Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/לשבץ-#.m4a” /]לְשַׁבֵּץ Think about a checkerboard: it’s got black and white alternating little square boxes, all together creating a much larger checkered square: A spreadsheet also has little boxes that together make up a larger shape. Each of these little boxes – on a checkerboard and on a spreadsheet – is called a משבצת[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חולצה-משובצת-#.m4a” /]חֻלְצָה מְשֻׁבֶּצֶת Like יותר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חולצה-משובצת-#.m4a” /] – more, we teach the word for shirt – חולצה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חולצה-משובצת-#.m4a” /] – in the first few lessons of our program. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חולצה-משובצת-#.m4a” /]איזו חולצה יפה! What a nice shirt! A plaid shirt is חולצה משובצת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חולצה-משובצת-#.m4a” /]: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חולצה-משובצת-#.m4a” /]פעם חולצה משובצת הייתה באופנה, אבל היום פחות….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/פחות-#.m4a” /]פָּחוֹת The word for more – יותר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/פחות-#.m4a” /] – is among the first 50 words we teach in our program, partly because it appears in the super-useful expression יותר מדי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/פחות-#.m4a” /] – too much, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/פחות-#.m4a” /]זה יותר מדי כסף! It’s too much money! The word for less – פחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/פחות-#.m4a” /]…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/בזמן-האחרון-#.m4a” /]בַּזְּמַן הָאַחֲרוֹן You may know the word לאחרונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/בזמן-האחרון-#.m4a” /] Another related expression you’re very likely to hear in Israel is the equivalent of lately – בזמן האחרון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/בזמן-האחרון-#.m4a” /] – literally, in the last time. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/בזמן-האחרון-#.m4a” /]קובי, איפה אתה מתחבא בזמן האחרון? Kobi, where have you been hiding lately?

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/להתחבא-#.m4a” /]לְהִתְחַבֵּא, לְהִסְתַּתֵּר The more mystical word for to hide in Hebrew is להסתתר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/להתחבא-#.m4a” /]. This is a התפעל verb from the root ס.ת.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/להתחבא-#.m4a” /] meaning concealment. But the more common word is להתחבא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/להתחבא-#.m4a” /], also a התפעל verb, but of the root ח.ב.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/להתחבא-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/להתחבא-#.m4a” /]היא אוהבת להתחבא מתחת…

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/2019/01/כנפיים-#.m4a” /]כְּנָפַיִם The Hebrew word for wing is כנף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/כנפיים-#.m4a” /] – a pair of them is כנפיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/כנפיים-#.m4a” /]. And like many other body parts that come in pairs, human or otherwise, the word is feminine: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/כנפיים-#.m4a” /]יש לציפור הזאת כנפיים רחבות מאוד! This bird has very wide wings! You may know the…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/נשר-#.m4a” /]נֶשֶׁר If you’ve traveled from the Ben Gurion Airport to Jerusalem, you may know this word from the shuttle service bearing it: נשר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/נשר-#.m4a” /] – literally, eagle (technically vulture, but Israelis use נשר for both). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/נשר-#.m4a” /]הסמל הרשמי של ארצות הברית כולל את הנשר. The official symbol of the United…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/סמלי-#.m4a” /]סִמְלִי The word סמל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/סמלי-#.m4a” /] – remarkably close in sound to its English equivalent symbol – appears in Biblical Hebrew. Here’s a modern usage of the word: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/סמלי-#.m4a” /]סמל מדינת ישראל הוא המנורה וענפי זית. The symbol of Israel is the Menorah (Temple candelabra) and olive branches. The word for symbolic is סמלי[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/תשלום-#.m4a” /]תַּשְׁלוּם We teach the Hebrew word for to pay – לשלם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/תשלום-#.m4a” /] – in our Level 2 course. It’s a פיעל verb whose root is ש.ל.מ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/תשלום-#.m4a” /] meaning completion: when we pay, we complete a transaction. A payment is תשלום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/תשלום-#.m4a” /]. For example, a waiter may say to you: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/תשלום-#.m4a” /]חמאה זה בתוספת…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חמאה-#.m4a” /]חֶמְאָה In biblical times, חמאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חמאה-#.m4a” /] referred to curds or leben. Today it refers to butter: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חמאה-#.m4a” /]דודה שלי מכינה חמאה ביתית! My aunt makes homemade butter! I’m guessing that חמאה is called such because separating curds from whey (going back to the biblical חמאה) requires heat – חום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/חמאה-#.m4a” /]. The…