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to leave - which verb in Hebrew?

The video that explains how to say "to leave" in Hebrew is summarized in this blog post. To allow you to download the presentation with the sample sentences used in the video, I'm sharing this here as well.


What do you want to say?

Are you aware of all the meanings of the English verb "leave" when you use it? As an illustration:

• He's going to leave her.

• She leaves the kids with her mom.

• I leave the keys on the table.

• Leave me!

 

Different situations, different verbs

The circumstances are noticeably different. It seems of sense that different verbs are chosen for different situations in other languages. You just need two for Hebrew, so you shouldn't worry too much. It all boils down to what you truly wish to express.


I encourage you to view the video, as it will provide much more clarity than this text.

 

What means “to leave”?

To leave can mean to abandon. As in, my boyfriend left me. Then we would use in Hebrew the verb לַעֲזוֹב. So if we want to say to abandon, to leave alone, to leave for good, it is לַעֲזוֹב And in English, it is to leave.

 

If it is not this kind of leaving, then we use לְהַשְׁאִיר Or לְהוֹתִיר. But I assume you only want to learn one verb for the moment, right? So as I said, the difference between those two, is subtle. לְהַשְׁאִיר is just fine for all that is not לַעֲזוֹב.

 

Watch out!

And here, be careful, the correct verb is לְהַשְׁאִיר, this is not לְהִישָּׁאֵר. We are in HIFIL, לְהַשְׁאִיר. And לְהִישָּׁאֵר, the verb that we use when I say, “I stay at home”, is NIFAL.

 

I suggest you check at the infinitive constructions and the binyan they belong to if you're still not very confident in your understanding of them. If you get that down pat, it should help you avoid a lot of misunderstanding when studying. You can browse through my book before I go on since I don't want to get into too much detail, but this is important.


Once more, remember to download the presentation that includes the following sample sentences from the video:

 

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