how do you say (and use) “to be” in Hebrew?
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להיות-1.m4a” /]לִהְיוֹת
Hebrew doesn’t have words for is, are and am – forms of to be – so that she is tall gets translated to היא גבוהה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להיות-2.m4a” /] – literally, she tall.
To be itself, however, does have a Hebrew equivalent: להיות.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להיות-3.m4a” /]מחר אנחנו צריכים להיות שם בשעה עשר.
Tomorrow we need to be there at ten o’clock.
להיות gets conjugated in the past and future tenses, as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להיות-4.m4a” /]היינו שם אתמול, ומחר נהיה שם שוב.
We were there yesterday, and tomorrow we’ll be there again.
להיות also works for expressing more subtle tenses, where English might use would or were:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להיות-5.m4a” /]הייתי הולך איתכם, אבל אני לא מוכן.
I (a male) would go with you guys, but I’m not ready.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להיות-6.m4a” /]אם הם היו חכמים, הם היו קונים דירה בתל אביב.
If they were smart, they would have bought an apartment in Tel Aviv.
