how to say “I could have” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /]יָכֹלְתִּי

If you’ve got some basic Hebrew under your belt, you probably know how to say I can – אני יכול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] if you’re male, and אני יכולה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] if you’re female.

Thus Barrack Obama’s statement, in Hebrew, would be:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /]כן, אנחנו יכולים!

Yes, we can!

To say this in the past tense, simply add the appropriate ending to יכול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /], for example יכולתי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] for I could have and יכולנו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] for we could have, as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /]ניסינו, אבל לא יכולנו להזיז את התור.

We tried, but we couldn’t move the appointment.

יכולתי, יכולנו, etc. work for hypothetical situations of could have as well, for example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /]אילו יכולתי, הייתי מגיע למסיבה.

If I could have, I (a male) would have come to the party.

Now, these endings work for most cases in the past tense – for the first person (I, we) and the second person (all the yous). But for the third person, use a form of היה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] and then the present tense of יכול:

הוא היה יכול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] – he could have

היא הייתה יכולה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] – she could have

הם היו יכולים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] – they could have (males or mixed)

הן היו יכולות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/יכולנו-#.m4a” /] – they could have (females)

Adding a form of היה for the first and second persons is acceptable as well.