Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שילוט-#.m4a” /]שִׁלּוּט Yesterday we saw a sign – or rather, that a sign in the printed, instructional sense is שלט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שילוט-#.m4a” /] in Hebrew. A system of signs – signage – is שילוט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שילוט-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שילוט-#.m4a” /]השילוט בכביש הזה לא משהו. The signage on this road is not great (not something). In English…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שלט-#.m4a” /]סִימָן, שֶׁלֶט A sign in the spiritual sense is סימן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שלט-#.m4a” /], for example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שלט-#.m4a” /]חיכיתי לסימן שיהיה בסדר. I waited for a sign that it would okay. סימן also means a marker, such as that on a hiking trail: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/שלט-#.m4a” /]שימו לב לסימני הדרך. Pay attention to the path markers. (spoken to more than…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /]מוֹקֵשׁ If you’ve been hiking before in the Golan Heights, you may have seen a sign like the one pictured here: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /]מוקשים – ה(י)זהר! Mines – take caution! The word מוקש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /] first appears in the Bible, where it refers to a snare – something meant to sabotage someone along their…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/זהירות-#.m4a” /]זְהִירוּת! Hebrew’s SOS, unisex word for be careful! is !זהירות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/זהירות-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/זהירות-#.m4a” /]זהירות! לא להיכנס לשם! Be careful! Don’t go in there! The other way of saying be careful is to use a form of the נפעל verb להיזהר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/זהירות-#.m4a” /] – to be careful. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/זהירות-#.m4a” /]תיזהר, דוד, יש…

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/2018/07/לקחת-קשה-#.m4a” /]הוּא לָקַח אֶת זֶה קָשֶׁה The Hebrew word for hard or difficult is קשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/לקחת-קשה-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/לקחת-קשה-#.m4a” /]קשה להבין אותו כשהוא מדבר. It’s hard to understand him when he speaks. To express that someone took news with difficulty or not well, Israelis say לקחת את זה קשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/לקחת-קשה-#.m4a” /] – literally, to take it…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/להתפטר-#.m4a” /]לְהִתְפַּטֵּר The root פ.ט.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/להתפטר-#.m4a” /] has to do with separation and setting free. Thus the reflexive התפעל verb להתפטר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/להתפטר-#.m4a” /] means to quit a job or to resign. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/להתפטר-#.m4a” /]היא התפטרה והלכה לעבוד בחברה אחרת. She quit and went to work at another company. That’s quitting when it comes to…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/חברה-#.m4a” /]חֶבְרָה The English word company has both social and business connotations. But in the end of the day, it’s the same word. Same in Hebrew: whether it refers to a group of people coming together for the purpose of giving their services to the world in exchange for money, or to a group of…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בעלים-#.m4a” /]בְּעָלִים Hebrew doesn’t have words for to own or to have. Rather, I have is יש לי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בעלים-#.m4a” /] – literally, there is to me. And ownership is בעלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בעלים-#.m4a” /], deriving from the Biblical word בעל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/בעלים-#.m4a” /] meaning master (also husband). When referring to the owner of a piece of real estate or a company, the word is בעלים[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/אולם-#.m4a” /]הֵיכָל, אוּלָם Hebrew has two words for the type of hall that can fit lots of people: היכל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/אולם-#.m4a” /] and אולם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/אולם-#.m4a” /]. היכל refers to a hall consecrated for a particular purpose, such as היכל התרבות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/אולם-#.m4a” /] – the Hall of Culture in Tel Aviv, and the היכל that was the gathering place…

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…