קָרוֹב לְוַדַּאי Can’t read Hebrew yet? Hebrew has a way of sounding a bit overconfident sometimes. We use surely to mean probably, as in: הוּא בֶּטַח יַגִּיעַ תּוֹךְ שְׁתֵּי דַּקּוֹת. He’ll probably (surely) arrive within two minutes. And we mean to say more than likely, we’re literally saying close to…
מַסּוֹק Can’t read Hebrew yet? The people at the Academy of the Hebrew Language work hard to introduce newly-constructed authentic Hebrew words into the vernacular, trying to catch up with the masses who already use foreign words for inventions of recent centuries such as the telephone (the term they came up with,…
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? Review, practice and test yourself on this week’s doses of Hebrew! Flashcards Game Test שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!
תַּיָּרוּת Can’t read Hebrew yet? While a tour in Modern Hebrew is a סִיּוּר , a tourist is a תַּיָּר (a male) or a תַּיֶּרֶת (a female). The latter words – תייר and תיירת – come from the biblical story of the spies sent to scout the land of Canaan (Israel): לָתוּר אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן …
תִּקְוֹת וַחֲלוֹמוֹת Can’t read Hebrew yet? Sunshine after a rainy season, for some, brings renewed energy. It’s a time of the budding of hopes and dreams… and sometimes their fulfillment too. Hope in Hebrew is תִּקְוָה , which you may recognize from the name of Israel’s national anthem, הַתִּקְוָה – literally, The…
מַסְלוּל הַמְרָאָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? There’s talking and movement in the cabin. Soon passengers are instructed to fasten their seat belts and watch a safety video, and then the crew is told to take their seats for takeoff. Soon there’s a loud, sustained whooshing sound as the engines go into high gear, and the plane…
נְשִׂיאוּת Can’t read Hebrew yet? Tomorrow, the Israeli Knesset will elect a new president to represent the Jewish State to the world. The Hebrew word for president is נָשִׂיא if he’s a male and נְשִׂיאָה if she’s a female. The word comes from the root נ.שׂ.א (n.s.a) meaning lifting: the president is a person lifted up from…
שֶׁטַח Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for territory is the same as that for area in the geometric sense: שֶׁטַח . For example: כַּמָּה מֶטְרִים מְרֻבָּעִים שֶׁטַח הַדִּירָה? How many square meters is the apartment? and הֵם גָּרִים בַּשְּׁטָחִים. They live in the territories. שטח…
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? Review, practice and test yourself on this week’s doses of Hebrew! Flashcards Game Test שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!
לִבְעוֹט Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for to kick is לִבְעוֹט , a simple verb of the root ב.ע.ט (b.a.t). It’s used with the preposition -ּב , so that, in Hebrew, one kicks “at” something. For example: הַשַּׂחְקָן בָּעַט בַּכַּדּוּר.The player kicked (at) the ball. Likewise, a kick is a בְּעִיטָה . For example: לִפְעָמִים אֲנִי חוֹטֵף בְּעִיטוֹת בַּבְּרֵכָה הַקְּהִלָּתִית.Sometimes…
Nam libero tempore cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio cumque nihil impedit quo minus id quod.