Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מימייה-#.m4a” /]מֵימִיָּה Literally, a water bottle in Hebrew is בקבוק מים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מימייה-#.m4a” /], and you can use this term as well. But the kind of water bottle that isn’t disposable, the kind that hikers or soldiers tend to carry with them, is מימייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מימייה-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מימייה-#.m4a” /]דוד, ארזת כובע מצחייה? קרם הגנה?…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/כובע-מצחייה-#.m4a” /]כּוֹבַע מִצְחִיָּה The Hebrew word for a hat is כובע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/כובע-מצחייה-#.m4a” /]. The word refers to a hat of any kind, even a stocking cap – כובע גרב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/כובע-מצחייה-#.m4a” /]. A baseball cap or visor is כובע מצחייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/כובע-מצחייה-#.m4a” /] – literally, a hat-forehead cover, as מצח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/כובע-מצחייה-#.m4a” /] means forehead. Mind you, baseball is not a big deal in…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/הגנה-#.m4a” /]הֲגַנָּה The Hebrew word for defense is הגנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/הגנה-#.m4a” /], derived from the verb להגן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/הגנה-#.m4a” /] – to defend. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/הגנה-#.m4a” /]צבא ההגנה לישראל הוקם שבועות ספורים אחרי הכרזת העצמאות. The Israel Defense Force was established just a few weeks after the declaration of independence. Now, הגנה means defense in the general sense….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חודשים-ספורים-#.m4a” /]חֳדָשִׁים סְפוּרִים Now, you may have looked at the title of this post and said, “I know how to say just a few months in Hebrew – it’s רק כמה חודשים”[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חודשים-ספורים-#.m4a” /]. You would be right. But there’s a slightly more formal expression that you’re very likely to hear in the media: חודשים-ספורים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חודשים-ספורים-#.m4a” /]…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תוך-שנייה-#.m4a” /]תּוֹךְ שְׁנִיָּה Like the English word second, Hebrew’s שנייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תוך-שנייה-#.m4a” /] refers to both to the smallest unit of time that is used in day to day life, as well as that which comes after the first. In a second is תוך שנייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תוך-שנייה-#.m4a” /] – literally, within a second. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תוך-שנייה-#.m4a” /]תוך שנייה אני מגיע. I’ll…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/צפירה-#.m4a” /]צְפִירָה The Hebrew word for siren is צפירה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/צפירה-#.m4a” /]. Although it might make sense that the word comes from ציפור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/צפירה-#.m4a” /] – bird, that’s not the case. Rather, צפירה comes from the Aramaic word צפרא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/צפירה-#.m4a” /] – morning: a siren is a wakeup call. Here’s the word in context: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/צפירה-#.m4a” /]לא כל…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/אזעקת-שווא-#.m4a” /]אַזְעָקַת שָׁוְא The Hebrew word for alarm is all too well known to people living along the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip: אזעקה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/אזעקת-שווא-#.m4a” /], from the root ז.ע.ק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/אזעקת-שווא-#.m4a” /] meaning to scream. A false alarm is אזעקת שווא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/אזעקת-שווא-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/אזעקת-שווא-#.m4a” /]לא הייתה תקרית – זו הייתה אזעקת שווא. There…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תקרית-#.m4a” /]תַּקְרִית If you’ve got some basic conversational Hebrew down, you probably know how to ask what happened – מה קרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תקרית-#.m4a” /]? The root ק.ר.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תקרית-#.m4a” /] gives form as well to the word for incident or something (bad) that has happened – תקרית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תקרית-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/תקרית-#.m4a” /]שמעתם על התקרית אתמול בשכונה? Did…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/גניבה-#.m4a” /]גְּנֵבָה The Hebrew word for to steal is לגנוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/גניבה-#.m4a” /]. Take, for example, the biblical commandment: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/גניבה-#.m4a” /]לא תגנוב. Thou shalt not steal. and the more modern: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/גניבה-#.m4a” /]הוא גנב לי את הרכב! He stole my car! The word for theft is גניבה, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/גניבה-#.m4a” /]בשורה טובה: יש ירידה במספר…