how to say “attractive” in Hebrew
מוֹשֵׁךְ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-1.mp3″ /]
Hebrew borrows lots of words from English and the Romance languages, such as telephone – טֶלֶפוֹן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-2.mp3″ /], function – פוּנְקְצְיָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-3.mp3″ /], and metaphor – מֶטָפוֹרָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-4.mp3″ /]. In all these cases, the meaning is the same in both English and Hebrew.
In the case of the word attractive – imported to Hebrew as אַטְרַקְטִיבִי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-5.mp3″ /] – the word is used differently. While the English attractive refers to the appearance of someone or something, the Hebrew אטרקטיבי more often refers to a price or a deal, as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-6.mp3″ /]הֵם מַצִּיעִים מְחִירִים אַטְרַקְטִיבִיִּם בִּמְיֻחָד.
They are offering especially good (attractive) prices.
To describe a person as attractive, Israelis use מוֹשֵׁךְ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-1.mp3″ /] – literally, pulling, and the word’s gender/number variations.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מושך-7.mp3″ /]הִיא אִשָּׁה מוֹשֶׁכֶת.
She is an attractive woman.
