how to say “to empty” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger

 

לְרוֹקֵן

 



Perhaps you know the Hebrew word for empty – רֵיק (rek or REH-eek). For example, הַבַּיִת רֵיק – the house is empty (hah-BAH-yeet rek).


Likewise, emptiness or vanity is רִיק (reek), used in Modern Hebrew to replace the foreign word for vacuum – וָקוּם (VAH-koom).





The word for to empty something, however, is a more recent addition to the language: לְרוֹקֵן (leh-roh-KEHN). For example, רוֹקַנְתִּי אֶת הַמַּקְפִּיא כְּדֵי לְהַפְשִׁיר אוֹתו – I emptied the freezer in order to defrost it (roh-KAHN-tee et hah-mahk-PEE keh-DEH-ee leh-hahf-SHEER oh-TOH).

This verb behaves most like the active-intensive פיעל (pee-EL) verb form.

 

Check out our Summer 2011 classes
for adults as well as teens in our four locations:

 

Similar Posts

how to say “press conference” (hint – get out your party hats)

ByAmi Steinberger

  having trouble seeing the print? מְסִבַּת עִתּוֹנָאִים  listen and repeat     This is my favorite term in Hebrew.   When you hear the term press conference, microphones and cameras might come to mind, perhaps also politicians or celebrities making statements.   When I hear the Hebrew version of press conference, the first thing that comes…

how to say “family meal” in Hebrew

how to say “family meal” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ארוחה-משפחתית-#.m4a” /]אֲרוּחָה מִשְׁפַּחְתִּית If you’ve taken our Level 1 class, you know how to say lunch – ארוחת צהריים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ארוחה-משפחתית-#.m4a” /]. Here, ארוחת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ארוחה-משפחתית-#.m4a” /] means meal of, so that the full expression means literally meal of noon. The word for meal when it stands alone, unconnected to another noun, is ארוחה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ארוחה-משפחתית-#.m4a” /]. And a family meal…

daily video – how to say “white collar” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger
To slow down the audio or to turn on captions (CC), start playing the video and then click the settings icon ⚙️. LEARNING TIPS Hebrew beginners Watch with English captions a few times, then with Hebrew captions, then without captions, and see what you understand. Intermediate learners Watch without captions, pausing to write down what...

daily video – how to say “cousin” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger
To slow down the audio, start playing the video and then click the settings icon at the bottom-right of the video and change the playback speed. תמליל של הכתוביות בעברית אהלן חברים יקרים המילה "דוד" היום היא uncle ודודה היא aunt אבל המובן העתיק יותר, המקורי אולי, הוא מישהו אהוב או קרוב, כמו שאנחנו רואים...

how to say “who’s who” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger

  having trouble seeing the print?   מִי וָמִי Ulpan La-Inyan for Gap-Year Programs Growing up in Los Angeles, I used to get excited about the Oscars. Now, living in Jerusalem, I’m a lot more excited about the who’s who in the new Knesset. The Hebrew term for an illustrious who’s who is list מִי וָמִי – literally, who and who. …

how to say “self-controlled” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger

  מְאֻפַּק listen to this word pronounced       Don Corleone in The Godfather is the perfect example of an אָדָם מְאֻפַּק (ah-DAHM meh-oo-PAHK). He says little and does much, as suggested in פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת – Ethics of the Fathers (peer-KEH-ee ah-VOHT); although Don Corleone probably learned this from another source. can’t see the video? This passive-intensive…