Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-1.m4a” /]עִדַּן הַקֶּרַח The basic word for time in Hebrew is זמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-2.m4a” /]. For period of time it’s תקופה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-3.m4a” /]. And for an extended period of time – an age – it’s עידן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-4.m4a” /] (also the first name of Israeli musician Idan Raichel). Thus an ice age is עידן קרח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-5.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-1.m4a” /]לִחְיוֹת There’s to live as in to reside: לגור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-2.m4a” /] or להתגורר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-3.m4a” /]. Then there’s to live as in to be alive: לחיות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-4.m4a” /]שנים הם חיו ביחד בשלווה. For years they lived together in tranquility. לחיות, a simple verb, follows the same patterns of conjugation…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-1.m4a” /]שַׁאֲנַנּוּת The lead singer of the Israeli hip-hop/funk band Hadag Nahash is Sha’anan Streett, whose first name – in Hebrew, שאנן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-2.m4a” /] – means calm, complacent. In the name, as in the names of other Israeli neighborhoods such as Tel Aviv’s נווה שאנן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-3.m4a” /] – Neve Shaanan (Abode of Calm) and…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרגת-אותי-1.m4a” /]הָרַגְתָּ אֹתִי You may be familiar with the original Hebrew version of the sixth of the Ten Commandments: לא תרצח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרגת-אותי-2.m4a” /] – do not murder. לרצוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרגת-אותי-3.m4a” /], a simple verb, means to murder, to kill an innocent person intentionally. But sometimes killing happens when it’s not intended, or when the one…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-1.m4a” /]לְהַפְחִית If you’ve got some Level 1 Hebrew under your belt, you probably know the word יותר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-2.m4a” /] – more. The opposite of יותר is פחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-3.m4a” /] – less, and this word forms the basis of to reduce or to lessen: להפחית, an active-causative הפעיל verb of the root פ.ח.ת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-4.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ערב-חג-1.m4a” /]עֶרֶב חַג In English, we have the expression on the eve of… meaning the day before an event, or the time leading up to it. Hebrew has the same, so that the day before a holiday – a holiday eve – is ערב חג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ערב-חג-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ערב-חג-2.m4a” /]אין לנו זמן לשבת בבית…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-1.m4a” /]הִתְנַדְּבוּת The concept of volunteering goes all the way to Biblical times, where the root נ.ד.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-2.m4a” /] of that meaning first appears. To volunteer is להתנדב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-3.m4a” /], a reflexive-intensive התפעל verb. Likewise, volunteering is התנדבות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-4.m4a” /]יש מקום התנדבות מעניין בשכונת בקעה בירושלים. There’s an interesting volunteering place in…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשרת-כניסה-1.m4a” /]אַשְׁרַת כְּנִיסָה Perhaps you know the Hebrew expression for credit card – כרטיס אשראי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשרת-כניסה-2.m4a” /]. The word אשראי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשרת-כניסה-3.m4a” /] comes from Aramaic, from the root ש.ר.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשרת-כניסה-4.m4a” /] meaning strength, security. A related word, coined by former Prime Minister Moshe Sharett, is אשרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשרת-כניסה-5.m4a” /] – visa. So an entry visa is אשרת כניסה[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-1.m4a” /]מְכוֹנַת שִׁקּוּף Last week we saw the word השתקפות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-2.m4a” /] – reflection – of the root ש.ק.פ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-3.m4a” /] meaning visibility. Using the same root, Hebrew calls that machine your bags go through at the airport – the baggage scanner – מכונת שיקוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-1.m4a” /] – literally, machine of transparency or reflection. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מכונת-שיקוף-4.m4a”…

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/צום-קל-5.m4a” /]צום מועיל!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרהורים-1.m4a” /]הִרְהוּרִים While השתקפות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרהורים-2.m4a” /] is reflection in the visual sense, הרהור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרהורים-3.m4a” /] is means reflection in the sense of thoughtfulness. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרהורים-4.m4a” /]היא עסוקה בהרהורי תשובה. She is occupied with thoughts (reflections) of repentance. One could also say that she is pensive – מהורהרת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרהורים-5.m4a” /]. For a male, it’s מהורהר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרהורים-6.m4a” /]….