בוא / בואי / בואו

Inviting Someone to Act

Level 3

בוא addresses one man, בואי one woman, and בואו several people. They can mean come or introduce an invitation to do something together.

How It Works

Literal Coming

Use בוא הנה, בואי הנה or בואו הנה according to the addressee. The direction phrase identifies where the person should come. The irregular family belongs to לבוא; do not form it as a regular imperative from another verb.

An Invitation

Everyday בוא נלך, בואי נלך and בואו נלך mean let’s go when spoken to one man, one woman or a group. The first form agrees with the addressee, while נלך is the future-shaped we form of go. A singular invitation therefore does not need plural בואו merely because two people will act.

Keep the Intended Action

The phrase can invite a shared discussion or drink without literal motion toward the speaker: בואי נדבר and בואו נשתה קפה. The context identifies the invitation. Learn the whole structure rather than translating English let’s as one fixed Hebrew word in every sentence.

Examples (4)

  1. בוא הנה.

    Come here.

    The listener is one man.

  2. בואי הנה.

    Come here.

    The listener is one woman.

  3. בואי נשתה קפה.

    Let’s have coffee.

    The invitation addresses one woman; נשתה includes both people.

  4. בואו נלך הביתה.

    Let’s go home.

    The invitation addresses a group.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

בוא / בואי / בואוLevel 3Inviting Someone to Act

Learn This First

Recognize the בוא instruction family and an invitation followed by a shared future activity.