Verb and Preposition Partnerships

Level 4

Hebrew verbs and other predicates have learned preposition relationships, such as תלוי ב, שייך ל and השתמש ב. English wording does not determine the Hebrew preposition.

How It Works

Learn the Whole Relationship

Useful combinations include תלוי ב, depends on; שייך ל, belongs to; להשתמש ב, use; לחכות ל, wait for; and לחשוב על, think about. Learn a short native sentence with the combination rather than memorizing only its English verb.

Noun or Personal Form

Use אני מחכה לדנה with a name and אני מחכה לה with a personal reference. השתמשתי במחשב names the object used through ב. A pronoun changes the preposition into its actual personal form; it does not remove the relationship.

Meaning Can Change the Construction

A verb may permit different relationships in different meanings, as לדבר עם someone versus לדבר על a topic. A preposition is therefore fixed for a particular lexical use, not necessarily the sole preposition ever found after that written verb. Direct-object את and a selected ל or ב are different structures.

Examples (4)

  1. זה תלוי בך.

    That depends on you.

    The depends-on relationship uses ב.

  2. הספר שייך לי.

    The book belongs to me.

    The belongs-to relationship uses ל.

  3. השתמשתי במחשב.

    I used the computer.

    להשתמש selects ב in this meaning.

  4. אני מחכה לדנה.

    I am waiting for Dana.

    The waiting relationship uses ל with the name.

Common Mistakes

  • Translating the English wait-for preposition as an arbitrary Hebrew על.

    אני מחכה על דנה.
    אני מחכה לדנה.

    The ordinary Hebrew wait-for relationship selects ל.

How It Connects

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

Verb and Preposition PartnershipsLevel 4

Learn This First

Recognize the preposition a verb requires and its place in the sentence.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.