נורה חֲנֻכָּה (Hannukah) is coming up this week, so we’re gearing for the light. Here’s how to say light bulb in Hebrew: נוּרָה (noo-RAH). It’s related to the word for candle, נֵר (nehr).
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/משרד-החוץ-1.m4a” /]מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ Whereas English tends to be long-winded, Hebrew is concise. English has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but Hebrew has משרד החוץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/משרד-החוץ-1.m4a” /] – literally, the office of the outside (to understand what “the outside” refers to, see yesterday’s dose). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/משרד-החוץ-2.m4a” /]היא קיבלה עבודה טובה במשרד החוץ. She got a…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/לעזאזל-#.m4a” /]לַעֲזָאזֵל Although in day-to-day speech לעזאזל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/לעזאזל-#.m4a” /] has fallen out of use, you’ll still find it in subtitles for Israeli TV and film in place of your favorite English curse word. It can mean anything from to hell with it and what the hell? to other items I don’t want to spell out on…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/לפנות-מקום-#.m4a” /]לְפַנּוֹת מָקוֹם To clear something – to remove it – is לפנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/לפנות-מקום-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/לפנות-מקום-#.m4a” /]דוד, שכחת לפנות את השולחן! David, you forgot to clear the table! So to clear space for someone or something – to make room or to give way – is לפנות מקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/לפנות-מקום-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip…
לַחֲזוֹר, לָשׁוּב The basic Modern-Hebrew word for to return or to come back is the simple verb לחזור. For example: מתי חזרתם מהטיול? When did you guys come back from your (the) trip? But in Biblical Hebrew, the basic word was לשוב, also a simple verb. Today, לשוב serves as a more formal version of לחזור. For…