how do you say “backyard” in Hebrew?
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חצר-1.m4a” /]חָצֵר
In Biblical times, חצר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חצר-1.m4a” /] meant two different things (and was even pronounced two different ways): a closed area outside a building, or a village (among other things, an open area).
Today’s usage of חצר as yard or backyard follows the first meaning.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חצר-2.m4a” /]החצר שלנו מגודרת בשיחים.
Our yard is fenced in with bushes.
חצר means yard, but if you want to get more specific and refer to a backyard, you’d use חצר אחורית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חצר-3.m4a” /]. Likewise for front yard, it’s חצר קדמית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חצר-4.m4a” /] (even if it’s not fenced in).
Note that although it doesn’t have the classic ה-[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חצר-5.m4a” /] ending, חצר is a feminine noun.
