how to say “to clean up a mess” in Hebrew
Note: This will be the last Dose of Hebrew until after Passover, except for tomorrow’s weekly review.
חג שמח![audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-9.m4a” /]
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-1.m4a” /]לַעֲשׂוֹת סֵדֶר
You may know the Hebrew slang word for a mess – בלגן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-2.m4a” /]. Contrary to popular belief, this word is not borrowed from Arabic, but rather from Slavic languages such as Russian and Polish.
The opposite of a mess is order – סדר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-3.m4a” /]. To make order is לעשות סדר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-1.m4a” /], and to tidy up a mess or to make order of a mess (literally, in the mess) is לעשות סדר בבלגן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-4.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-6.m4a” /]היום עושים סדר בבלגן של העסק.
Today we’re making order of the mess in the business.
Another way of saying to tidy up is simply לסדר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-7.m4a” /].
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-10.m4a” /]ילדים, אתם צריכים לסדר את החדר!
Kids, you need to tidy up your (the) room!
סדר is a versatile word, also appearing in contexts such as:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-8.m4a” /]מחר עושים סדר פסח.
Tomorrow we’re making a Passover Seder (an order of items).
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לעשות-סדר-9.m4a” /]חג שמח!
Happy holiday!