Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-#.m4a” /]אַסְטְרָטֶגִי Here’s a word you’ll probably find easy to recall, since it’s virtually the same word in English: a strategy is אסטרטגיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-#.m4a” /], while strategic is אסטרטגי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/אסטרטגיה-#.m4a” /]הבסיס ממוקם במקום אסטרטגי ברמת הגולן. The base is located at a strategic place on the Golan Heights. Both strategy and אסטרטגיה…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /]מְמֻקָּם Yesterday we saw that מיקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /] means location, and it derives from the פיעל verb למקם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /], which means to place. Something placed or located is ממוקם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /], a פועל form of the same root. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /]איפה המשרד שלכם ממוקם? Where is your office located? and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /]הקייטנה ממוקמת…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /]מִקּוּם You may have done a double-take on the word above – it’s the same letters as מקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /] – place, but the vowels are different. Here it is spelled out without vowels: מיקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מיקום-#.m4a” /]. Now you can see clearly that it’s a different word. מיקום means location. It’s related to the word…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מסוים-#.m4a” /]מְקוֹמוֹת מְסֻיָּמִים The Hebrew word for place is מקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מסוים-#.m4a” /], while the word for certain or specific is מסוים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מסוים-#.m4a” /] when describing something masculine and מסוימת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מסוים-#.m4a” /] for something feminine. Now, מקום is a masculine word, so that a certain place is מקום מסוים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מסוים-#.m4a” /]. But when speaking about places, מקום suddenly gets an…

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/2019/07/כרם-#.m4a” /]כֶּרֶם Here’s another beautiful Hebrew name: כרם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/כרם-#.m4a” /]. But departing from the trend, this one’s for girls (at least usually). Grammatically, though,  כרם (meaning vineyard) – is masculine. That’s why the following sentence uses היה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/כרם-#.m4a” /] (a masculine conjugation) and not הייתה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/כרם-#.m4a” /] (a feminine conjugation) for was: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/כרם-#.m4a” /]לשלמה…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/גפן-#.m4a” /]גֶּפֶן Here’s a nice Hebrew name for a child: גפן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/גפן-#.m4a” /], which means grapevine. You may also recognize the word from the Jewish blessing on wine: בורא פרי הגפן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/גפן-#.m4a” /] – the One who creates the vine. As is the trend today with Hebrew names, this one is unisex. Nevertheless the word גפן itself…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/לפרוח-#.m4a” /]לִפְרוֹחַ If you’ve got some basic Hebrew (or have studied at an Israeli university and received a scholarship for tutoring via the program of this name), you probably know the word for flower – פרח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/לפרוח-#.m4a” /]. To flower or to blossom/bloom is the simple verb לפרוח. For example, you may recall the ט”ו בשבט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/לפרוח-#.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמיא-#.m4a” /]מַחְמִיא לְךָ We’ve seen that the word for compliment in Hebrew is מחמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמיא-#.m4a” /]. To pay a compliment is either לתת מחמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמיא-#.m4a” /] – literally, to give a compliment, or the הפעיל verb להחמיא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמיא-#.m4a” /], for example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמיא-#.m4a” /]תחמיא לי, דוד. Give me a compliment, David. But להחמיא is not just…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /]מַחְמָאָה The Hebrew word for compliment – מחמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /] – comes from the word חמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /] meaning butter. מחמאה appears (in the plural) in a Biblical verse (Psalms 55:22) where it means of butter but has been mistaken to mean compliment. Basically, the word מחמאה was born by mistake.  מחמאות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מחמאה-#.m4a” /] – compliments – can…

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…