how to say “cleanliness” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-1.m4a” /]נִקָּיוֹן

If you’ve got some basic Hebrew down, you likely know the word for clean – נקי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-2.m4a” /].

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-3.m4a” /]החולצה שלך לא נקייה.

Your blouse (a feminine object) is not clean.

The word for cleanliness is ניקיון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-1.m4a” /], as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-4.m4a” /]מצב הניקיון בחדר שלך זה פשוט קטסטרופה.

The cleanliness situation in your (a male’s) room is horrendous (simply a catastrophe).

ניקיון can also refer to the general act of cleaning, as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-5.m4a” /]כולם עושים ניקיון לקראת פסח!

Let’s all do (everyone does) cleaning before Passover!

However, the act of cleaning something specific, such as a blouse, is ניקוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-6.m4a” /], as in ניקוי יבש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניקיון-7.m4a” /] – dry cleaning.