listen and repeat. For example, a man might say:[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/היו-היה-#.m4a” /]הָיֹה הָיָה Just like children’s stories in English often open with once upon a time, Hebrew kids’ stories start with היו היה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/היו-היה-#.m4a” /] – literally, was there was. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/היו-היה-#.m4a” /]היו היה בארץ רחוקה… Once upon a time in a faraway land… If what was is female, the expression becomes היו הייתה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/היו-היה-#.m4a”…
לְהִשְׁתַּזֵּף The idea of tanning goes all the way back to biblical times: אל תראוני שאני שחרחורת ששזפתני השמש.. (שיר השירים א’, ו’) Don’t look upon me that I am blackened, that the sun has tanned me… (Song of Songs 1:6) Someone tan is שזוף if he’s male and שזופה if she’s female. And to tan or to get…
having trouble seeing the print? יְדִידוּתִי, חֶבְרוּתִי First, an addendum on yesterday’s entry: לְהַרְעִים (leh-hahr-EEM) is indeed a more Biblical and less Modern way of saying to thunder. However, I forgot to mention the more commonly-used word today for to thunder: לִרְעוֹם (leer-OHM), an active-simple פעל (pah-AHL) verb. Now for today’s dose. A while back…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/לנשוך-#.m4a” /]לִנְשׁוֹךְ The Hebrew word for to bite is the simple verb לנשוך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/לנשוך-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/לנשוך-#.m4a” /]נשך אותי עכביש! A spider bit me! In Biblical Hebrew, נשך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/לנשוך-#.m4a” /] – biting – refers to monetary interest (bankers beware). But by Mishnaic times, the word for interest was already ריבית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/לנשוך-#.m4a” /], related to the…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנוי-במחלוקת-1.m4a” /]שָׁנוּי בְּמַחְלׁקֶת The Mishnah – המשנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנוי-במחלוקת-2.m4a” /] – is called such because the words are meant to be repeated over and over until they are memorized: משנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנוי-במחלוקת-3.m4a” /] comes from the root ש.נ.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנוי-במחלוקת-4.m4a” /], the same root as that of שניים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנוי-במחלוקת-5.m4a” /] – two, and שנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנוי-במחלוקת-6.m4a” /] – a second time or again. Something else that tends…