how to say “to become” in Hebrew
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Hebrew vocabulary with…
There is no one-to-one translation of to become into Hebrew. Here are instead several options to express it, each with a slightly different connotation.
1. …לִהְיוֹת ל (lee-h-YOHT leh…) – literally, to be to… This the most literary form, the one found in the Bible. להיות is the simple פעל verb, to be.
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| הַכְּלַבְלָב יַהֲפוֹךְ לְכֶלֶב גָּדוֹל.
(hah-keh-lahv-LAHV yah-hah-FOHKH
leh-KHEH-lev gah-DOHL) The puppy will become a big dog. |
2. לְהֵעָשׂוֹת (leh-heh-ah-SOHT) – literally, to be done. For example, הָעֶבֶד שֻׁחְרָר וְנַעֲשָׂה בֶּן חֹרִין (hah-EH-ved shookh-RAHR veh-nah-ah-SAH ben khoh-REEN) – the slave was freed and became a free person. להיעשות is a verb of the נפעל variety.
3. לֵהָיוֹת (leh-hah-YOHT) – a passive form of to be. Truth is, I’ve never seen or heard this form in the infinitive, so I’m approximating what it sounds like. An example of this נפעל verb conjugated in everyday speech is הַיַּלְדָּה נִהְיְתָה גְּבֶרֶת (hah-yahl-DAH nee-heh-yeh-TAH gheh-VEH-ret) – the girl became a woman.
The usages of 2 and 3 are practically identical and are the most common ways of expressing to become in spoken Hebrew in the past and present tenses.
4. …לַהֲפוֹךְ ל (lah-hah-FOHKH leh…) – to turn (in)to… For example, עוֹד מְעַט הַשֶּׁלֶג יַהֲפוֹךְ לְמַיִם (ohd meh-AHT hah-SHEH-leg yah-hah-FOHKH leh-MAH-yeem) – soon the snow will turn into water. Use this one to express to turn into the way you would in English.
5. …לַהֲפוֹךְ לִהְיוֹת (lah-hah-FOHKH lee-heh-YOHT) – like 4, this also means to turn into, but literally it’s to turn (in)to being… This is a more widely used version of the slightly more literary להפוך ל.
4 and 5 are the most common ways of expressing to become in the future tense. They are simple פעל verbs.
