יום You probably know that יוֹם (yohm) means day. You also probably know that the Book of Genesis (סֵפֶר בְּרֵאשִׁית – SEH-fehr beh-reh-SHEET) presents the story of creation in a six-day sequence – and that this contradicts modern science… at least on an initial reading. On top of that, the second chapter of…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/תעשה-לי-טובה-#.m4a” /]תַּעֲשֶׂה לִי טוֹבָה Hebrew doesn’t have a literal translation for gimme a break. Really, what’s a break anyway? What’s being broken? To dismiss an idea with the same measured disgust mixed with a dash of hope as gimme a break, Israelis say תעשה לי טובה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/תעשה-לי-טובה-#.m4a” /] to a male, and תעשי לי טובה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/תעשה-לי-טובה-#.m4a”…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מגב-1.m4a” /]מַגָּב Yesterday we saw the Hebrew word for towel – מגבת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מגב-2.m4a” /]. What we might call the masculine form of מגבת is מגב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מגב-1.m4a” /] – a mop. מגב is usually for cleaning floors, but it could also refer to a smaller mop-like device, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מגב-3.m4a” /]יש לך מגב לנקות את השמשה?…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /]מַחְמָאָה The Hebrew word for compliment – מחמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /] – comes from the word חמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /] meaning butter. מחמאה appears (in the plural) in a Biblical verse (Psalms 55:22) where it means of butter but has been mistaken to mean compliment. Basically, the word מחמאה was born by mistake. מחמאות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /] – compliments – can…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תגבור-1.m4a” /]תִּגְבּוּר A few years back I did a post on positive reinforcement – חיזוק חיובי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תגבור-2.m4a” /]. That phrase means literally positive strengthening, where חיזוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תגבור-3.m4a” /] means strengthening. Another kind of reinforcement is תגבור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תגבור-1.m4a” /], of the root ג.ב.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תגבור-4.m4a” /] meaning might. This is reinforcement in the sense of a team compensating for weakness by adding members. For…