לִקְרַב The Hebrew root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b) is the concept of closeness. It’s one of a handful of verb roots that have meaning when used in all seven Modern Hebrew verb forms (בִּנְיָנִים – been-yah-NEEM). Today I’m introducing you to the first one; the others I’ll introduce throughout the week. In the simple form (קַל…
חֲגוֹרַת בְּטִיחוּת Perhaps this entry would have been more timely last week, on New Years Eve. But I guess better late than never. A belt in Hebrew is חֲגוֹרָה (khah-goh-RAH). Safety is בְּטִיחוּת (be-tee-KHOOT). It comes from the same root as security, trust – בִּטָּחוֹן (bee-tah-KHOHN) and insurance – בִּטּוּח (bee-TOO-ahkh). A safety belt is…
לִטְרוֹק To close the door is לִסְגּוֹר אֶת הַדֶּלֶת (lees-GOHR et hah-DEH-let). But to slam it is לִטְרוֹק אוֹתָהּ (leet-ROHK oh-AH). If you want to say in Hebrew to a boy, don’t slam the door!, it’s אַל תִּטְרוֹק אֶת הַדֶּלֶת (ahl teet-ROHK et hah-DEH-let). Class starts this Sunday Our friendly, state…
לִסְחוֹב English doesn’t really have a native word for this action, schlepping. Luckily, Hebrew has its own authentic word: לִסְחוֹב (lees-KHOHV). For example, לֹא בָּא לִי לִסְחוֹב אֶת כָּל הַמִּצְרָכִים מֵהַסּוּפֵּר (loh bah lee lees-KHOHV et kohl hah-meets-rah-KHEEM me-hah-SOO-pehr) – I don’t feel like schlepping all the goods from the supermarket. This…
לִשְׁלוֹט בְּשָׂפָה We’re in the midst of recruiting for various teaching gigs right now. One of our criteria is command not only of Hebrew, but also of English. We write as a qualification, שְׁלִיטָה מְלֵאָה בְּעִבְרִית וּבְאַנְגְּלִית (shlee-TAH me-leh-AH be-eev-REET oo-ve-ahng-LEET) – full command of Hebrew and English. To express, He has command…
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…