How do you say “to say” in Hebrew? Depends on when you’re saying it.
In the present and past tenses, Modern Hebrew uses the simple verb לומר, whose root is א.מ.ר.
For example:
אמרתי לו לבוא.
I told him (said to him) to come.
And:
מה אתם אומרים?
What do you (plural) say?
When using the future-tense form, though, we use the הפעיל verb להגיד, whose root is נ.ג.ד.
For example:
תגידי, נשאר משהו מהעוף?
Tell me (to a female), is there anything left of the chicken?
And:
ימים יגידו.
Time will tell (days will say).
When saying “to say,” either לומר or להגיד works, as in:
אני לא יודע מה להגיד.
I (a male) don’t know what to say.
And, with the same meaning:
אני לא יודע מה לומר.
This verb להגיד is what gives us the הגדה של פסח – the “Telling” of Passover.
