how to say “I hate to say it” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger March 11, 2021March 4, 2021

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /]לֹא נָעִים לִי לְהַגִּיד

You may know the word נעים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /] from the polite expression נעים מאוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /] – nice to meet you – literally, very pleasant.

נעים has found its way into lots of Hebrew expressions, including לא נעים לי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /] – I feel uncomfortable (it’s unpleasant for me) about something.

Thus I hate to say it is לא נעים לי לומר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /] or, more colloquially, לא נעים לי להגיד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /].

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/לא-נעים-לי-#.m4a” /]לא נעים לי להגיד, אבל ממש לא מתחשק לי ללכת למסיבה הזאת.

I hate to say it, but I really don’t feel like going to that party.

how to say “cover story” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger October 11, 2018October 17, 2018

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /]סִפּוּר כִּסוּי When I say cover story I’m not referring to a front-page article – that’s כתבת שער[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /]. I’m talking about an alibi, a fictitious story meant to cover up one’s true actions. The Hebrew term for this is סיפור כיסוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /] – literally, a cover story. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /]יש…

how to say “a big production” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger July 3, 2011November 7, 2018

הֲפָקָה listen to this word pronounced Yesterday around the Shabbat table at the absorption center in Beit Alpha, someone asked me whether as a child I dreamed of teaching Hebrew and running an ulpan. I replied that I actually dreamed of becoming a film director. As a kid, I used to…

how to say “poor thing” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger January 3, 2021January 3, 2021

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/מסכן-#.m4a” /]מִסְכֵּן In Biblical Hebrew, מסכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/מסכן-#.m4a” /] refers to someone unable to support themselves financially, but over time the word came to refer to anyone in a position arousing compassion or pity – a poor thing. Here’s an example in the feminine: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/מסכן-#.m4a” /]היא נפלה מהמגלשה וקיבלה מכה, מסכנה. She fell off the…

how to say “delicious” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger August 20, 2014October 24, 2018

מְאֹד טָעִים listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet? Yesterday, we saw that the ah-EE vowel pattern makes a Hebrew concept “-able” or “-ible”, as in the word for edible (“eat-able”) – אָכִיל listen and repeat. Another word of the same structure is the one for tasty, or worthy of being…

how to say “remnant” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger April 27, 2020April 24, 2020

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/זכר-זיכרון-#.m4a” /]זֵכֶר While זיכרון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/זכר-זיכרון-#.m4a” /] refers to the memory we have in our brains or hard drives, זכר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/זכר-זיכרון-#.m4a” /] refers to the memory we have of someone or something, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/זכר-זיכרון-#.m4a” /]לא נשאר מהם זכר. Not a remnant was left of them. and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/זכר-זיכרון-#.m4a” /]יהי זכרם ברוך. May their…

how to say “business strategy” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger July 18, 2019July 11, 2019

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /]אַסְטְרָטֶגְיָה עִסְקִית Yesterday we saw the word for strategy in Hebrew – אסטרטגיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /]. Since a business is עסק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /], a business strategy is אסטרטגיה עסקית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /]מה האסטרטגיה העסקית שלכם? What’s your business strategy? To create the adjective עסקית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /], we simply add a י[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-עסקית-#.m4a” /] to…

Similar Posts