Author: Ami Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבטיח-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי מַבְטִיחַ, אֲנִי מַבְטִיחָה The Hebrew word for to promise – להבטיח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבטיח-2.m4a” /] – comes from the root ב.ט.ח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבטיח-3.m4a” /] – sureness, security. It’s an active-causative הפעיל verb. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבטיח-4.m4a” /]אמא, אני מבטיח לך שסידרתי את החדר! Mom, I promise you that I cleaned my room! (spoken by a boy)…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לסדר-את-החדר-1.m4a” /]לְסַדֵּר אֶת הַחֶדֶר While English-speaking parents (especially North Americans) might tell their children to clean their rooms, Israeli parents would tell them to tidy or organize their rooms – לסדר את החדר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לסדר-את-החדר-1.m4a” /] – literally, to tidy the room. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לסדר-את-החדר-2.m4a” /]תסדרי את החדר לפני שאני אתעצבן! Clean (tidy, organize) your room before I get upset!…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתעצבן-1.m4a” /]לְהִתְעַצְבֵּן The Hebrew word for nerve is עצב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתעצבן-2.m4a” /] (note that the pronunciation has ah vowels, not eh vowels). So it makes sense that the word for to get worked up or aggravated is להתעצבן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתעצבן-1.m4a” /], since this is usually the result of people or events getting on one’s nerves. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתעצבן-3.m4a” /]אחרי שעה וחצי…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תור-1.m4a” /]תּוֹר If you’ve made aliyah or are thinking about doing so, this is a word you will certainly encounter in government office and when buying groceries: תור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תור-1.m4a” /] – line or queue. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תור-2.m4a” /]יש כאן תור כאורך הגלות! There’s a line here long like the exile! Paradoxically, תור can also mean appointment (where…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כאורך-הגלות-1.m4a” /]כּאֹרֶךְ הַגָּלוּת Some Hebrew expressions are direct translations from other tongues, but this one is uniquely Jewish and Israeli. To say that something (a bank statement, for example) is very long and tiring, Israelis might say ארוך כאורך הגלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כאורך-הגלות-2.m4a” /] – literally, long like the length of the exile. Since the exile of the…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ניחוח-1.m4a” /]אָרוֹמָה, נִיחוֹחַ Anyone who’s spent more than a week in Israel probably knows the cafe chain ארומה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ניחוח-2.m4a” /], which means… you guessed it, aroma, which came to English via Greek. But there’s another word, an authentic Hebrew one, for aroma or scent that appears in the Bible: ניחוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ניחוח-3.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ניחוח-4.m4a” /]יש…

Note: the other day I taught that אונייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-3.m4a” /] and ספינה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-4.m4a” /] were interchangeable words for ship. It turns out that אונייה refers to a larger ship and ספינה to a smaller one. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-1.m4a” /]יַסְמִין The jasmine flower is named after a perfume from the Persian empire: jasmine – in Hebrew, יסמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-1.m4a” /] – originates…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-1.m4a” /]רֵיחַ The basic Hebrew word for a smell is ריח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-1.m4a” /]. The ריח can be pleasant: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-2.m4a” /]על טעם וריח אין להתווכח. You can’t argue about (personal) taste and smell. Or it could be nasty: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-3.m4a” /]יש כאן ריח של דג רקוב. There’s a smell here of rotten fish. And to smell?…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/רקוב-1.m4a” /]רָקוּב Even the word itself sounds kind of rotten: רקוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/רקוב-1.m4a” /]. Here’s the word in action: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/רקוב-2.m4a” /]זרוק לפח את הבננות – הן רקובות. Throw the bananas into the garbage – they’re rotten. (spoken to a male) To rot is להירקב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/רקוב-3.m4a” /], a nifal verb. This is one of many…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזרוק-1.m4a” /]לִזְרוֹק Unlike some actions, such as to print – להדפיס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזרוק-2.m4a” /] – that came into existence only in the modern era, to throw throws us back to Biblical times: לזרוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזרוק-1.m4a” /] appears already in ספר שמות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזרוק-3.m4a” /] – the Book of Exodus. Here’s a Modern-Hebrew example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזרוק-4.m4a” /]זרוק את הכדור! Throw…