Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הוא-לומד-ב-1.mp3″ /]הוּא לוֹמֵד בְּ… In English, when we talk about where a person studies, we often say, “he goes to the Technion” or “she goes to Columbia.” To go is the verb in the expression. In Hebrew, the verb is the active-simple ללמוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הוא-לומד-ב-2.mp3″ /] – to study. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הוא-לומד-ב-3.mp3″ /]הוא לומד בטכניון. He goes…

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!

בְּרֹאשׁ מוּרָם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בראש-מורם-1.mp3″ /] To lift something, in Hebrew, is להרים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בראש-מורם-2.mp3″ /], an active-causative verb of the root ר.ו.מ (r.w.m) meaning height. Likewise, מורם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בראש-מורם-3.mp3″ /] – an adjective derived from the passive-causative verb form – means lifted up So that when someone walks with their head held high – with a lifted head – they do so בראש…

שֵׁרוּתִים, חֲדַר אַמְבַּטְיָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שירותים-1.mp3″ /] This post elaborates on an earlier one. To Americans, the bathroom is where people do what they need to do. Sometimes it has a bathtub in it, sometimes it doesn’t. But to people from the Commonwealth, a bathroom is only called such if it has a tub, while the toilet is the room with an…

לִקְרוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for to happen is לקרות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-1.mp3″ /], a simple verb whose root is ק.ר.ה (k.r.h). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-2.wav” /]מה קרה? What happened? and the informal greeting: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-3.mp3″ /]מה קורה? What’s happening? Since the word קרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-4.mp3″ /] sounds the same as the word for read as in he read –…

בְּסוֹפוֹ שֶׁל דָּבָר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בסופו-של-דבר-1.mp3″ /] Translated literally, at the end of the day is בסוף היום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בסופו-של-דבר-2.mp3″ /] in Hebrew. But that phrase is generally used in the figurative sense, not the literal. In the expression, “the day” really means “the matter at hand.” Hebrew’s equivalent expression is בסופו של דבר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בסופו-של-דבר-1.mp3″ /] – literally, at the…

תַּפְסִיקוּ לָרִיב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפסיקו-לריב-6.mp3″ /] Suppose you’re driving on a family trip in Israel, and the two boys are fighting in the back seat. You might turn your head around and say to them: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפסיקו-לריב-7.mp3″ /]תפסיקו לריב, שניכם! Stop fighting, the two of you! The expression broken down: תפסיקו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפסיקו-לריב-8.mp3″ /] – literally, you (plural) will stop. It’s 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 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!

לַעֲשׂוֹת עֲלִיָּה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עליה-1.mp3″ /] Outside of Israel, getting called up to the Torah is called getting an aliyah. That last word is pronounced – at least in Ashkenazi communities – ah-LEE-yah, so that it sounds different from the word that means immigration to Israel – עליה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עליה-2.mp3″ /]- aliyah. To an Israeli, however, these two words sound the…

נַתָּב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נתב-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for a lane on a highway is נתיב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נתב-2.mp3″ /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נתב-3.mp3″ /]סע בנתיב הימני. Drive in the right lane. (spoken to a male) A router – the device that calls and internet accounts – is a נתב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נתב-1.mp3″ /] in Hebrew. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נתב-4.mp3″ /]הנתב שלנו התקלקל. Our router…

לִמְסִירָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/למסירה-1.mp3″ /] There’s an Israeli website called אגורה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/למסירה-2.mp3″ /] (agora.co.il), where people can post an item they wish to give away, and others can come to pick it up. These are חפצים למסירה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/למסירה-3.mp3″ /] – objects for giveaway. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/למסירה-4.mp3″ /]היתה לי מדפסת למסירה, אבל זה כבר לא אקטואלי. I had…