הַחְיָאָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? Even if you have no background in Hebrew, chances are you’ve heard the expression !לַחַיִּים before, meaning to life! To produce a word for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, Modern Hebrew invokes a word related to לחיים, the active-causative verb לְהַחֲיוֹת – to revive or to make…
רָזֶה, דַּק Can’t read Hebrew yet? When speaking about a person, the word for thin is רָזֶה for a male, and רָזָה for a female. For example: הִיא עָשְׂתָה דִּיאֶטָה וְעַכְשָׁיו הִיא מְאֹד רָזָה. She went on a diet and now she is very thin. When speaking about an object, however, the…
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן 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 Game Test שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!
בֵּית סֹהַר, כֶּלֶא Can’t read Hebrew yet? The most common Hebrew word for jail or prison is בֵּית סֹהַר , as parents sometimes threaten their children: אִם לֹא תִּתְנַהֵג יָפֶה, יָשִׂימוּ אֹתְךָ בְּבֵית הַסֹּהַר. If you don’t behave nicely, they’ll put you in (the) jail. (to a son) The origin of…
לְיַשֵּׁב Can’t read Hebrew yet? There’s the simple verb, to sit – לָשֶׁבֶת . And there’s its intensive form, to settle something else – לְיַשֵּׁב . Both come from the root י.שׁ.ב (y.sh.b) meaning sitting. For example: הַסִּינִים יִשְּׁבוּ אֶת טַיווָאן. The Chinese settled Taiwan. and אוּלַי הוּא יַצְלִיחַ לְיַשֵּׁב אֶת הַסּוּגְיָה הַזֹּאת….
שָׁנִי Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for red is אָדֹם (more primary colors in Hebrew). The Modern-Hebrew color שָׁנִי is a particular shade of red, whose dye in Biblical times was drawn from a particular type of insect, תּוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי – the “shani” worm (today known to be an aphid). In English,…
לְבוּשׁ הוֹלֵם Can’t read Hebrew yet? Someone pointed out that in my entry last week on different articles of clothing, I neglected to mention the word for clothing itself. The simple word is בֶּגֶד , meaning garment. In the plural it’s בְּגָדִים . For example: הִיא לָבְשָׁה בְּגָדִים יָפִים. She wore nice clothes. …
קִשּׁוּר, חֻלְיָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? When referring to the kind of link found on a webpage, the Hebrew word is קִשּׁוּר (while many Israelis still use the foreign word, לִינְק ). This word wasn’t invented for the advent of the hyperlink; rather, it was in use beforehand in contexts such as the phrase:…
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן 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 Game Test שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!
נָאֶה, יָפֶה Can’t read Hebrew yet? When describing the beauty of objects in Hebrew, we typically use יָפֶה for something grammatically masculine and יָפָה for something feminine. For example: יֵשׁ לְךָ כּוֹבַע יָפֶה. You (a male) have a nice hat. אֵיזוֹ חֻלְצָה יָפָה! What a nice shirt! …
שִׂמְלָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? Though in Biblical times the word שִׂמְלָה referred to apparel worn widely by both women and men, today שמלה refers specifically to a dress. For example: הִיא שָׁאֲלָה אֹתִי אִם הַשִּׂמְלָה שֶׁלָּהּ יָפָה. She asked me if her dress is nice. Other items of clothing…