Similar Posts
how to say “insane!” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/מטורף-#.m4a” /]מְטֹרָף If you know a bit of Yiddish, you may know the word meshugena – a crazy person. The original Hebrew form of this is משוגע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/מטורף-#.m4a” /]. But Hebrew has another word for insane – מטורף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/מטורף-#.m4a” /]. And like in English, מטורף doesn’t have to speak only of a person with a fragile…
how to say “embassy” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /]שַׁגְרִירוּת The Hebrew word for ambassador was coined by former Prime Minister of Israel, Moshe Sharett. He took the Biblical-Hebrew root ש.ג.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /] meaning offspring or offshoot, used his imagination and came up with שגריר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /] – someone sent off to another country to represent his/her own. And embassy? That’s שגרירות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /]. For…
a nice way to declare failure in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-1.m4a” /]לְהַעֲלוֹת חֶרֶס בְּיָדוֹ Hebrew does have a word for to fail – להיכשל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-3.m4a” /]הוא נכשל במבחן. He failed (on) the exam. But there’s another, softer expression: להעלות חרס בידו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-1.m4a” /] – literally to raise clay on his hand. The phrase is often shortened to להעלות חרס – to raise clay. For…
how to say “American” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/אמריקאי-#.m4a” /]אָמֵרִיקָאִי/אָמֶרִיקָנִי When Israelis refer to Americans, they’re most likely to call them אמריקאים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/אמריקאי-#.m4a” /], while one American male is אמריקאי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/אמריקאי-#.m4a” /] and one American female is אמריקאית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/אמריקאי-#.m4a” /]. Likewise, אמריקאיות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/אמריקאי-#.m4a” /] are American females. There’s another way to say these: אמריקנים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/אמריקאי-#.m4a” /] – Americans (males or a mixed…
how to say “loneliness” in Hebrew
בְּדִידוּת The Hebrew word for lonely is בודד when referring to a male, and בודדת or בודדה when referring to a female. For example: לפעמים אני מרגיש בודד. Sometimes I feel lonely. Likewise, בדידות is loneliness, as in: אם אתה חווה בדידות, אתה לא לבד. If you experience loneliness, you aren’t alone. The root of these…
how to say “baggage scanner” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-1.m4a” /]מְכוֹנַת שִׁקּוּף Last week we saw the word השתקפות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-2.m4a” /] – reflection – of the root ש.ק.פ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-3.m4a” /] meaning visibility. Using the same root, Hebrew calls that machine your bags go through at the airport – the baggage scanner – מכונת שיקוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-1.m4a” /] – literally, machine of transparency or reflection. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-4.m4a”…