the different words for “here” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-1.m4a” /]פֹּה, כָּאן, הִנֵּה
A subscriber asked me recently about the different words for here in Hebrew.
While פה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-2.m4a” /] goes back to Biblical Hebrew, the use of כאן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-3.m4a” /] only began in Mishnaic times, and probably arrived from a foreign language such as Aramaic. But they are used interchangeably to mean here, as in:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-4.m4a” /]יש פה רופא?
and
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-5.m4a” /]יש כאן רופא?
Is there a doctor here?
The word הנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-6.m4a” /] means here as in here it is! or the French voila.
For example:
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כאן-7.m4a” /]הנה המשקפיים שלך, הם היו מתחת לכרית.
Here are your (a male’s) glasses, they were under the pillow.
In Biblical Hebrew, הנה means behold!