how to say “location” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /]מִקּוּם

You may have done a double-take on the word above – it’s the same letters as מקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /] – place, but the vowels are different. Here it is spelled out without vowels: מיקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /]. Now you can see clearly that it’s a different word.

מיקום means location. It’s related to the word מקום, but it derives from the פיעל verb form whereas מקום is just a noun (well, not just – מקום itself derives from the root ק.ו.מ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /] meaning getting up, but that’s another story).

Here’s מיקום in contemporary context:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /]גבר, שלח לי מיקום דרך הוואטסאפ.

Man, send me a (your) location via WhatsApp.

מיקום comes from the פיעל verb למקם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /] – to place: something placed has a location.