על ידי
al yedey
The Hebrew way to say 'by' (indicating a means or agent) is על ידי (al yedey).
על ידי is used to indicate the agent of a passive action, much like the English word 'by'.
Meaning: indicates a means (prep)
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, על ידי means 'upon the hands of'.
How do you pronounce it?
al yedey
Did you know?
- While על ידי denotes the agent, Hebrew often prefers to avoid the passive voice entirely, opting for active sentences where English speakers would naturally use 'by'.
- In modern Hebrew, על ידי is primarily used in formal writing, news reports and legal texts, whereas spoken Hebrew frequently uses different constructions to express the same idea.
- While English uses the word 'by' to mean 'near' or 'beside', Hebrew uses the word ליד for proximity and keeps על ידי strictly for the agent of an action.
Examples in context
- היא נסחטה על ידיו.She was blackmailed by him.This sentence shows how to express being blackmailed by someone using על ידי.Tatoeba #1984443 by MrShoval, translation #887546 by CK
- ננשכתי על ידי כלב.I was bitten by a dog.This sentence demonstrates the use of על ידי when describing being bitten by an animal.Tatoeba #11577905 by fekundulo, translation #10778478 by sundown
- היא הושפלה על ידיו.She was humiliated by him.This sentence illustrates how to describe being humiliated by someone using על ידי.Tatoeba #1385886 by MrShoval, translation #887549 by CK
- הספר נכתב על־ידי מחבר מצליח.The book was written by a successful author.
- האופרה היפה נוצרה על־ידי הקומפוזיטור המוכשר.The beautiful opera was created by the talented composer.
- 340 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maya and Noam are discussing a book they read.
- מאיה Mayaהספר הזה נכתב על ידי סופר צעיר.Ha-sefer ha-ze niktav al yedei sofer tza'ir.This book was written by a young author.
- נועם Noamאני לאB מכיר אותו. הוא מוכשר?Ani lo makir oto. Hu mukshar?I don't know him. Is he talented?
- מאיה Mayaכן, הוא הושפע על ידי סופרים גדולים.Ken, hu hushpa al yedei sfarim gdolim.Yes, he was influenced by great authors.
- נועם Noamנראה שזה עובד בשבילו.Nira she-ze oved bishvilo.It seems like it's working for him.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “by” translations and entries על ידי, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
