halves: אִם יִהְיֶה לִי זְמַן, אָבוֹא, «if I have time, I will come»; אִם יֵרֵד גֶּשֶׁם, נִשָּׁאֵר בַּבַּיִת, «if it rains, we will stay home». Hebrew puts the future where English puts the present.

An unreal condition, something that did not happen or cannot, uses אִלּוּ (or אִם in speech) and הָיָה plus the present form: אִלּוּ יָדַעְתִּי, הָיִיתִי בָּא, «had I known, I would have come»; אִלּוּ הָיָה לִי כֶּסֶף, הָיִיתִי קוֹנֶה בַּיִת, «if I had money, I would buy a house». One form covers both «would» and «would have».

The page has the explanation, the table of real against unreal and the first two exercises: «if it rains tomorrow, we will stay home» and «if I had known, I would have called you». The other four, including building an unreal sentence and «not only… but also», open with a free account.

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Step 46 of 51 · Explanation

«If»: אִם with the future, אִלּוּ with הָיִיתִי

A real condition, something that may happen, uses and the future in both halves: , «if I have time, I will come».

Hebrew puts the future where English puts the present: , «if it rains, we will stay home».

4 more exercises in this unit

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Questions

How do you say «if I had known, I would have come» in Hebrew?
אִלּוּ יָדַעְתִּי, הָיִיתִי בָּא. אִלּוּ for the unreal «if», and הָיִיתִי plus the present form for the result.
How do you say «if it rains, I will stay home»?
אִם יֵרֵד גֶּשֶׁם, אֶשָּׁאֵר בַּבַּיִת: with אִם, both halves take the future.
How do you say «I would buy»?
הָיִיתִי קוֹנֶה: הָיָה in the right person plus the present form. «She would buy» is הִיא הָיְתָה קוֹנָה.

And then?

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The units

  1. Unit 1 of 51The pronouns: אֲנִי, אַתָּה, אַתְּ, הוּא, הִיא
  2. Unit 2 of 51Nouns: masculine or feminine, one or many
  3. Unit 3 of 51Strong verbs: לוֹמֵד, לוֹמֶדֶת, לוֹמְדִים, לוֹמְדוֹת
  4. Unit 4 of 51The adjective follows the noun and copies it
  5. Unit 5 of 51«And» is a letter: וְ
  6. Unit 6 of 51ב for where you are, ל for where you go
  7. Unit 7 of 51Strong verbs: לִלְמֹד, לִכְתֹּב, לִסְגֹּר
  8. Unit 8 of 51Strong verbs: כָּתַבְתִּי, לָמַדְתִּי, סָגַרְתִּי
  9. Unit 9 of 51Pi’el: מְדַבֵּר, מְדַבֶּרֶת, מְדַבְּרִים, מְדַבְּרוֹת
  10. Unit 10 of 51Time words: הַיּוֹם, מָחָר, אֶתְמוֹל, בַּבֹּקֶר
  11. Unit 11 of 51Two-letter verbs: גָּר, גָּרָה, גָּרִים, גָּרוֹת
  12. Unit 12 of 51Verbs ending in ה: רוֹצֶה, רוֹצָה, רוֹצִים, רוֹצוֹת
  13. Unit 13 of 51Two-letter verbs: גַּרְתִּי, קַמְתִּי, בָּאתִי
  14. Unit 14 of 51I had: הָיָה לִי, הָיְתָה לִי, הָיוּ לִי
  15. Unit 15 of 51Verbs ending in ה: לִרְצוֹת, לִשְׁתּוֹת, לִקְנוֹת
  16. Unit 16 of 51Verbs ending in ה: קָנִיתִי, רָצִיתִי, הָיִיתִי
  17. Unit 17 of 51Two-letter verbs: לָגוּר, לָקוּם, לָרוּץ
  18. Unit 18 of 51Throat letters at the end: שׁוֹמֵעַ, יוֹדֵעַ, קוֹרֵא
  19. Unit 19 of 51Pi'el in the past: דִּבֵּר, סִפֵּר, שִׁלֵּם
  20. Unit 20 of 51«That» after I think, I say, I know: שֶׁ
  21. Unit 21 of 51Verbs starting with י: לָשֶׁבֶת, לָרֶדֶת, לָלֶכֶת
  22. Unit 22 of 51Adverbs: the word after the verb never changes
  23. Unit 23 of 51Hif'il in the past: הִסְבִּיר, הִזְמִין, הִתְחִיל
  24. Unit 24 of 51Hitpa'el in the past: הִתְלַבֵּשׁ, הִתְחַתֵּן, הִסְתַּכֵּל
  25. Unit 25 of 51לָכֵן: the result after the reason
  26. Unit 26 of 51One word for the past: רַצְתִּי, not הָיִיתִי לָרוּץ
  27. Unit 27 of 51עַל with endings: עָלַי, עָלֶיךָ, עָלָיו
  28. Unit 28 of 51אֵצֶל with endings: אֶצְלִי, אֶצְלְךָ, אֶצְלוֹ
  29. Unit 29 of 51The dual: יוֹמַיִם, שְׁבוּעַיִם, פַּעֲמַיִם
  30. Unit 30 of 51I will have: יִהְיֶה לִי, תִּהְיֶה לִי, יִהְיוּ לִי
  31. Unit 31 of 51מִ with endings: מִמֶּנִּי, מִמְּךָ, מִמֶּנּוּ
  32. Unit 32 of 51Two-letter verbs in the future: אָגוּר, אָקוּם, אָבוֹא
  33. Unit 33 of 51The imperative and אַל: קוּם! אַל תָּקוּם!
  34. Unit 34 of 51Strong verbs in the future: אֶכְתֹּב, יִרְקֹד, נִסְגֹּר
  35. Unit 35 of 51Pi'el in the future: אֲדַבֵּר, יְסַדֵּר, נְשַׁלֵּם
  36. Unit 36 of 51Verbs ending in ה, and לִהְיוֹת: יִקְנֶה, יַעֲשֶׂה, יִהְיֶה
  37. Unit 37 of 51Verbs that lose a letter: אֵשֵׁב, אֵלֵךְ, אֶתֵּן
  38. Unit 38 of 51בְּ with endings: בִּי, בְּךָ, בּוֹ, בָּהּ
  39. Unit 39 of 51Hitpa'el in the future, and the letter swaps: אֶתְחַתֵּן, אֶסְתַּכֵּל, אֶצְטַעֵר
  40. Unit 40 of 51Hif'il in the future: אַרְגִּישׁ, תַּסְבִּיר, יַזְמִין
  41. Unit 41 of 51Nif'al: נִכְנָס, לְהִכָּנֵס, נִכְנַסְתִּי, אֶכָּנֵס
  42. Unit 42 of 51אֶל with endings: אֵלַי, אֵלֶיךָ, אֵלָיו
  43. Unit 43 of 51The possessive glued to the noun: סִפְרִי, אִשְׁתִּי, בֵּיתוֹ
  44. Unit 44 of 51All the endings in one table: לִי, אוֹתִי, שֶׁלִּי, עָלַי, אֵלַי, מִמֶּנִּי
  45. Unit 45 of 51Pi'el ending in ה, all tenses: מְגַלֶּה, גִּלִּיתִי, אֲגַלֶּה
  46. Unit 46 of 51«If»: אִם with the future, אִלּוּ with הָיִיתִי
  47. Unit 47 of 51The noun made from the verb: פְּתִיחָה, בִּקּוּר, הַסְבָּרָה
  48. Unit 48 of 51Pu'al: מְסֻפָּר, סֻפַּר, «is told»
  49. Unit 49 of 51Huf'al: מֻרְגָּשׁ, הֻרְגַּשׁ, «is felt»
  50. Unit 50 of 51The same event, without who did it: הַכּוֹס נִשְׁבְּרָה
  51. Unit 51 of 51More, less, the most: יוֹתֵר מִ, פָּחוֹת מִ, הֲכִי