Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/סיטונאות-#.m4a” /]סִיטוֹנִי, בְּסִיטוֹנָאוּת The Hebrew words for wholesale in the commercial sense first appear in the Mishnah, but derive from the Greek σιτωνης – sitones. In adjective form, the word is סיטוני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/סיטונאות-#.m4a” /]. For example: השוק הסיטוני בישראל משגשג.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/סיטונאות-#.m4a” /] The wholesale market in Israel is booming. But the more common expression is the adverb בסיטואנות[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/תבואה-#.m4a” /]תְּבוּאָה To produce something such as a movie is להפיק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/תבואה-#.m4a” /]. But produce in the agricultural sense is תבואה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/תבואה-#.m4a” /]. For example: חוסר הניקוז הרס את כל התבואה בשדה.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/תבואה-#.m4a” /] The lack of drainage destroyed all the produce in the field. תבואה comes from the root ב.ו.א[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/תבואה-#.m4a” /] meaning to come: produce is that which…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/להתנקז-#.m4a” /]לְנַקֵּז, לְהִתְנַקֵּז The Hebrew word for to drain something actively is the פיעל verb לנקז[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/להתנקז-#.m4a” /]. For example: התעלה הזאת אמורה לנקז את המים.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/להתנקז-#.m4a” /] This ditch is supposed to drain the water. Often, though, we speak of water being drained – or draining itself. Here we use the התפעל verb להתנקז[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/להתנקז-#.m4a” /]. For example: המים…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הצפה-#.m4a” /]הֲצָפָה While שיטפון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הצפה-#.m4a” /] is a flash flood, the Hebrew word for a standard flood is הצפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הצפה-#.m4a” /]. For example: ההצפות בארץ בשבוע שעבר גבו קרבנות.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הצפה-#.m4a” /] The floods in Israel last week claimed victims. הצפה is a noun coming from the הפעיל verb, להציף [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הצפה-#.m4a” /] – to flood. The root is…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ביוב-#.m4a” /]בִּיּוּב  The Hebrew word for sewer when referring to a sewer system is ביוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ביוב-#.m4a” /]. It comes from the word ביב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ביוב-#.m4a” /] meaning gutter, which first appears in Mishnaic Hebrew. Here’s ביוב in context: מחר יבואו לתקן את הביוב.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ביוב-#.m4a” /] Tomorrow they’ll come to fix the sewer. ביוב is a noun derived from the active-intensive…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/יום-חול-1.m4a” /]יוֹם חוֹל While Saturday and Sunday in most Western countries are days off, the average secular person today don’t consider either one of them particularly holy in the religious sense. Hebrew, however, makes that distinction, so that even secular Jews call Sunday through Friday ימי חול [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/יום-חול-2.m4a” /] – weekdays, or literally,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עסקה-1.m4a” /]עִסְקָה If a business is an עסק [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עסקה-2.m4a” /] and business in the general sense is עסקים [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עסקה-3.m4a” /] – literally, businesses, then a business deal is an עסקה [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עסקה-1.m4a” /] For example: היינו כל כך קרובים לסגור את העסקה.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/עסקה-4.m4a” /] We were so close to closing the deal. In…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/קרוב-1.m4a” /]קָרוֹב The Hebrew word for close – קרוב [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/קרוב-1.m4a” /] in the masculine – can refer to emotional closeness just as it does to physical. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/קרוב-2.m4a” /] פעם היינו מאוד קרובים אחד לשני. Once we were very close to one another. קרוב can also refer to a relative, though people…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פעם-היה-1.m4a” /]פַּעַם הָיָה Sometimes there’s a gap between what we say and what we mean, and I’m not talking about lying. Take for example the expression used to be in English – what does once upon a time have to do with using? Hebrew’s term for this is more straightforward: פעם [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פעם-היה-2.m4a” /], literally,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/בדיוק-כמוני-1.m4a” /]בְּדִיּוּק כָּמוֹנִי In Hebrew, if you want to express that someone (or something) is just like someone (or something) else, you’d use the word בדיוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/בדיוק-כמוני-2.m4a” /] – exactly, followed by some form of כמו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/בדיוק-כמוני-3.m4a” /] – like. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/בדיוק-כמוני-4.m4a” /]היא נראית בדיוק כמו אמא שלה. She looks just like…