Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

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 Game 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!

מְבֹרָךְ, בָּרוּךְ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ברוך-1.mp3″ /] To bless someone or something is לברך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ברוך-2.mp3″ /], an active-intensive verb. Thus one who is blessed – the recipient of the blessing is the corresponding passive מבורך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ברוך-3.mp3″ /] if he’s a male or מבורכת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ברוך-4.mp3″ /] if she’s an female. This applies to non-human and non-living nouns as well: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ברוך-5.mp3″ /]שתהיה…

לַחְפּוֹר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לחפור-1.mp3″ /] This one’s for Zeev. Here’s an expression I thought was authentically Israeli, until I looked it up and found that the source is English and possibly other languages. The simple verb לחפור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לחפור-1.mp3″ /] means literally to dig, but figuratively it’s one of the things that the Modern Israeli version of a Yente does: ask questions…

לׁא מֵהָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לא-מהעולם-הזה-1.mp3″ /] Lots of English expressions have found their way into Modern Hebrew. The Hebrew version of out of this world is לא מהעולם הזה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לא-מהעולם-הזה-1.mp3″ /] – literally, not from this world. The expression calls to mind the idea of a world beyond the one we perceive with the five senses, so that what…

אֲנִי תָּקוּעַ, תְּקוּעָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקוע-1.mp3″ /] Last year, I wrote about to get stuck – להיתקע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקוע-2.mp3″ /]. A more everyday expression is the various uses of the word תקוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקוע-3.mp3″ /] – (already) stuck. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקוע-4.mp3″ /]היא תאחר, היא תקועה בפקקים. She’ll be late, she’s stuck in traffic (jams). and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תקוע-5.mp3″ /]המפתח תקוע בתוך המנעול. The key is stuck in…

פְּרֵדָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרידה-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for to separate two things from each other is the active-causative להפריד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרידה-2.mp3″ /], while to separate from one another is the נפעל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרידה-3.mp3″ /] verb להיפרד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרידה-4.mp3″ /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרידה-5.mp3″ /]נפרדנו. We separated/broke up. Likewise, the act of separation and saying goodbye – also a breakup – is פרידה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרידה-1.mp3″ /]. For example:…

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 Game 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!

עִסּוּק עִקָּרִי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עיסוק-עיקרי-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for a business is עסק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עיסוק-עיקרי-2.mp3″ /]. Likewise, the word for occupation (in the occupational sense) is עיסוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עיסוק-עיקרי-3.mp3″ /], so that someone’s primary occupation or is their עיסוק עיקרי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עיסוק-עיקרי-1.mp3″ /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עיסוק-עיקרי-4.mp3″ /]אני עובד גם בעבודות מזדמנות, אבל העיסוק העיקרי שלי הוא הוראה. I also work odd jobs, but…

הִזְדַמְּנוּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-1.mp3″ /] Earlier this week we saw the Hebrew word for availability – זמינות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-2.mp3″ /], which comes from the root ז.מ.נ (z.m.n) meaning time. Another word deriving from that root is הזדמנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-1.mp3″ /] – opportunity. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-3.mp3″ /]פסימיסט רואה בהזדמנות קושי. אופטימיסט רואה בקושי הזדמנות. (וינסטון צ’רצ’יל) A pessimist sees the difficulty…

צַעַר, יָגוֹן, עֶצֶב, עָגְמַת נֶפֶשׁ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-1.mp3″ /] Genuine grief, that painful feeling that comes with loss, is variably called in Hebrew צער[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-2.mp3″ /] (pain), יגון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-3.mp3″ /] (anguish), עצב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-4.mp3″ /] (sadness) and עגמת נפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-5.mp3″ /] (suffering, anguish of the soul). The latter term, עגמת נפש, is sometimes used the way grief is in English…

זְמִינוּת, פְּנִיּוּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew root ז.מ.נ (z.m.n) meaning time finds itself in a variety of verbal applications. One of these is the word for available – זמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-2.mp3″ /] in the masculine, and זמינה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-3.mp3″ /] in the feminine. For example, you might text (a woman): [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-4.mp3″ /]את זמינה? אפשר להתקשר? Are you…