how to say “specific” in Hebrew
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מְסֻיָּם, נְקֻדָּתִי, סְפֶּצִיפִי
Mid-Fall Hebrew
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The English word specific has a few synonyms: particular, precise, exact, etc.
Likewise, Hebrew has more than one word for different situations. The most commonly-used one is transliterated from English: סְפֶּצִיפִי . For example:
. For example:אַתָּה מְדַבֵּר עַל אָדָם סְפֶּצִיפִי?
Are you (a male) talking about a specific person?
But more and more, the younger generation in Israel is using proper Hebrew words. Here’s are the most common ones:
מסויים
מְסֻיָּם means particular. It’s an adjective coming from a passive-intensive verb of the root ס.י.מ (s.y.m) meaning completion (same root as לְסַיֵּם – to complete). Something particular is something absolute, known directly and completely.
means particular. It’s an adjective coming from a passive-intensive verb of the root ס.י.מ (s.y.m) meaning completion (same root as לְסַיֵּם – to complete). Something particular is something absolute, known directly and completely.For example:
הִיא מְחַפֶּשֶׂת מִסְמָךְ מְסֻיָּם.
She is looking for a specific/particular document.
נקודתי
Then there’s נְקֻדָּתִי . It comes from the word נְקֻדָּה meaning point. It means literally pointed, but it can also mean local or one-time, as in:
. It comes from the word נְקֻדָּה meaning point. It means literally pointed, but it can also mean local or one-time, as in:זֹאת בְּעָיָה נְקֻדָּתִית.
This is a specific/one-time problem.
Other less-used (less-specific) Hebrew translations of specific include מֻגְדָּר – defined – and מְיֻחָד – special.
– defined – and מְיֻחָד – special.
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