how to say “desire” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]רָצוֹן, תְּשׁוּקָה, חֵשֶׁק
If you enter the word desire into Google Translate for Hebrew, you’ll find no less than eleven translations. I’ll focus here on three: רצון, [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]תשוקה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /] and חשק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /].
1.
רצון means desire in the sense of wanting or willing something. It comes from לרצות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /], the simple verb for to want, as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]אתם רוצים משהו לשתות?
Do you guys want something to drink?
רצון might best be translated as will, as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]אין דבר העומד בפני הרצון.
Nothing stands in the way of will.
2.
תשוקה also means passion, and that’s the type of desire we’re talking about here.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]הוא מנסה לעורר בעצמו תשוקה לחיים.
He’s trying to awaken in himself passion for life.
To desire in this sense is להשתוקק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /], a התפעל verb.
3.
חשק is zest, gusto, eagerness. It appears most often in the expression אין לי חשק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /] – I don’t feel like, similar to לא בא לי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /] – also I don’t feel like, literally, it doesn’t come to me.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]אין לי חשק לקום – בא לי להישאר במיטה ולראות נטפליקס כל היום.
I don’t feel like (don’t have the gusto for) getting up – I feel like staying in bed and watching Netflix all day.
חשק as a root appears in the התפעל verb להתחשק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /], also to feel like it.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/רצון-#.m4a” /]אם מתחשק לכם, תקפצו לבקר אחר הצהריים.
If you guys feel like it, come over (jump) to visit in the afternoon.
