how to say “to join” in Hebrew

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

Tal, a teenager, is going hiking with a few friends. He calls up his younger cousin Shimon and says:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להצטרף-2.m4a” /]אתה רוצה להצטרף אלינו?

Do you want to join us?

The word להצטרף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להצטרף-1.m4a” /] – to join – is a reflexive verb of the root צ.ר.פ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להצטרף-3.m4a” /] meaning to meld together, to refine, originally (in Biblical times) referring to the refinement of silver and other metals. Modern Hebrew applies this melting pot concept to joining anything together, including people.

The active-intensive form of the root is לצרף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להצטרף-4.m4a” /] – to join or to attach, as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להצטרף-5.m4a” /]אני מצרף את הקובץ.

I’m attaching the file.

Likewise, a passive-intensive version of this sentence is:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להצטרף-6.m4a” /]הקובץ מצורף.

The file is attached.