how to say “to make someone’s life miserable” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /]לְמָרֵר לוֹ אֶת הַחַיִּים, לַעֲשׂוֹת לוֹ חַיִּים קָשִׁים

On ליל הסדר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /] – the Passover Seder night – Jews tell the national story of enslavement in ancient Egypt, and their subsequent liberation. 

Among the verses chanted in the הגדה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /] – Hagaddah – is:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /]וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם בַּעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה בְּחֹמֶר וּבִלְבֵנִים וּבְכָל עֲבֹדָה בַּשָּׂדֶה… (שמות א’, י”ד)

And they made their lives bitter with hard labor with clay and bricks and all the labor of the field… (Exodus 1:14)

This verse is the source of the word מרור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /], the traditional bitter herb eaten on the Seder night. It’s also the source of the Hebrew expression למרר לו את החיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /] – literally, to embitter his life. 

Substitute לו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /] – his (literally, to him) – with someone else to specify who you’re talking to.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /]היא ממררת להם את החיים.

She makes their lives miserable.

Now, למרר לו את החיים can sound a bit dramatic. You can tone it down with לעשות לו חיים קשים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /] – literally, to make his life difficult.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/למרר-#.m4a” /]למה אתה עושה לנו חיים קשים?

Why are you (a male) making our lives difficult?