how to say “face” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /]פָּנִים, פַּרְצוּף
You may know the Yiddish expression א שיינע פנים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /] – a pretty face, with פנים pronounced POH-nim.
Modern Hebrew renders the word pah-NEEM, and this is likely closer to how the Israelites of the Bible pronounced the word. It means face and can be masculine or feminine but always plural as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /]יש לה פנים יפים.
She has a pretty face(s).
Another word for face first appeared in Talmudic literature and came to Hebrew via Greek. This word is פרצוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /], as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /]הפרצוף הזה מוכר לי.
I know this face (this face is known to me).
פנים and פרצוף are mostly interchangeable, but פרצוף is often used with a negative connotation, for example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /]היא לא רוצה לראות את הפרצוף שלו יותר.
She doesn’t want to see his face anymore.
and
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/פרצוף-#.m4a” /]דני, אל תעשה לי פרצופים.
Danny, don’t make faces at me.