another way to say “crowded” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-1.m4a” /]הוֹמֶה אָדָם
Yesterday we saw a Hebrew word for crowded or dense – צפוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-2.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-3.m4a” /]אנחנו לא אוהבים את המסעדה כי היא תמיד צפופה.
We don’t like the restaurant because it’s always crowded.
Now, Israelis use צפוף to mean crowded in a negative sense, or at best, in a neutral sense. But if they’re impressed or astonished by how crowded a place is, they’ll use the more flowery expression הומה אדם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-1.m4a” /] – like the English teeming with life.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-4.m4a” /]בקיץ ירושלים היא מקום הומה אדם.
In the summer Jerusalem is a place that is teeming with life.
הומה אדם means literally teeming with people. A form of הומה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-5.m4a” /] – teeming or humming – also appears in Israel’s national anthem, התקווה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-6.m4a” /] – HaTivka (the hope):
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הומה-אדם-7.m4a” /]נפש יהודי הומיה
The soul of the Jew yearns (hums with desire)