Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחונן-1.m4a” /]מְחוֹנָן Charm or grace is חן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחונן-2.m4a” /], from the root ח.נ.נ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחונן-3.m4a” /]. Likewise, someone who has received grace – someone gifted with intelligence – is מחונן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחונן-1.m4a” /] if he’s a male and מחוננת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחונן-4.m4a” /] if she’s a female. For example a boy might say: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מחונן-5.m4a” /]אני לא רוצה להיות בכיתה של המחוננים! I don’t want…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חן-1.m4a” /]חֵן The Hebrew word for charm or grace is חן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חן-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חן-2.m4a” /]לבחורה הזאת יש חן. This young woman has charm. The word comes from the root ח.נ.נ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חן-3.m4a” /], which appears in full in the word for graceful or charming, חינני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חן-4.m4a” /]. So that the sentence above could be rewritten: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חן-5.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוחות-1.m4a” /]נוֹחוּת If נוח means comfortable in the physical sense, נוחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוחות-1.m4a” /] means comfort. It also refers to ease or convenience, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוחות-2.m4a” /]על נוחות צריך לשלם. For convenience, (one) has to pay. Some words that sound like נוחות but mean different things: נכות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוחות-3.m4a” /] – disability נחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוחות-4.m4a” /] – inferior נוחיות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוחות-5.m4a” /] – a polite word…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוח-1.m4a” /]נוֹחַ To rest, in Hebrew, is לנוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוח-2.m4a” /]. It’s an active-simple verb of the hollow variety. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוח-3.m4a” /]לך, דוד, תנוח על הספה. Go, David, rest on the sofa. (spoken to a male) Once sitting down, David hopefully feels comfortable. You might ask him: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נוח-4.m4a” /]נוח לך? Is it comfortable for…

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/מההתחלה-1.m4a” /]מֵהַהַתְחָלָה The opening word of the Book of Genesis is בראשית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מההתחלה-2.m4a” /] – in the beginning. But ראשית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מההתחלה-3.m4a” /] is not the common word for beginning – in fact, commentators scratch their heads as to why this word is used here in this form (it means literally beginning of), generating all sorts of interpretations. In any case,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אתה-צוחק-עלי-1.m4a” /]אַתָּה צוֹחֵק עָלַי? In Hebrew, when we talk about making fun of someone, we talk literally about laughing on them. So to make fun of is לצחוק על[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אתה-צוחק-עלי-2.m4a” /]. For example, if a man were stopped by a police officer for running a stop sign but proceeded to argue with the cop’s grammar, the cop…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מאחורינו-1.m4a” /]מֵאֲחוֹרֵינוּ In Israel, the Jewish holiday season is behind us (outside of Israel there’s one more day). So you might hear Israelis say: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מאחורינו-2.m4a” /]החגים מאחורינו, חוזרים לשגרה. The holidays are behind us, (we’re) going back to the routine. מאחורינו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מאחורינו-1.m4a” /] comes from the root א.ח.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מאחורינו-3.m4a” /], which means behind both in…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שלט-עצור-1.m4a” /]שֶׁלֶט עֲצֹר The term for stop sign they teach in Israeli drivers education is תמרור עצור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שלט-עצור-2.m4a” /] – literally, stop signpost. However, most Israelis call that red and white hand symbol שלט עצור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שלט-עצור-1.m4a” /] – stop sign, where שלט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שלט-עצור-3.m4a” /] means posted sign just like any other, and !עצור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שלט-עצור-4.m4a” /] is the imperative (command)…

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/אוקיינוס-1.m4a” /]אוֹקְיָנוּס The largest body of water that the first readers of the Hebrew Bible knew was the Mediterranean. They called it הים הגדול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אוקיינוס-2.m4a” /] – the Great Sea. Thus there’s no word in Biblical Hebrew – or Modern Hebrew, for that matter – for ocean. Instead, we use the same word that English borrowed from Ancient…