how to say “what do you mean?” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-1.m4a” /]מַה הַכַּוָּנָה? מַה זּׁאת אוֹמֶרֶת?

Text has dominated among the communication media in recent decades. But key elements of communication are lost in text – body language and tone of voice.

Thus the question, What do you mean? could sound genuinely curious, or it could sound argumentative or dismissive.

Hebrew’s מה הכוונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-2.m4a” /] – literally, what’s the intention – sounds genuinely curious and respectful, pretty much at all times.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-3.m4a” /]לא הבנתי – מה הכוונה?

I didn’t understand (what you said) – what do you mean?

Another expression, ?מה זאת אומרת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-4.m4a” /] (literally, what does this say?), could be curious or argumentative, depending on the context.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-5.m4a” /]מה זאת אומרת, “אני לא מוכן”?!

What do you mean, “I’m not ready”?! (spoken to a male)

Though less common, you could also use the masculine מה זה אומר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-6.m4a” /]?