how to say “come here” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /]בּוֹא הֵנָּה

You might hear a mother say to her son the literal בוא לפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /] – come (to) here – but you’re more likely to hear her say to him, בוא הנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /].

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /]בוא הנה, אני רוצה להחליף איתך מילה.

Come here, I want to have a word with you.

הֵנָּה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /] comes from הן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /], a flowery word for here, already in poetical use in Biblical Hebrew where it means something more like behold. The ה-ָ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /] at the end of the word indicates direction, like the ה-ָ in צפונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /] – to the north (לצפון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /]) and the Biblical מצרימה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /] – to Egypt (למצרים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /]). Thus הנה means to here.

Now, בוא הנה is come here when speaking to a male. To a female, it’s בואי הנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /], and to more than one person it’s בואו הנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בוא-הנה-#.m4a” /].