how to say “a listening ear” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-1.m4a” /]אֹזֶן קַשֶּׁבֶת

We’ve seen that the Hebrew word for ear is אוזן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-2.m4a” /]. As with most body parts that come in pairs, אוזן is a feminine noun, so that we have אוזניים גדולות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-3.m4a” /] – big ears, as well as אוזן קשבת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-1.m4a” /] – a listening ear.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-4.m4a” /]הייתי צריך לדבר, והיא נתנה לי אוזן קשבת.

I (a male) needed to talk, and she lent (gave) me a listening ear.

קשבת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-5.m4a” /] comes from the root ק.ש.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-6.m4a” /] meaning listening, and is related to the active-causative verb להקשיב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוזן-קשבת-7.m4a” /] – to listen.