# elecha vs otcha



## girloncrack

can anyone tell me when you use elecha instead of otcha?
ani mitga'aga'at elecha
ani ohevet otcha


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## etymologist

Hi. They are both correct as you have them.




girloncrack said:


> can anyone tell me when you use elecha instead of otcha?
> ani mitga'aga'at elecha
> ani ohevet otcha


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## amikama

girloncrack said:


> can anyone tell me when you use elecha instead of otcha?
> ani mitga'aga'at elecha
> ani ohevet otcha


אליך (=to you) is an indirect object, while אותך (=you) is a direct object.

Unlike "miss" in English (which is a transitive verb), מתגעגעת is an _intransitive_ verb, and thus requires a indirect object.
"Love" and אוהבת are transitive verb in both English and Hebrew, and both require a direct object.

I hope it's clear now


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## Flaminius

> Unlike "miss" in English (which is a transitive verb), מתגעגעת is an _intransitive_ verb (...)



And perhaps verbs in _binjan hitpa`el_ tend to be intransive?


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## amikama

Flaminius said:


> And perhaps verbs in _binjan hitpa`el_ tend to be intransive?


As far as I know, there are no transitive verbs in _binyan hitpa'el_. This is because _binyan hitpa'el_ is by definition a reflexive _binyan_, and reflexive verbs can't be transitive.


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## pachyderm

While it's true that many verbs in hitpael are reflexive correlates of verbs in other binyanim, there are countless verb in hitpael that are not reflexive...
One large group is "unaccusative" verbs: השתגע is not equivalent to שיגע את עצמו, and התגבר is not הגביר את עצמו (cf הסופה התגברה) and so on. In addition you have normal verbs such as הסתכל that don't have any obvious correlate in another binyan.


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## Nunty

Isn't this lovely? Everyone is right!

There are, to the best of my knowledge, no transitive verbs in binyan hitpael.
Most of these verbs are reflexive, while another large group is "unaccusative".

I love win-win situations!


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## Flaminius

Not to interrupt your rapture....

Which "preposition" does הסתכל use, elekha or otkha?


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## maxl

Flaminius said:


> Not to interrupt your rapture....
> 
> Which "preposition" does ????? use, elekha or otkha?



Neither. It requires either be- (histakel bakankan) or 'al (histakel alav bekhashdanut 'looked at him suspiciously')


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## maxl

Despite Nun-Translator's shyness, she is correct (in the message withdrawn) and I was wrong: histakel can also take el-, as in histakel elay ksheani medaber elekha. Also, one can say: hu mistakel leevri, he is looking at me (in my direction).


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## Nunty

Kind of you Maxl


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