לו

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Cognate with Arabic لَوْ (law).

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /luː/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): [luː]
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /lu/

Conjunction

לוּ • (lu)

1. if (used in forming counterfactual conditionals)
   • Tanach, Deuteronomy 32:29, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     לוּ חָכְמוּ יַשְׂכִּילוּ זֹאת יָבִינוּ לְאַחֲרִיתָם׃

     If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end.

2. if only, I wish
   • 1985, “בוקר יום ראשון [Sunday Morning]”, in Yaakov Gilad (lyrics), עיניים שלי [My Dearest]‎^[1], performed by Yehuda Poliker:

     שֵׁשׁ וָחֵצִי, שֶׁבַע, שְׁמוֹנֶה, בֹּקֶר יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן / לֹא רוֹצֶה לִשְׁמֹעַ רַדְיוֹ, לֹא לִקְרֹא עִתּוֹן / עוֹד מְעַט עוֹמֵד לָרֶדֶת גֶּשֶׁם שִׁטָּפוֹן / לוּ יָכֹלְתִּי עַכְשָׁו רָק לִישֹׁן

     Six-thirty, seven, eight, on a Sunday Morning / I don't want to listen to the radio, nor read a newspaper / Soon torrential rain will start coming down / If only I could just sleep right now

   • Tanach, Numbers 22:3, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וַיֹּאמֶר בִּלְעָם לָאָתוֹן כִּי הִתְעַלַּלְתְּ בִּי לוּ יֶשׁ־חֶרֶב בְּיָדִי כִּי עַתָּה הֲרַגְתִּיךְ׃

     And Balaam said unto the ass: ‘Because thou hast mocked me; I would [If only] there were a sword in my hand, for now I had [would have] killed thee.’

Usage notes

Biblical Hebrew is flexible in use of tense/aspect with this preposition, but usually expresses both the antecedent and the consequent in the past tense/perfect. In contrast, Modern Hebrew is more rigid, with the antecedent always being in the past tense and the consequent using הָיָה with the participle, e.g.:

לוּ יָרַד גשם היה הטיול מתבטל. ― If it was raining, the hike would be cancelled.

Mishnaic Hebrew uses אילו / אִלּוּ (ílu) followed by הָיָה and a participle in both the antecedent and consequent.

Less formal and colloquial Modern Hebrew tends to use the conjunction אִם (im) for counterfactual conditionals, constructed in the same manner as Mishnaic Hebrew, e.g.: .אם היה יורד גשם היה הטיול מתבטל

In addition, Hebrew does not distinguish between tenses in counterfactual conditionals as other languages such as English do.

Synonyms

• אִם (im), אילו / אִלּוּ (ílu)

Etymology 2

See ל־.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lo/
• Homophone: לא

Preposition

לוֹ • (lo)

1. Form of ל־ (l'-) including third-person masculine singular personal pronoun as object.
   • לי בירן, מציאות שונה

     מתעורר למציאות שונה, זה קשה לו, זה כואב לו

     waking up to a different reality, it's difficult for him, it hurts him