how to say “better late than never” in Hebrew

 

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מוּטָב מְאֻחָר מֵאֲשֶׁר לְעוֹלָם לֹא
 

 

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Yesterday my great-uncle had his בַּר מִצְוָה ( listen and repeat) Bar Mitzvah. Yes, my great uncle. He’s 82. Because when he was 13, he was in Auschwitz, where they didn’t do בר מצווה ceremonies.
 
En route, I told the cab driver about the event. He made his comment with an American saying translated into Hebrew: 
 
מוּטָב מְאֻחָר מֵאֲשֶׁר לְעוֹלם לֹא.
Better late than never.
 

Here’s a breakdown of the phrase:
 
מוטב ( listen and repeatit’s better, it’s preferable . This is a passive verb-turned-adjective of the passive-causative הֻפְעַל form, using the word טוֹב good or well – as the root.
 
מאוחר ( listen and repeatlate. This is also a passive verb-turned adjective, but this one follows the passive-intensive פֻּעַל form, employing the root א.ח.ר (a.kh.r) – after or end.
 
מאשר ( listen and repeatthan, literally, from that.
 
לעולם ( listen and repeatforever.
 
לעולם לא ( listen and repeatnever, or literally, forever not.
 
To learn to read Hebrew, visit read.ulpan.com.
 
 
by Ami SteinbergerFounder and Director, Ulpan La-Inyan
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