תְּקוּפַת הָאֶבֶן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקופת-האבן-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for stone is אֶבֶן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקופת-האבן-2.mp3″ /]. Although it doesn’t sound like one, this word is feminine, so that precious stones are אֲבָנִים יְקָרוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקופת-האבן-3.mp3″ /]. The word for period of time is תְּקוּפָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקופת-האבן-4.mp3″ /]. When connected to another word in an “of relationship” (the construct state), תקופה…
לְכָל דָּבָר וְעִנְיָין Growing up I would hear teachers in school use the expression “for all intensive purposes.” I knew what it meant but didn’t think about the words themselves. Only when I saw the expression in a book did the penny drop – it’s “for all intents and purposes.” Now it started making more…
You probably know the Hebrew word for Kosher – כָּשֵׁר (kah-SHEHR). Literally, the word means prepared. The root כ.ש.ר (k.sh.r) is also used to imply that someone is naturally prepared for some task; that the person has talent or a knack for it. The word for talent or knack is כִּשָּׁרוֹן (kee-shah-ROHN). To say that a person is…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/לא-משנה-#.m4a” /]לֹא מְשַׁנֶּה One of the Hebrew words for different is שונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/לא-משנה-#.m4a” /]. Taking its root ש.נ.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/לא-משנה-#.m4a” /] and plugging it into the פיעל verb form, we get לשנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/לא-משנה-#.m4a” /] – to change something. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/לא-משנה-#.m4a” /]עלינו על הכביש הלא נכון – צריך לשנות כיוון. We got on the wrong road…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לגרש-#.m4a” /]לְגָרֵשׁ Here’s an unpleasant word – לגרש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לגרש-#.m4a” /], to expel. So let’s give it a pleasant context: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לגרש-#.m4a” /]באנו חושך לגרש… We’ve come to expel darkness… (see conversation) I didn’t make this up – it’s from a very popular Hanukkah song. לגרש is a פיעל verb. Expulsion is גירוש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/לגרש-#.m4a” /].