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In most verbs of the pa'ál construction, the vowel is khirík (as in לִסְגּוֹר), but in others it may be patákh (as in לַעֲזוֹב or לַחְזוֹר), segól (as in לֶאֱכוֹל), kamáts (as in לָקוּם or לָרֶדֶת), or, very rarely, tseré (as in לֵאמוֹר) or kholám malé (as in לוֹמַר).
In verbs of the pi'él, hitpa'él, hitpu'al, and hif'íl constructions (including variations such as polél, hitpolél, and nitpa'él), the vowel is shva ná.
Verbs of the pu'ál and huf'ál constructions do not have infinitives.
הספה הופכת למיטה. ― hasapá hofékhet l'mitá. ― The sofa turns into a bed.
For, according to, in the opinion of; indicating the holder of a viewpoint, or the source of a claim.
לדעתי, אין ברירה. ― l'da'atí, en b'rerá. ― In my opinion, there's no choice.
לדבריו, האירוע נגמר בחצות. ― lid'varáv, ha'erúa nigmár b'khatsót. ― He said that the event ended at midnight.
Indicating the theme of an impersonal verb or other impersonal predicate.
נראה לי שגבוה מדי. ― nir'é li shegavóa miday. ― I think that it's too high.
קר לכם? ― kár lakhém? ― Are you cold?
לא מגיע להם. ― ló magí'a lahém. ― They don't deserve it.
Of; indicating the reference-point relative to which a direction may be specified.
צפונה ל־ ― tsafóna l'- ― north of
מתחת ל־ ― mitákhat l'- ― under, underneath
חוץ לארץ ― khúts la'árets ― abroad
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אל תדאג לי. ― ál tid'ág li. ― Don't worry about me .
Of, to, before: indicating the hour before which a number of minutes or fraction of an hour is specified.
רבע ל־10 ― réva l'éser ― a quarter to ten
עשרה לחמש ― asará l'chamésh ― ten to five
(by extension,slang)Before: indicating the number of years before which a fraction of a year is specified.
רבע ל־10 ― réva l'éser ― a quarter less than ten
Usage notes
The above list of uses is not exhaustive; many verbs and compound prepositions use ל־ to construe their objects, and in general, this is an idiosyncratic property of the verb or preposition. Conversely, above-listed uses are not definitive; in many cases, there are other prepositions that may be used similarly (or even somewhat interchangeably). Finally, the above-listed uses are not mutually exclusive; a single instance of ל־ may serve more than one of them.
Like all one-letter words in Hebrew, ל־ functions as a clitic, attaching to the word that follows it. Since it is a preposition, this means it attaches to the first word of its object.
In traditional grammar, ל־ undergoes some vowel changes, depending on the word it attaches to:
The default form, used when none of the below rules applies, is לְ־(l'-). It is also the only form in ordinary use in colloquial Modern Hebrew, except for the forms that merge with the definite article (see below) and in various fixed expressions that always use the traditional pronunciation.
When the first syllable of the word has a shva ná, the form לִ־(li-) is used; hence, when ל־ is attached to the noun פְּעָמִים(p'amím, “times”), we obtain the adverb לִפְעָמִים(lif'amím, “sometimes”). Further, when the word starts with the syllable יְ־(y'-), it loses its shva; hence, in traditional grammar, when ל־ is attached to יְרוּשָׁלַיִם(y'rushaláyim, “Jerusalem”), we obtain לִירוּשָׁלַיִם(lirushaláyim, “to Jerusalem”).
When the first syllable of the word has a khataf vowel, ל־ takes the corresponding non-khataf vowel.
When it is combined with the clitic הַ־(ha-, “the”), the two clitics fuse into one syllable, with the onset being ל and the vowel being that of the ה־ (i.e., a pataḥ, a qamats, or a segol, depending on the first syllable of the word); for example, when ל־ and ה־ are attached to יֶלֶד(yéled, “boy”), we obtain לַיֶּלֶד(layéled, “to the boy”) (note the dagesh forte in the יּ), and when they're attached to אִמָּא(íma, “mother”), we obtain לָאִמָּא(la'íma, “to the mother”).
The same modifications occur with כְּ־(k'-) and בְּ־(b'-).
Since the attachment of ל־ means that the following letter now follows an open syllable or shva, that letter loses any dagesh lene; hence the above example, where פְּעָמִים(p'amím) becomes לִפְעָמִים(lif'amím) rather than *לִפְּעָמִים(lip'amím).
(before the hour): As in English ("it's ten to"), the complement of this preposition is often omitted in informal registers.
Inflection
In older forms of Hebrew, and still in formal Modern Hebrew, ל־(l'-) has been distinguished from the similar preposition אל(el). In everyday Modern Hebrew, however, this distinction is preserved only in the inflected forms, with the effect that ל־(l'-) essentially has two different sets of inflected forms: its own original forms, which are used in most circumstances, and the forms originally belonging to אל(él), which are used with words of motion, words of connection, words of relation, and so on.