how to say “cousin” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /]בֶּן דּוֹד, בַּת דּוֹדָה

In English, we have one word for cousin. But in Hebrew, the term changes based on whether this cousin is a son or daughter… of an aunt or uncle.

Though most Israelis are likely to refer to any male cousin as בן דוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] (son of uncle) and to any female cousin as בת דודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] (daughter of aunt), here’s the breakdown for those who wish to get more specific:

בן דוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] – son of uncle

בת דוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] – daughter of uncle

בן דודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] – son of aunt

בת דודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] – daughter of aunt

What about more than one cousin? Most Israelis will just say בני דודים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] (sons of uncles) if they’re referring to an all-male or mixed group of siblings, and בנות דודות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] (daughters of aunts) for all-female siblings. If you want more specifics, see this page.

Reading up for this post, I found that there are also the words דודן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] and דודנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/בן-דוד-#.m4a” /] for a male and female cousin, respectively. But it’s the first I’ve heard of these – they’re not commonly used, probably not even understood by the majority of Israelis.