how to say “breathtaking” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /]עוֹצֵר נְשִׁימָה

Imagine yourself climbing uphill for hours, step by arduous step, sweating, panting… and then suddenly finding yourself on firm, level ground that looks over a beautiful valley forest drenched in a light fog – or Jerusalem in all its splendor. Your breath may stop for a moment, and only then open up with a slow, lung-filling inhalation.

English focuses on the breathing part of this experience, calling it breathtaking. Hebrew, on the other hand, focuses on the moment of change, when the breath is caught up in the pleasantly shocking new experience: עוצר נשימה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /] – literally, breath stopping – is Hebrew’s way of capturing this moment.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /]פתאום עמדנו מול נוף עוצר נשימה.

Suddenly we stood opposite a breathtaking view.

עוצר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /] means stopping, a form of the simple פעל verb לעצור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /] – to stop.

נשימה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /] means breath, a noun form of the simple פעל verb לנשום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עוצר-נשימה-#.m4a” /] – to breathe.