קִדֹּמֶת הַקִּדֹּמֶת בְּאֵזוֹר יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, יְהוּדָה וְשֹמְרוֹן הוּא אֶפֶס שְׁתַּיִם (hah-kee-DOH-met beh-eh-ZOHR yeh-roo-shah-LAH-yeem, yeh-hoo-DAH veh-shohm-ROHN hoo EH-fes SHTAH-yeem) – the area code in the Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria region is 02. הקידומת באיזור הַמֶּרְכַּז הוא אפס שָׁלוֹש (hah-kee-DOH-met beh-eh-ZOHR hah-mehr-KAHZ hoo EH-fes shah-LOHSH) – the area code in the center region (of Israel) is 03. הקידומת באיזור…
בִּלְתִּי נִסְלַח The butchering of an innocent family is an unforgivable act – מַעֲשֶׂה בִּלְתִּי נִסְלַח (mah-ah-SEH beel-TEE nees-LAHKH). נסלח falls into the נפעל (neef-AHL) verb pattern, though the word itself functions as an adjective. The root is ס.ל.ח (s.l.kh) – forgiveness. May the week bring a turn of events for the better.
עֹמֶק Last night I stayed up late with my roommates translating the Irish band U2’s hit from the 90’s, “One.” Here’s what we came up with. The lyrics to the song display depth – עומק (OH-mek) – יֵשׁ לָשִּׁיר הַזֶּה עֹמֶק (yesh lah-SHEER hah-ZEH OH-mek) – this song has depth. We plan to perform our…
רֶשֶׁת חֶבְרָתִית This one’s for EL – thanks for introducing me to The Social Network! The aforementioned is the Oscar-winning film you’ve more than likely heard of, about Mark Zuckerberg and his monumental contribution to the world, Facebook. My roommates and I found the movie exciting, even inspiring – we…
בִּלְתִּי הָפִיךְ How you can help a family of orphans THANK YOU to those who have already helped! The word בִּלְתִּי (beel-TEE) comes before another word to do what the prefixes “un-” and “in-” do in English. Some examples of such phrases that have already appeared on Ktzat Ivrit are בִּלְתִּי חֻקִּי (beel-TEE…
אַדְרַבָּה One way of saying on the contrary in Hebrew is לְהֶפֶך (leh-HEH-fekh) – literally, to the opposite. A word that will make you sound really smart is אַדְרַבָּה (AHD-rah-bah). It comes from Babylonian Aramaic and is used mostly in academic circles… and in the בֵּית מִדְרָש (beit meed-RAHSH) – religious house of study, where it…
תַּחֲזִית If you’ve listened at all to Israeli radio, you’ve certainly heard the announcers utter the words הַתַּחֲזִית, מִיָּד (tah-khah-ZEET mee-YAHD) – The forecast, right away. The word תחזית comes from the root ח.ז.ה (kh.z.h), a root close in meaning to ר.א.ה (r.a.h), seeing. A forecast is that which is foreseen. The prophets of Biblical times would…
לְהִתְחַרְפֵן Here’s a useful slang word. לְהִתְחַרְפֵן (le-heet-khahr-FEN) means to freak out. For example, כְּשֶׁהִיא הִגִּיעָה לַמְּסִבָּה, הוּא הִתְחַרְפֵן (keh-sheh-hee hee-GHEE-ah lah-meh-see-BAH, hoo heet-khahr-FEN) – When she arrived at the party, he freaked out. According to וִיקִימִלּוֹן (vee-kee-mee-LOHN) – Wiktionary in Hebrew, this word comes from the Arabic root خ.ر.ف (kh.r.f), meaning confused or senile. להתחרפן falls into the התפעל…
לִשְׁכּוֹן This is one is for Mr. and Mrs. Worms. If you’ve got some Hebrew, you likely know how to say “He lives in… (Israel, Los Angeles, Argentina, etc…)” – הוּא גָּר בְּ… (hoo gahr beh…). The word לָגוּר (lah-GOOR) means to reside, in colloquial Hebrew. There is also a more refined word, not used…
לְהַסְפִּיק We’ve had סַפָּק (sah-PAHK) – supplier/provider. We’ve had סִפּוּק (see-POOK) – satisfaction. We’ve had לְהִסְתַּפֵּק (leh-hees-tah-PEK) – to make do with what is. Today we’ve got one word more from this versatile Hebrew root: לְהַסְפִּיק (leh-hahs-PEEK). The two most common meanings are to suffice and to get succeed in doing something on time. You may…
לְהִסְתַּפֵּק Over the past couple of days we’ve seen words from the root ס.פ.ק (s.p.k), meaning, enough or satisfaction. Today’s word doesn’t have a literal translation in English. It means, roughly, to have enough or to make due. The word is the התפעל (heet-pah-EL) form of the root, namely, לְהִסְתַּפֵּק (leh-hees-tah-PEK). A well-known saying from the Ethics of…