Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הערכה-עצמית-1.m4a” /]הַעֲרָכָה עַצְמִית The word for the self in Hebrew is the same as the word for bone – עצם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הערכה-עצמית-2.m4a” /]. עצם as self in context: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הערכה-עצמית-3.m4a” /]אני רואה את עצמי במראה. I (a male) see myself in the mirror. and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הערכה-עצמית-4.m4a” /]תארי לעצמך שאת הולכת ביער. Imagine to yourself (a female) that you’re walking in…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראוי-1.m4a” /]רָאוּי The Hebrew word for worthy is ראוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראוי-1.m4a” /]. You may recognize its root as ר.א.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראוי-2.m4a” /] – the concept of seeing. ראוי means literally, seen. The word first appears in the Mishnah, where it means fit or seen as appropriate for something specific. This meaning carries until today in phrases like: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראוי-3.m4a” /]הוא ראוי לה והיא…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פגיעות-1-1.m4a” /]פְּגִיעוּת The Hebrew word for vulnerable is פגיע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פגיעות-2.m4a” /]. The root is פ.ג.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פגיעות-3.m4a” /] meaning to contact, usually in a hurtful manner. Thus פגיע makes sense as a translation of vulnerable – exposed to being contacted in a hurtful manner. But getting hurt is not the only thing that could happen to someone vulnerable….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להציב-גבולות-1.m4a” /]לְהַצִּיב גְּבוּלוֹת The Hebrew word for border, limit or boundary is גבול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להציב-גבולות-2.m4a” /]. This גבול could be physical or metaphorical, as in the expression: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להציב-גבולות-3.m4a” /]יש גבול לכל תעלול. There’s a limit to every trick. (i.e. I’m sick and tired of whatever you’re doing.) To set a boundary is להציב גבול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להציב-גבולות-4.m4a” /], where…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעצבן-1.m4a” /]מְעַצְבֵּן The Hebrew word עצב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעצבן-2.m4a” /] means nerve, so that someone nervous is עצבני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעצבן-3.m4a” /] (a male) or עצבנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעצבן-4.m4a” /] (a female). To get on someone’s nerves – to annoy – is the active-intensive לעצבן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעצבן-5.m4a” /]. For example:   [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעצבן-6.m4a” /]נראה לי שעצבנתי אותו. I think I annoyed him. How about annoying? That’s מעצבן[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סקרנות-1.m4a” /]סַקְרָנוּת The Hebrew word סקר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סקרנות-2.m4a” /] means survey – something involving checking things out, satisfying curiosity. Someone curious is סקרן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סקרנות-3.m4a” /] (a male) or סקרנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סקרנות-4.m4a” /] (a female). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סקרנות-5.m4a” /]אני סקרן לדעת מה קרה אתמול. I’m curious to know what happened yesterday. Likewise, curiosity is סקרנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סקרנות-1.m4a” /]. For example:  …

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סובלנות-1.m4a” /]סַבְלָנוּת, סוֹבְלָנוּת Yesterday we saw the two very closely related words, סיכון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סובלנות-2.m4a” /] – risk and סכנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סובלנות-3.m4a” /] – danger. We saw that in their adjective forms of dangerous and risky, they have the same word: מסוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סובלנות-4.m4a” /]. Another pair of words that are nearly identical is סבלנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/סובלנות-5.m4a” /] and סובלנות[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסוכן-1.m4a” /]מְסֻכָּן The Hebrew words for dangerous and risky are the same: מסוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסוכן-1.m4a” /]. An example of מסוכן as dangerous: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסוכן-2.m4a” /]מסוכן לעמוד כל כך קרוב לקצה הצוק! It’s dangerous to stand so close to the edge of the cliff!   And here’s מסוכן as risky: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסוכן-3.m4a” /]הימורים הוא עסק מסוכן. Gambling is risky business….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כשל-1.m4a” /]כֶּשֶׁל, כִּשָּׁלוֹן Hebrew has one word for to fail – the nifal verb להיכשל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כשל-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כשל-3.m4a” /]הוא נכשל במבחן. He failed (in) the test. A failure, however, has more than one word: while כשל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כשל-4.m4a” /] refers to a failure as in a lapse or simply a fail, such as a כשל מכני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כשל-5.m4a” /] – a mechanical…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-1.m4a” /]חֲסַר תַּקְדִּים A precedent, in Hebrew, is תקדים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-2.m4a” /], of the root ק.ד.מ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-3.m4a” /] meaning first or early. You may recognize the root from words such as מוקדם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-4.m4a” /] – early and !קדימה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-5.m4a” /] – let’s go (ahead)! תקדים in context: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-6.m4a” /]החלטת בית המשפט מהווה תקדים חשוב. The court’s decision constitutes…

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 . Space Race . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!