[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אין-מצב-1.m4a” /]אֵין סִכּוּי, אֵין מַצָּב The Hebrew word for chance as in “so you’re saying there’s a chance” is סיכוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אין-מצב-2.m4a” /]. Thus Hebrew speakers do sometimes translate the expression not a chance to אין סיכוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אין-מצב-3.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אין-מצב-4.m4a” /]אין סיכוי שאני קופץ ממטוס. Not a chance that I’ll jump out of a plane….
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/חם-מהרגיל-#.m4a” /]חַם מֵהָרָגִיל It’s been unseasonably warm in Israel. When temperatures are higher than average like they have been, you’ll hear on the news חם מהרגיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/חם-מהרגיל-#.m4a” /] – literally, hotter than the regular. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/חם-מהרגיל-#.m4a” /]השבוע יהיה חם מהרגיל לעונה. This week will be warmer than usual for the season. Cooler…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לפני-הספירה-#.m4a” /]לִפְנֵי הַסְּפִירָה BCE stands for Before the Common Era (while CE stands for the Common Era). This designation is also known as BC – Before Christ. In Hebrew, we call this לפני הספירה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לפני-הספירה-#.m4a” /] – before the (general) counting. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לפני-הספירה-#.m4a” /]בית המקדש השני עמד בירושלים בין השנים 516 לפני הספירה ו-70…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/בזבוז-זמן-#.m4a” /]בִּזְבּוּז זְמַן You may know the Hebrew expression חבל על הזמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/בזבוז-זמן-#.m4a” /], which means either this is awesome! or this is a waste of time, depending on the speaker’s tone of voice (here’s our slang page). These usages notwithstanding, חבל על הזמן means literally it’s a shame for the time. So how do you say a waste…