Summer Vacation – in Hebrew

Strictly speaking, חוֹפֶשׁ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-4.wav” /] means freedom, while חֻפְשָׁה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-5.wav” /] means vacation. חופשה is used correctly in terms such as חֻפְשַׁת לֵדָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-6.wav” /] – maternity leave, and חופשת סֶמֶסְטֶר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-7.wav” /] – semester break, but as for that vacation enjoyed every year by virtually all schoolchildren and teens, the term is הַחֹפֶשׁ הַגָּדוֹל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-8.wav” /] – the Great Vacation, or literally, the Great Freedom.

At the beginning of July, I went out in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and asked people what they had planned for החופש הגדול. The video shows their responses, and here I’ll highlight some nuggets Hebrew that come forth from them.

The first interviewee uses the term הַזְּמַן הַחֹפְשִׁי שֶׁלִּי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-9.wav” /] – my free time. Note the similarity to חופשה and חופש.

One of the young girls in the third interview uses the term קַיְטָנָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-10.wav” /] meaning summer camp. The word derives from קַיִט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-11.wav” /], the Aramaic version of the Hebrew קַיִץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-12.wav” /] – summer (see full entry on קייטנה).

When the teenage boy in the fourth interview tells me he’s going to surf, I reply, רוֹאִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-13.wav” /] – meaning something like I can see that, but literally (we/they/you guys) see. Hebrew uses the plural to express a variety nonspecific things, such as how do you/one get to the mall? אֵיךְ מַגִּיעִים לַקַּנְיוֹן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-14.wav” /] – literally, how do we/they/you guys get to the mall?

The young woman in the fifth interview says, בַּחֹפֶשׁ הַגָּדוֹל אֲנִי בְּעִקָּר עוֹבֶדֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-15.wav” /] – for summer vacation I’m mainly working. Using בעיקר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-16.wav” /] helps her express that while she will spend some time doing other things, the majority of her time will be spent working. In the first interview, the boy says אֲנִי בְּעִקָּרוֹן הוֹלֵךְ לַעֲבוֹד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-17.wav” /] – I’m basically (literally, in principle) going to work. בעיקרון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-18.wav” /] doesn’t add any meaning to the sentence; it’s one of those filler words that teens tend to use, such as the English like, literally and obviously. Another example of a filler word in Hebrew is כְּאִלּוּ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-19.wav” /] – literally, as if.

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/summer-vaca-20.wav” /]מַה אַתֶּם עוֹשִׂים בחפש הגדול?

What are you doing for summer vacation?

Write your answers – in Hebrew – in the comments.