לי / לך / לו

To Me and to You

Level 2

לי, לך, לו and לה mean to or for me, you, him and her in suitable phrases. They also occur in possession and with verbs that select ל.

How It Works

The Forms

Learn לי, לך, לו, לה, לנו, לכם, לכן, להם and להן. The masculine and feminine singular pronunciations of לך differ even though the unpointed letters match.

Different Uses

In נותן לה ספר, לה names the recipient. In יש לה ספר, it names the possessor. In עוזר לה, the verb selects the ל-relationship. Keep the form attached to its meaning in the sentence.

Do Not Translate Mechanically

English help her has a direct-looking object, but Hebrew normally says לעזור לה. Conversely, seeing her uses לראות אותה. Learn a verb together with its selected relationship; a person after a verb is not automatically an את-object.

Examples (4)

  1. אני נותן לה ספר.

    I am giving her a book.

    לה identifies the recipient.

  2. יש לנו זמן.

    We have time.

    לנו identifies the possessors.

  3. דנה עוזרת לי.

    Dana is helping me.

    לעזור selects ל.

  4. אני מחכה לך.

    I am waiting for you.

    The waiting relationship is expressed with ל.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a direct-object form after the ordinary help verb.

    דנה עוזרת אותי.
    דנה עוזרת לי.

    The verb לעזור selects ל; use לי.

How It Connects

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

לי / לך / לוLevel 2To Me and to You

Learn This First

Keep the ל-relationship while replacing its noun phrase with a personal form.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.