Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לרמות-1.m4a” /]לְרַמּוֹת You’re playing poker and your friend tries to pull a fast one on you. You might call him out with: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לרמות-2.m4a” /]רמאי! Cheater! Or: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לרמות-3.m4a” /]אתה מרמה! You’re cheating! לרמות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לרמות-1.m4a” /] is to cheat. It’s an active-intensive verb of the root ר.מ.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לרמות-4.m4a” /], which means deception in this case…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי נִשְׁבָּע לְךָ! Why does the word שבועה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-2.m4a” /] – an oath – have as its root the number seven – שבע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-3.m4a” /]? Various explanations are offered, from the cabbalistic to the historical. In any case, to swear is the nifal verb להישבע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-4.m4a” /] (a great example of how nifal is not a passive form in…

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   Blast from the Past Crossword Puzzle! [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/2014/10/סוכנות-נדלן-1.m4a” /]סוֹכְנוּת נַדְלָ”ן You may know of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Some of you may even work there. The organization’s name in Hebrew is הסוכנות היהודית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סוכנות-נדלן-2.m4a” /], where סוכנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סוכנות-נדלן-3.m4a” /] means agency. Likewise, an agent is a סוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סוכנות-נדלן-4.m4a” /] (male) or סוכנת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סוכנות-נדלן-5.m4a” /] (female). Now, just as Hebrew borrows from Aramaic…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משכנתא-1.m4a” /]מַשְׁכַּנְתָּא The English word mortgage derives from French, where the words mort (dead) and gage (pledge) combine to imply that this loan, this pledge to return the money, dies either when the loan is paid back in full, or when the borrower fails to pay it back. (Online Etymological Dictionary) The Hebrew word, משכנתא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/משכנתא-1.m4a” /], also…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נא-להקיש-1.m4a” /]נָא לְהַקִּישׁ אַחַת To press as in to put pressure in Hebrew is the simple verb ללחוץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נא-להקיש-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נא-להקיש-3.m4a” /]לחצתי על הכפתור. I pressed (on) the button. But when pressing buttons on a keypad, Hebrew uses another verb, the active-causative להקיש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נא-להקיש-4.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נא-להקיש-5.m4a” /]לעברית, נא להקיש אחת….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניתן-1.m4a” /]זֶה אֶפְשָׁרִי, נִתָּן Like English, Hebrew has different registers – levels of speech. One English example is to see and to view: one is a day-to-day word, while the other is used in more formal contexts. The common Hebrew expression for it’s possible is זה אפשרי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניתן-2.m4a” /], or simply אפשרי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ניתן-3.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מערכת-לניתוב-1.m4a” /]מַעֲרֶכֶת לְנִתּוּב שִׂיחוֹת Many of us in Israel hear this expression whenever we call a company: מערכת לניתוב שיחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מערכת-לניתוב-1.m4a” /] – literally, a system for routing calls. For example:   [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מערכת-לניתוב-2.m4a” /]לפניכם, מערכת לניתוב שיחות. Before you is a call-routing system. Broken down: מערכת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מערכת-לניתוב-3.m4a” /] – system, from the root ע.ר.כ[audioclip…

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   Blast from the Past Crossword Puzzle! [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/2014/10/פרא-אדם-1.m4a” /]פֶּרֶא אָדָם Earlier this week we saw that the Hebrew word פרוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרא-אדם-2.m4a” /] means wild or loose. Though the letters א[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרא-אדם-3.m4a” /] and ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרא-אדם-4.m4a” /] had two (well, actually three) distinct sounds in Biblical Hebrew, these were close enough that sometimes an א might replace an ע. This seems to be the case with the word…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתלבש-1.m4a” /]לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ Earlier this week we saw that לקבל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתלבש-2.m4a” /] – to accept – becomes להתקבל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתלבש-3.m4a” /] – to get accepted or to be accepted, in a reflexive form. The same happens with the word ללבוש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתלבש-4.m4a” /] – to wear, which becomes להתלבש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתלבש-1.m4a” /] – to get dressed. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתלבש-5.m4a” /]את עדיין מתלבשת?…