how to say “my grandmother” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger April 21, 2020August 9, 2022

סָבְתָא שֶׁלִּי

The Hebrew word סבתא
means grandmother – or more accurately, grandma. The proper term, which you’ll only find in formal settings, is סבה
. Likewise, grandfather or grandpa is סבא
, while סב
is the obscure, technically-correct term for grandfather.

Here’s a colloquial example:

סבתא שלי הייתה ניצולת שואה.

My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor.

Now, סבתא שלי
– my grandmother – means literally, the grandmother of mine. It’s the same construction as that of הספר שלי
– my book (the book of mine) and האחיות שלי
– my sisters (the sisters of mine). So why is there no ה
(the) before the word סבתא in סבתא שלי?

That’s because סבתא comes from Aramaic, where the א
at the end of the word indicates the – סבתא שלי already means the grandmother of mine, so there’s no need to add a ה to the beginning of the word.

The same is true of אבא
– father/dad, אמא
– mother/mom and of course סבא
– grandfather/grandpa.

For example:

סבא שאול הוא אבא של אמא שלי.

Grandpa Shaul is my mother’s father.

how to say “enthusiasm” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger June 2, 2011November 15, 2018

הִתְלַהֲבוּת This one’s for Yehoshua. A while ago I did a piece on the Hebrew word for exciting. The word for excitement is הִתְרַגְּשׁוּת (heet-rahg-SHOOT), employing the root ר.ג.ש (r.g.sh), the Biblical Hebrew concept of emotion. When people get excited, they’re filled with emotion. לְהִתְרַגֵּש (leh-heet-rah-GHESH) is to get excited, but also to…

how to say you have “command of a language” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger January 4, 2011November 5, 2018

We’re in the midst of recruiting for various teaching gigs right now. One of our criteria is command not only of Hebrew, but also of English. We write as a qualification, שְׁלִיטָה מְלֵאָה בְּעִבְרִית וּבְאַנְגְּלִית (shlee-TAH me-leh-AH be-eev-REET oo-ve-ahng-LEET) – full command of Hebrew and English. To express, He has command of English,…

how to say “parent-teacher conference” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger November 8, 2021November 4, 2021

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אספת-הורים-#.m4a” /]אֲסֵפַת הוֹרִים To gather in Hebrew is the simple verb לאסוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אספת-הורים-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אספת-הורים-#.m4a” /]מי אוסף את הילדים היום? Who’s picking up (gathering) the kids today? A gathering is אספה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אספת-הורים-#.m4a” /], so that a gathering of parents (with the teachers implied) – what’s called in the States parent-teacher conferences – is אספת…

how to say “navy blue” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger October 8, 2020October 1, 2020

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/כחול-כהה-#.m4a” /]כָּחוֹל כֵּהֶה Navy blue, in Hebrew, is כחול כהה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/כחול-כהה-#.m4a” /] – literally, dark blue. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/כחול-כהה-#.m4a” /]יש לכם חולצה כזאת בצבע כחול כהה? Do you guys have a shirt like this in the color navy blue ? כהה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/כחול-כהה-#.m4a” /] means simply dark when describing a person or object, so that dark red…

daily video – how to say “exit” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger August 26, 2021August 23, 2021

To slow down the audio or to turn on captions (CC), start playing the video and then click the settings icon ⚙️. LEARNING TIPS Hebrew beginners Watch with English captions a few times, then with Hebrew captions, then without captions, and see what you understand. Intermediate learners Watch without captions, pausing to write down what...

how to say “wealth” in Hebrew

ByAmi Steinberger May 2, 2016April 13, 2016

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-1.m4a” /]עֹשֶׁר Yesterday, we saw the word for poverty – עוני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-2.m4a” /], while a poor man is עני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-3.m4a” /]. On the flip side, the word for wealth is עושר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-1.m4a” /], and a rich man is עשיר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-4.m4a” /] (a rich woman is עשירה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-5.m4a” /]). A similar-sounding word is אושר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עושר-1.m4a” /] – contentment…