seven ways of saying “how are you?” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/media-files/whatsup-1.mp3″ /]מַה נִּשְׁמַע…? highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth   In English, we’ve got many ways of asking someone how they are feeling, what they are doing, etc, such as how are you? how’s it going? what’s up? how are you going (Australian)? how are you doing (American)? what’s going on? what’s happening? etc. In…

how to say “era” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? תְּקוּפָה The Hebrew word for period of time or era is תְּקוּפָה (listen and repeat). I’ve known this for a long time, but not its full meaning – until I just researched it to present it to you. The word appears in the Bible, but its meaning has become less and less specific over…

how to say “intelligence agency” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? סוֹכְנוּת בִּיּוּן highly recommended for further vocabulary growth   Yesterday we saw some information about הַמּוֹסָד– the Mossad. Today we’ll look at the general term for intelligence agency – סוֹכְנוּת בִּיּוּן. The Hebrew word for agency is סוכנות, most recognizably in the Hebrew name of The Jewish Agency – הַסּוֹכְנוּת הַיְּהוּדִית, or simply הסוכנות–…

how to say “institution” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? מוֹסָד The Mossad – Israel’s premier intelligence agency – is famous for conducting some of the most daring and surprising undercover missions in the world. The word Mossad in Hebrew – מוֹסָד– means institution or institute. Referring to the intelligence agency, we say literally, The Institute – הַמּוֹסָד. For example, educational institutions are מוֹסְדוֹת…

how to say “of course!” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? בֶּטַח, בָּרוּר, כַּמּוּבָן! highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth   In yesterday’s dose, we touched on the Hebrew word for security – בִּטָּחוֹן. The root of בטחון is ב.ט.ח meaning sureness and security. To say, for sure! or of course! in Hebrew, you’d use one of several terms. Here are three of them: בטח! A less formal…

how to say “security check” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? בִּדּוּק בִּטְחוֹנִי This one’s for Rojan and David I’ve had guests visiting from Europe the last few days. For both of them it’s the first time in Israel, and therefore the first time encountering the psychologically-astute Israeli security team at the airport. A security check is a בִּדּוּק בִּטְחוֹנִי.  Let’s break that…

how to say “background” in Hebrew

having trouble seeing the print? רֶקַע highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth The word background in English might refer to the visual background of an image or the conceptual background of someone’s past. So too in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for background is רֶקַע. For example: כְּכָל הַנִּרְאֶה, נַחַל עוֹבֵר בָּרֶקַע שֶׁל הַמּוֹנָה לִיזָה. It appears that a riverbed passes through the…

how to say “disturbance” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? הַפְרָעָה   If you already know some Hebrew, you may be familiar with the word for to disturb – לְהַפְרִיעַ, an active-causative הִפְעִיל verb.   For example:   מוֹרֶה: לֹא לְהַפְרִיעַ בַּשִּׁעוּר! Teacher (a male): Do not disturb (during the) class! The noun form of להפריע, a disturbance, is הַפְרָעָה. And הפרעה is…

how to say “to focus” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? לְהִתְרַכֵּז highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth I learned today from a LinkedIn article that it’s important for a business leader to focus in order to succeed. The truth is, focusing – putting our energy into something – is what makes things move in the world. The Hebrew word for to focus or to…