בִּן לַיְלָה The online front page of one of Israel’s major newspapers, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת (ye-dee-OHT ah-khah-roh-NOHT) reads: יְצִיאַת תּוּנִיסִיָּה: “הָפְכָה לְעִירַאק בִּן לַיְלָה” (ye-tsee-AHT too-NEE-see-yah: “hahf-KHAH le-ee-RAHK been LAH-ee-lah”) – Exodus from Tunisia: “Turned into Iraq overnight.” Here’s the article. To say that something occurs overnight, you’d use the expression, בִּן…
לְהִתְקָרֵב Earlier this week, we saw the root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b), meaning closeness, used in a variety of forms. We saw לְהַקְרִיב (le-hahk-REEV) – to sacrifice, give something up or to bring something close – and its passive form, מֻקְרָב (mook-RAHV). These are the causative forms (הפעיל and הופעל). We saw לִקְרָב (leek-RAHV) – to draw…
שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה This one’s for ליאת (Liat). If you’ve got some Hebrew, the first word that may have come to mind for scandal is סְקַנְדָּל (skahn-DAHL). But there’s another word: שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה (shah-ah-roo-ree-YAH). This word appears in Biblical Hebrew and is derived from the adjective שֹׁעַר (SHOH-ahr), meaning vile. For example… אֵיזוֹ שׁערורייה! (EH-ee-zoh shah-ah-roo-ree-YAH)…
לְהַקְרִיב The other day, we had the word לְקָרֵב (le-kah-REV), to draw someone/something close. For example, הוּא קֵרֵב הַרְבֶּה אֲנָשִׁים (hoo ke-REV hahr-BEH ah-nah-SHEEM) – He drew many people close. To say, I was drawn close – to be the recipient of the action – you’d use the passive version of the פיעל (pee-EL), the פועל…
מַסָּע If you know a little Hebrew, you’re probably familiar with the word for to travel – לִנְסוֹע (leen-SOH-ah). A journey or trek is a מַסָּע (mah-SAH). This is not a journey in the sense of driving in your convertible from Tel Aviv up the coast to Netanya. Rather, this is the type of journey knights used…
לְקָרֵב Yesterday we saw the simple usage of the root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b), with the verb, לִקְרַב (leek-RAHV) – to draw close. An example would be הוּא קָרַב אֵלֶיה (hoo kah-RAHV eh-LEH-hah) – He drew close to her. לִקְרַב is a “simple” (“קל”) usage of the root. Today I’ll introduce you to a more intensive usage…
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…