how to say “a mess” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? בָּלָגָן, אִי-סֵדֶר   Class Starts April 7 In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv DISCOUNT DEADLINE MARCH 24!   The first eve of Passover is called in Hebrew, לֵיל הַסֵּדֶר – the Seder night. The Hebrew word סדר–Seder means, literally, order. This very widely-observed  traditional Passover get-together is called a סדר mainly because the various pieces of the event…

how to say “one picture is worth a thousand words” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? תְּמוּנָה אַחַת… Class Starts April 7 In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv DISCOUNT DEADLINE MARCH 24!   Sometimes a picture says it all, or least most of it (those studying the דַּף יוֹמִי– the daily page (of Talmud) – certainly know what I’m talking about). In Hebrew, we say:   תְּמוּנָה אַחַת שָׁוָה אֶלֶף מִלִּים. One picture is worth (literally, is…

how to say “nice to meet you” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/media-files/nice-to-meet-you-1.mp3″ /]נָעִים לְהַכִּיר When I go to the pool, I’m usually there to swim laps, so I use the fast lane. Last night, as I was swimming at my regular pace, an older man suddenly cut into my lane and started doing a slow breaststroke. Out of respect for his age and out of fear for…

how to say “my name is…” in Hebrew

קוֹרְאִים לִי… שְׁמִי… In English, we say, my name is… In Hebrew, we say that literally as well, with …שְׁמִי (if you say the long version, …הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלִּי, you’ve given yourself away as a foreigner). You’d use …שמי in slightly formal settings or in a context where you’re trying to be polite. But if you’re…

how to say “to get around” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? לְהִתְנַיֵּד our spring classes start April 7 in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv The Hebrew root נ.ו.ד (n.w.d) or נ.י.ד (n.y.d) bears the concept of mobility and movement, as in the Biblical phrase in which קַיִן-Cain is cursed: נָע וָנָד תִּהְיֶה בָאָרֶץ – you will be a restless wanderer in the land. Modern applications…

how to say “this site is under construction” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? הָאֲתַר בִּבְנִיָּה   visit us on Facebook! The basic Hebrew word for place is מָקוֹם, while the word site – אֲתַר – is borrowed from Aramaic, where it is the basic word for place. אתר is used in Modern Hebrew to refer to a site, including a website. To build is לִבְנוֹת, an active-simple פָּעַל…

how to say “to wipe something dry” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? לְנַגֵּב This Spring Get Talking in Hebrew   Yesterday, we saw that the Hebrew word for dessert – קִנּוּחַ– comes from the active-intensive פִּעֵל verb, לְקַנֵּחַ– one of the words for to wipe.   A more common word for to wipe is לְנַגֵּב, also a פִּעֵל verb. Unlike לקנח, however, לנגב implies wiping to…

how to say “dessert” in Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? קִנּוּחַ, מָנָה אַחֲרוֹנָה Ulpan La-Inyan on Facebook Most kids’ favorite part of a meal (and maybe most adults’ as well) is dessert. קִנוּחִים desserts Israelis refer to dessert with one of two expressions: קִנּוּחַand מָנָה אַחֲרוֹנָה.   קינוח comes from the active-intensive פִּעֵל verb לְקַנֵּחַmeaning to wipe or to dry something. Dessert could…