how to say “capable” in Hebrew
But enough about grammar.
Suppose you’re with a friend at the British Museum, and your friend doesn’t know how to read the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone. You might say about yourself, I can! or I’m capable!
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/פח-אשפה-#.m4a” /]פַּח אַשְׁפָּה Americans call it a garbage can. Brits call it a rubbish bin. Israelis call it a פח אשפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/פח-אשפה-#.m4a” /] – or simply פח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/פח-אשפה-#.m4a” /], which means literally, tin (אשפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/פח-אשפה-#.m4a” /] means garbage/rubbish/trash), as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/פח-אשפה-#.m4a” /]זרוק את זה לפח, דני. Throw it in the trash, Danny. פח אשפה…
יוֹם טוֹב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יום-טוב-1.mp3″ /] If it’s 10am, you might say to your friend, “have a good day.” The most common Hebrew equivalent, יוֹם טוֹב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יום-טוב-1.mp3″ /], translates just the good day part. This is what you’d wish someone using Modern Hebrew, though in pre-Modern Hebrew, יום טוב refers to a Jewish festival. You could also…
מַלָּח Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for sailor, appearing already in Biblical Hebrew, is מַלָּח For example: הַמַּלָּחִים עוֹבְדִים עַל הַסְּפִינָה. The sailors are working on the ship. With an ah-AH vowel sequence and an emphasized second root letter, מַלָּח follows the sound pattern of the names of other professionals,…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-1.m4a” /]לְיַדֵּעַ This week we’ve seen the root י.ד.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-2.m4a” /] meaning knowledge put to use in a variety of words, including להודיע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-3.m4a” /] – to notify, מודעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-4.m4a” /] – advertisement and ידיעות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-5.m4a” /] – one of the words for news. Plugging this root into the active-intensive verb form, we get ליידע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-1.m4a” /] – to inform. For…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/שבועי-#.m4a” /]שְׁבוּעִי The Hebrew word for week is שבוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/שבועי-#.m4a” /], as in what Jews wish each other after the Sabbath: שבוע טוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/שבועי-#.m4a” /] – (have a) good week! To create the word weekly, just add a י[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/שבועי-#.m4a” /] to the end of שבוע and change the vowels a bit so the word is…
מִשְׁטָרָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for police in the general sense, as in “the police,” is מִשְׁטָרָה . It derives from the root שׁ.ט.ר (sh.t.r), also the root of שׁוֹטֵר , and שׁוֹטֶרֶת , a police officer (male and female, respectively). The word falls into the same noun-forming template as…