Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

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/2019/06/עם-זאת-#.m4a” /]עִם זֹאת If you want to sound really smart, use words like nevertheless – in Hebrew, עם זאת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עם-זאת-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/עם-זאת-#.m4a” /]אומנם היא לא צודקת, עם זאת יש אמת במה שהיא אומרת. Although she’s wrong (isn’t right), nevertheless there’s truth to what she’s saying. עם זאת means literally with this.

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/במידה-מסוימת-#.m4a” /]בְּמִדָּה מְסֻיֶּמֶת In English, we cut down the absoluteness of a claim by saying to a certain extent: we use the metaphor of length to describe how “far” something will go. In Hebrew, when we want to simmer down what we’re saying, we might use במידה מסוימת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/במידה-מסוימת-#.m4a” /] – literally, by a certain measure….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/לגמרי-#.m4a” /]לְגַמְרֵי If you remember when in the nineties Americans would say things like totally radical, dude!, raise your hand with me. Hebrew has a few words for totally and completely (one of them is בהחלט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/לגמרי-#.m4a” /], made famous by Shulem Shtisel), but the one that best matches the slangy tone of totally is לגמרי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/לגמרי-#.m4a” /]….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ברור-#.m4a” /]בָּרוּר ברור (use ברורה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ברור-#.m4a” /] for something feminine such as the Mishnah) means clear both in the literal sense… [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ברור-#.m4a” /]יש לכתוב בכתב יד ברור! Write in clear (legible) handwriting! …as well as in the figurative, explanatory sense: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/ברור-#.m4a” /]אמרתי ככה, וזהו – מה לא ברור?  I said it like this, and…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חזרה-#.m4a” /]חֲזָרָה In American English, a rehearsal is what actors do (many times) before they go on stage in front of a live audience. But in British English, rehearsal also means a review of material that one would like to know well. Hebrew’s word חזרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חזרה-#.m4a” /] encompasses both meanings, as it comes from the simple verb…

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/2019/06/לסירוגין-#.m4a” /]לְסֵרוּגִין Bars protecting your window from intruders – סורגים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/לסירוגין-#.m4a” /] – have large gaps between them to let in the light and air. This is the idea behind the originally-Mishnaic Hebrew word לסירוגין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/לסירוגין-#.m4a” /], on and off or intermittently: there are gaps in time between events, such as moments of sleep. For example:…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/זקוק-#.m4a” /]זָקוּק ל… The basic way of saying I need in Hebrew is אני צריך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/זקוק-#.m4a” /] if you’re male and אני צריכה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/זקוק-#.m4a” /] if you’re female. But to say that someone is in need of something, we use another word that expresses greater urgency: זקוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/זקוק-#.m4a” /] for a male and זקוקה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/זקוק-#.m4a” /] for a female….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מנוחה-#.m4a” /]מְנוּחָה You may know the Hebrew word for to rest – לנוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מנוחה-#.m4a” /], a simple hollow verb of the root נ.ו.ח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מנוחה-#.m4a” /]. You may also know rest the noun, מנוחה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מנוחה-#.m4a” /], from Shabbat songs and prayers. Here’s the word in a sentence: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/מנוחה-#.m4a” /]בישראל כל עובד זכאי ליום מנוחה שבועי….