how to say “shopping” in Hebrew
having trouble seeing the print?
קְנִיּוֹת
Whereas שׁוֹפִּינְג
is still the term that refers to that activity that my mother loves so much, shopping for clothes, Israelis call general shopping – like for food and electronics – קְנִיּוֹת.
 |
| קְנֵה פָּחוֹת, חְיֵה יוֹתֵר buy less, live more (picture taken at a bus stop in Tel Aviv) |
For example:
עָשִׂיתִי קְנִיּוֹת אֶתְמוֹל בַּסּוּפֶּר.
I went (literally, did) shopping yesterday at the supermarket.
קניות comes from the active-simple פָּעַל verb, לִקְנוֹת, which means, in Modern Hebrew, to buy or to purchase (in Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew, it also means to possess).
A single act of purchasing is a קְנִיָּה, in Modern Hebrew (in Rabbinic literature, this is a קִנְיָן).
For example:
אֶתְמוֹל עָשִׂיתִי קְנִיָּה גְּדוֹלָה.עַכְשָׁיו יֵשׁ מַסְפִּיק אֹכֶל.
Yesterday I made a big purchase. Now there’s plenty of (literally, enough) food.
From the same root of ק.נ.ה, a shopping mall is a קַנְיוֹן.
Further build your Hebrew vocabulary with…
 |
| with a special discount for YDDH enthusiasts like yourself |
