how to say “Mars” and “Venus”… in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/אותיות-כתב-#.m4a” /]אוֹתִיּוֹת כְּתָב You may have heard that Hebrew has a 22-letter alphabet. That’s true, but there are two caveats:  Five of those letters have a slightly different form – in most cases an elongated form – when appearing at the end of a word – כ-ך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/אותיות-כתב-#.m4a” /], [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/אותיות-כתב-#.m4a” /]מ-ם, [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/אותיות-כתב-#.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אין-תלונות-1.m4a” /]אֵין תְּלוּנוֹת If you’ve been in Israel long enough, you certainly know the word for to complain – להתלונן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אין-תלונות-2.m4a” /]. This word too goes as far back as Biblical Hebrew. A modern example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אין-תלונות-3.m4a” /]הוא לא מפסיק להתלונן. He doesn’t stop complaining. A complaint – both formal (to the police, for example) or…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פחם-1.m4a” /]פֶּחָם You’re all set for the barbecue on the beach in Tel Aviv with the food, disposable cutlery, a picnic blanket, a bottle opener and the barbecue itself. One thing missing: charcoal. So you go to the supermarket and ask: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פחם-2.m4a” /]איפה יש לכם פחמים? Where do you guys have charcoals? You…