Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בגד-ים-1.m4a” /]בֶּגֶד יָם Summer is upon us here in the northern hemisphere. One of the most important summer items is variably called a swimsuit, a bathing suit or swim trunks. All these terms focus on the action taken while donning the garment. Hebrew’s term focuses not on the action, but on the place where the suit might be worn:…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/צל-1.m4a” /]צֵל Though physically speaking they are more or less the same, shade and shadow can mean very different things in English: shade is cool and pleasant, while shadow can be frightening, a place where monsters lurk. Hebrew has one word for both: צל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/צל-1.m4a” /], which in Biblical has either a neutral or positive connotation, as it usually does in Modern Hebrew as…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-יאומן-1.m4a” /]לֹא יְאֻמָּן, לֹא יֵאָמֵן To believe – in Hebrew – is להאמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-יאומן-2.m4a” /], an active-causative הפעיל verb. It would follow, then, that unbelievable would be לא יואמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-יאומן-3.m4a” /], as יואמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-יאומן-4.m4a” /] is of the passive-causative הופעל form. But what most Israelis say is לא יאומן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-יאומן-5.m4a” /], where יאומן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-יאומן-6.m4a” /]…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנייה-1.m4a” /]רַק שְׁנִיָּה The unit of time called the second is called such because it’s the second unit of time after the minute. Its Hebrew translation, שנייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנייה-2.m4a” /], conveys the same meaning, coming from the word for two – שניים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנייה-3.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שנייה-4.m4a” /]יש שישים שניות בדקה. There are sixty seconds in a…

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/2015/05/אין-תלונות-1.m4a” /]אֵין תְּלוּנוֹת If you’ve been in Israel long enough, you certainly know the word for to complain – להתלונן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אין-תלונות-2.m4a” /]. This word too goes as far back as Biblical Hebrew. A modern example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אין-תלונות-3.m4a” /]הוא לא מפסיק להתלונן. He doesn’t stop complaining. A complaint – both formal (to the police, for example) or…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מספר-1.m4a” /]מִסְפָּר If you’ve got some basic Hebrew under your belt, you probably know the word for number – מספר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מספר-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מספר-2.m4a” /]מה מספר הטלפון שלך? What’s your (a female’s) phone number? But you may not have realized that מספר is related to storytelling – סיפור סיפורים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מספר-3.m4a” /]. Unlike אבטיח[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-1.m4a” /]אֲבַטִּיחַ This word appears already in Biblical Hebrew, as אבטיח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-1.m4a” /] – watermelon – native to southern Africa, was cultivated in Egypt and eaten by the People of Israel. In researching the word, I spotted the root ב.ט.ח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-2.m4a” /], which normally means safety as the word ביטחון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-3.m4a” /] – security. I started pondering possible…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-1.m4a” /]אֶשְׂמַח! In English, most feelings are adjectives (with a notable exception of to love): I am happy, she is afraid, they are angry, etc. In Hebrew, they’re verbs: לשמוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-2.m4a” /] – to (be) happy לפחד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-3.m4a” /] – to (be) afraid (also in English to fear) לכעוס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-4.m4a” /] – to be angry So if your friend invites…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-1.m4a” /]תָּכְנִיּוֹת I used to think that the word for content or substance – תוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-2.m4a” /] – derives from the word תוך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-3.m4a” /] – inside. Makes sense, right? Contents are inside something. Except that תוכן appears in Biblical Hebrew, where it means measurement or quota. In any case, the related word תכנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-4.m4a” /] – plan – has elements of both contents and measurement: a good plan…

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!