לִתְהוֹת
The Hebrew word for to wonder is לִתְהוֹת. In English, we use the verb to wonder to express not only genuine wonder, but also to make a polite request, such as I was wondering whether you’d be able to pick me up on the way to work. Such an expression in Hebrew might replace the wondering with I wanted to know:
רָצִיתִי לָדַעַת אִם תּוּכַל לֶאֱסוֹף אֹתִי בַּדֶּרֶךְ לַעֲבוֹדָה. I wanted to know whether you’d be able to pick me up on the way to work.
The Hebrew word לתהות is generally used literally, as in:
תָּהִיתִי מַדּוּעַ הֵם עוֹד לֹא הִגִּיעוּ. I was wondering why they hadn’t arrived yet.
The root of לתהות is ת.ה.ה (t.h.h) and is an active-simple פָּעַל verb.
To wonder, in Hebrew, is different from a wonder. The word for that is פֶּלֶא.
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