Breaking the ice… Next week, I’m doing a presentation in Raanana (Tues eve) and Jerusalem (Wed eve) entitled “The Hebrew You Always Wanted to Know… But Were Too Afraid to Ask.” You can send me your requests as well as get the details for the event, here. If you’re around, it would be…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בעלות-1.m4a” /]בְּעָלוּת The Hebrew word for husband is בעל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בעלות-2.m4a” /], a word that denotes mastery: a husband, historically, was the owner of his house and the master of his wife (there is also a sexual connotation to בעל). Since the owner aspect of this word implies a power hierarchy, many Israelis prefer other terms for husband such as רֵעַ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בעלות-3.m4a” /]…
לְהִתְמַסֵּר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתמסר-1.mp3″ /] Some causes are worthy of total dedication – מְסִירוּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתמסר-2.mp3″ /]. To devote oneself is לְהִתְמַסֵּר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתמסר-1.mp3″ /]. This word invokes the root מ.ס.ר (m.s.r) meaning passing along and plugs it into the reflexive-intensive verb form, so that the word might be said to mean to pass oneself towards something. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתמסר-3.mp3″ /]הוּא הִתְמַסֵּר…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/סוכן-#.m4a” /]סוֹכֵן Yesterday we encountered ביטוח לאומי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/סוכן-#.m4a” /], Israel’s National Insurance agency. Another Israeli government-related institution you may know is הסוכנות היהודית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/סוכן-#.m4a” /] – The Jewish Agency. סוכנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/סוכן-#.m4a” /] derives from the word סוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/סוכן-#.m4a” /] meaning agent, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/סוכן-#.m4a” /]דוד, יש לך סוכן ביטוח? David, do you have an insurance…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/יפה-לך-#.m4a” /]יָפֶה לְךָ You can say to a man in Hebrew, זה נראה טוב עליך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/יפה-לך-#.m4a” /] – literally, this looks good on you. To a woman, switch עליך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/יפה-לך-#.m4a” /] with עלייך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/יפה-לך-#.m4a” /]. But that’s a direct translation from English. A more culturally-authentic Hebrew expression is יפה לךָ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/יפה-לך-#.m4a” /] to a male…