how to say “to take responsibility” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /]לָקַחַת אַחְרָיוּת, לְגַלּוֹת אַחְרָיוּת

Taking responsibility could refer to a few things, most notably:

1. claiming responsibility for having done something, usually something that has had a negative impact
2. demonstrating responsibility, showing up as a responsible person, doing what’s right

Hebrew uses לקחת אחריות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /] – literally, to take responsibility, for both.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /]החמאס לקח אחריות על הפיגוע.

Hamas took responsibility for the terror attack.

and

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /]אחרי הרבה התלבטות היא החליטה לקחת אחריות ולפעול.

After lots of debating she decided to take responsibility and to act.

But there’s another expression that is a clear compliment: לגלות אחריות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /] – to show or to demonstrate responsibility, as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /]הוא מפתיע אותי עד כמה הוא מגלה אחריות בזמנים הקשים האלה.

He surprises me to what extent he’s been showing responsibility in these difficult times.

לגלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /] is a פיעל verb of the root ג.ל.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/לגלות-אחריות-#.m4a” /].