how to say “contractor” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-1.m4a” /]קַבְּלָן

A person who builds houses – or fixes computers, freelance-writes articles or teaches independently, for that matter – is a contractor. The Hebrew word for such a person is קבלן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-1.m4a” /] when he’s a male and קבלנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-2.m4a” /] when she’s a female.

They are called such because they receive money: לקבל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-3.m4a” /] means to receive. They also issue a receipt – a קבלה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-4.m4a” /]. The ן-[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-13.m4a” /] ending indicates that this is a person who does this action of לקבל habitually, just as צרכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-5.m4a” /] is a consumer since לצרוך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-6.m4a” /] is to consume goods, and שקרן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-7.m4a” /] is a liar since לשקר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-8.m4a” /] is to lie.

קבלן technically refers to an independent contractor of any field, but the more common term is עצמאי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-9.m4a” /] or עצמאית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-10.m4a” /] – independent – to refer to someone working independently. When קבלן is used alone, it refers to a building contractor.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-11.m4a” /]הקבלן הבטיח לגמור את הבית תוך חצי שנה.

The contractor promised to finish the house within half a year.

A subcontractor is a קבלן משנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/קבלן-12.m4a” /].