how to say “passport” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /]דַּרְכּוֹן

You may hear some Israelis still saying פספורט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /] in reference to this important document, but the proper Hebrew word for it is דרכון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /].

So that at the airport, you may be requested:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /]דרכון וכרטיס עלייה למטוס, בבקשה.

Passport and boarding pass, please.

This modern-day document דרכון takes the Biblical word דרך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /] – path or way, and adds the ון-[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /] ending, which often signifies usability: a דרכון makes the path possible.