how to say “life-saving” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /]מַצִּיל חַיִּים, מַצִּילַת חַיִּים

If you’re Jewish or have Jewish friends, you probably know someone named חיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] – Chaim. Maybe you yourself are a חיים, in which case you probably also know that חיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] (listen for a different pronunciation) means life.

Why the difference in pronunciation? Because Israelis tend to use a Yiddish pronunciation for names, focusing on the first or second-to-last syllable (חיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] the name), even if the word itself is normally pronounced with an emphasis on the final syllable (חיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] the word).

The word for to rescue or to save is להציל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] (a הפעיל verb), as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /]תרומת מח עצם מצילה חיים.

Bone-marrow donation saves lives.

Now, in the example above, מצילה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] is a verb – saves. But if we’re describing something as life-saving, it’s מציל חיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /] if the lifesaver is masculine, as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /]זה כדור מציל חיים.

This is a life-saving pill.

…but if that which is life-saving is feminine, it’s מצילת חיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /], as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/מציל-חיים-#.m4a” /]התרופה הזאת מצילת חיים.

This medicine is life-saving.

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