how to say “to convince” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]לְשַׁכְנֵעַ
To succumb or to surrender, in Hebrew, is the נפעל verb להיכנע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]אנחנו לא ניכנע!
We will not surrender!
להיכנע appears in Biblical Hebrew, where it means to humble oneself, which is what one does when surrendering. The word’s root is כ.נ.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /].
But since the causative הפעיל usage of this root was already taken with the Biblical להכניע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /] – to subdue, Modern Hebrew had to come up with a new word, to convince or to subdue with words – לשכנע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]הוא לא ישכנע אותי בקלות.
He won’t convince me easily.
לשכנע adds a ש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /] to the original root of כ.נ.ע, creating what I like to call a superroot: ש.כ.נ.ע. Other examples of words with superroots using ש in the beginning include לשדרג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /] – to upgrade and לשכפל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /] – to photocopy. These words follow the פיעל verb form.
