Who is inside?
Remember the newsletter about אַחֲרֵי and אַחַר כָּךְ? Remember what made אַחַר כָּךְ so special? Right, no noun could be used after it! That's an expression that "has the last word"! ;) Like here, for example:
אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת זֶה אַחַר כָּךְ
(I'll do it later/afterwards)
Why am I talking about it now? Because בִּפְנִים behaves exactly like that! It is used to "seal" the sentence! It answers the question "where?" and answers it completely. Nothing follows it, it's self- sufficient. :)
Examples:
לָמָּה אַתָּה לֹא בִּפְנִים? לְמִי אַתָּה מְחַכֶּה?(Why aren't you inside? Who are you waiting for?)
לָמָּה הוּא לֹא פֶּה, אֵיפֹה הוּא? הוּא בִּפְנִים… הוּא מִתְבַּיֵּשׁ…
(- Why is he not here, where is he? - He's inside.. he is being shy…)
The opposite of בִּפְנִים is
בַּחוּץ.
- and it works exactly in the same fashion!
Examples:
כַּמָּה זְמַן אֶפְשָׁר לְבַלּוֹת בַּחוּץ - תַּחֲזֹר הַבַּיְתָה כְּבָר!(How long can you stay outside - come home already!)
שָׁכַחְתִּי אֶת הַכְּבִיסָה בַּחוּץ וְעַכְשָׁו הִיא מְלֻכְלֶכֶת שׁוּב(I forgot the laundry outside and now it's dirty again.)
*Note the following!
If you want to answer the question "where to?" then you use the form
פְּנִימָה (or the opposite הַחוּצָה)
!אַל תַּעַמְדוּ לְיַד הַדֶּלֶת, כָּנְסוּ פְּנִימָה, בְּבַקָּשָׁה(Don't stand near the door, come inside, please!)
!וְעַכְשָׁו – כֻּלָּם הַחוֹצֶה, קְדִימָה, לְהִזְדָּרֵז
(And now - all out, come on, hurry up!)
And here is an example that combines both states!
בְּבַקָּשָׁה, אֵל תַּכְנִיס אֶת הָאוֹפַנַּיִם פְּנִימָה! תַּשְׁאִיר אוֹתָם בַּחוּץ.(Please, don't take the bicycle inside! Leave it outside!)