This is the 217th most frequent Hebrew word.
לפעול
To act, to operate, to take action.
Here, 'לפעול' ('to act') conveys taking collective steps towards a goal.
כדי לשפר את מצב הסביבה, עלינו לפעול ביחד.
To improve the state of the environment, we must act together.
In this context, 'לפעול' ('to work') describes the function of a mechanism.
המנוע הפסיק לפעול בעקבות תקלה טכנית.
The engine stopped working due to a technical failure.
Here, 'פעלה' ('acted') derives from 'לפעול' and indicates performing an immediate action.