how to say “to search” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-1.m4a” /]לְחַפֵּשׂ, לְבַקֵּשׁ, לְפַשְׁפֵּשׁ

The most common way to say to search in Hebrew is לחפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-2.m4a” /].

For example, the Hebrew title of Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning is אדם מחפש משמעות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-3.m4a” /].

A more literary word for to search, carrying with it also a tone of wanting, is לבקש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-4.m4a” /] (you may know the more common meaning of לבקש – to ask for). A passive form of לבקש also used in the context of police.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-5.m4a” /]הם הצליחו לאתר את המבוקש.

They managed to locate the wanted person.

Another word for to search refers to searching a person’s body or belongings: לפשפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-6.m4a” /].

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחפש-7.m4a” /]פשפשנו במזוודה שלו ולא מצאנו שום דבר חשוד.

We searched his suitcase and didn’t find anything suspicious.

All of these – לחפש, לבקש, לפשפש – are active-intensive פיעל verbs.