How to say “value” in Hebrew
Don’t confuse להעריך with להאריך (with an alef), which means to lengthen.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-1.m4a” /]רֵיחַ The basic Hebrew word for a smell is ריח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-1.m4a” /]. The ריח can be pleasant: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-2.m4a” /]על טעם וריח אין להתווכח. You can’t argue about (personal) taste and smell. Or it could be nasty: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ריח-3.m4a” /]יש כאן ריח של דג רקוב. There’s a smell here of rotten fish. And to smell?…
I tend to write a lot about verbs and adjectives, but once in a while a noun intrigues me. I just had a nice cup of tea. Hebrew’s equivalent of the English mug (not to mug, but a mug) is סֵפֶל (SEH-fel). This is what Ulpan La-Inyan students get when they come…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/פירוש-#.m4a” /]פֵּרוּשׁ The word פירוש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/פירוש-#.m4a” /] means literally interpretation, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/פירוש-#.m4a” /]קראתי פירוש יפה לאגדה הזאת. I read an interesting interpretation of this fable. But people use it more broadly, albeit a bit formally, to refer to what an interpretation delivers – meaning: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/פירוש-#.m4a” /]אין פירוש הדבר שהם רוצים לנסוע איתנו. That…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/פרת-משה-רבנו-#.m4a” /]פָּרַת מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ, מוֹשִׁית That pretty little red bug with black dots is called, in colloquial Hebrew, פרת משה רבנו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/פרת-משה-רבנו-#.m4a” /] – literally, the cow of Moses our Rabbi. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/פרת-משה-רבנו-#.m4a” /]לא כל יום רואים פרת משה רבנו אצלנו בגינה! Not every day do we see a ladybug in our…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ירידה-בטמפרטורות-1.m4a” /]יְרִידָה בַּטֶּמְפֶּרָטוּרוֹת There is a proper Hebrew term for temperature. It’s a logical one: דרגת חום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ירידה-בטמפרטורות-2.m4a” /] – literally, degree of heat. But what you’ll hear on the weather report is the Hebrew word borrowed from the Latin through European languages: טמפרטורה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ירידה-בטמפרטורות-3.m4a” /]. A drop in temperatures is ירידה בטמפרטורות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ירידה-בטמפרטורות-1.m4a” /]. The word ירידה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ירידה-בטמפרטורות-4.m4a” /], a decline,…