how to say “relief” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /]הֲקָלָה
The Hebrew word for relief is הקלה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /], as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /]איזו הקלה!
What a relief!
(You’ll probably hear people saying איזה הקלה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /] instead – this is grammatically incorrect but far more common.)
הקלה also means an easing of something, such as movement restrictions during corona. And if you live in Tel Aviv, you’ve probably seen posters trying to ease the minds of residents frustrated over the relentless building of the light rail – הרכבת הקלה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /]:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /]קשה עכשיו, הקלה אחר כך.
It’s hard now, relief (the light rail) later.
הקלה comes from the הפעיל verb להקל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /] – to ease (relief is an easing), which is based on the word קל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /] – easy (in the case of the light rail, it’s the feminine קלה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /]) and the root ק.ל.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/הקלה-#.m4a” /].
