לַעֲבוֹר This is one of those words people typically learn in their first course in Hebrew, but it’s got meanings beyond the simple one. לַעֲבוֹר (lah-ah-VOHR) means literally to pass, as in אֲתָּה תַּעֲבוֹר אֶת הַצּוֹמֶת (ah-TAH tah-ah-VOHR et hah-TSOH-met) – You (a male) will pass the intersection. This is a future-tense usage of…
מְשַׁעֲשֵׁעַ The Hebrew word for amusing – מְשַׁעֲשֵׁע (me-shah-ah-SHEH-ah) – came up in a lesson I gave in Jerusalem last week. This three-letter (ש.ע.ע – sh.a.a) turned-four-letter root (ש.ע.ש.ע – sh.a.sh.a) appears in several places in the Bible, where in some places it means delights – שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים (shah-ah-shoo-EEM). Today, a playground in Israel is called גַּן שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים…
חוֹם, חֲמִימוּת For many of us, it’s cold these days. The heaters and the duvets are out, for some of us the snowplows and the food rations… Not everyone likes the heat, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone likes warmth, both in the physical sense of sitting by a cozy…
עָשׂוֹר *** Correction – Yesterday I wrote that מְתֻחְכָּם (me-tookh-KAHM) – sophisticated – is a הופעל (hoof-AHL) verb. That was an error – it’s a פועל (poo-AHL) verb. *** Today’s word… If you can count to ten in Hebrew, you know the word עֶשֶׂר (EH-sehr) – ten. If you’re grammar-savvy in Hebrew, you know עֲשָׂרָה…
מְסֻגָּל, מְסֻגֶּלֶת The other day I introduced the word מְתֻחְכָּם (me-tookh-KAHM) – sophisticated and mistakenly wrote that it comes from the verb form, פיעל (pee-EHL). The truth is, it’s from פועל (hoof-AHL). So if you want to learn how to use פועל, check this page out. Today’s word also comes from פועל (poo-AHL), the passive counterpart…
תְּכוּנָה I think it’s reasonable to assume that nearly everyone on the planet – if not everyone – has admirable as well as less-than-admirable character traits. The word תְּכוּנָה (te-khoo-NAH) can refer to such traits, as well as non-human traits or features. For example, לַגִּרְסָה הַחֲדָשָׁה שֶׁל “חֲלוֹנוֹת” יֵשׁ תְּכוּנוֹת חֲדָשׁוֹת (la-gheer-SAH hah-khah-dah-SHAH shel “khah-loh-NOHT” yesh…
מְחִיר מוּזָל, מְחִיר מֻפְחַת If you’ve shopped in Israel or have taken our Level 1 class, you certainly know the word for inexpensive – זוֹל (transliterations here). To say that a price has been reduced, or made more inexpensive, you’d say, הַמְּחִיר הוּזָל. You can also say, הַמְּחִיר הֻפְחַת – the price has been…
מְתֻחְכָּם If you know some Hebrew, you surely know the word for wise or smart – חָכָם/חֲכָמָה. But sophisticated is more than smart. It takes smart to a whole different level. Thus Hebrew takes the root ח.כ.מ (kh.k.m) and adds a ת (t) to the beginning, taking the meaning of words derived to a whole new level….
לִתְפוֹס תְּאוּצָה Acceleration is a physics concept that has been used to describe trends in business, social media etc. The Hebrew word is תְּאוּצָה (te-oo-TSAH), a noun form of לְהָאִיץ (le-hah-EETS), to accelerate – a הפעיל (heef-EEL) verb. Say a product or an idea is catching on, starting to pick up speed. In Hebrew, we’d…
הַתְמָדָה At the front of a synagogue, usually hanging over the ark, shines a light that stays on on a regular basis. This light is called the נֵר תָּמִיד (nehr tah-MEED), the “always” candle. Diligence and persistence are about doing something regularly. It’s the best way to get something done that takes a…
לְאַמֵּת If you know some Hebrew, you likely know the word for truth – אֶמֶת (eh-MET). Suppose a woman representing your credit card company calls to inform you that you and your family have won a trip to Euro Disney. She’d ask you to verify your details. This is how she might say it: …