how to say “to become available” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /]לְהִתְפַּנּוֹת

If you’ve taken our Level 1 course, you know forms of the simple verb לפנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /] – to turn.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /]אתה צריך לפנות שמאלה ברמזור.

You (a male) need to turn left at the light.

לפנות in a passive sense means available or turned from the other (busy) direction – פנוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /].

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /]עד עכשיו הייתי עסוק, אבל עכשיו אני פנוי.

Until now I was busy, but now I’m available.

To become available is the התפעל verb להתפנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /], as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/להתפנותב-#.m4a” /]אני צריכה לעשות כמה סידורים, ואחר כך אני מתפנה.

I (a female) need to do a few errands, and afterwards I’ll become (I am becoming) available.

To get a sense of how important context is in Hebrew, consider the fact that להתפנות also means to go to the bathroom (to free up one’s body).