Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

מְסִלַּת בַּרְזֶל, מְסִלַּת רַכֶּבֶת, פַּסֵּי רַכֶּבֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-1.mp3″ /] If you’ve traveled in Israel using public transportation, chances are you know the word for train – רַכֶּבֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-2.mp3″ /], which derives from the root ר.כ.ב (r.k.b) meaning vehicle. Train tracks or a railroad track is מְסִלַּת בַּרְזֶל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסילה-3.mp3″ /] – literally, track of steel. It’s also…

  עִבְרִית שׁוֹטֶפֶת, עִבְרִית רְהוּטָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עברית-שוטפת-1.mp3″ /] To wash dishes is לִשְׁטוֹף כֵּלִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עברית-שוטפת-2.mp3″ /], where לשטוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עברית-שוטפת-3.mp3″ /] means to clean or to rinse. Another meaning of the root שׁ.ט.פ (sh.t.p) is flow, so that one way of saying fluent Hebrew is עִבְרִית שׁוֹטֶפֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עברית-שוטפת-4.mp3″ /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עברית-שוטפת-5.mp3″ /]יֵשׁ לָהֶם עִבְרִית שׁוֹטֶפֶת….

יוֹם טוֹב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יום-טוב-1.mp3″ /] If it’s 10am, you might say to your friend, “have a good day.” The most common Hebrew equivalent, יוֹם טוֹב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יום-טוב-1.mp3″ /], translates just the good day part. This is what you’d wish someone using Modern Hebrew, though in pre-Modern Hebrew, יום טוב refers to a Jewish festival. You could also…

תַּפּוּז[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפוז-1.mp3″ /] Real golden apples don’t grow on trees. But oranges do. The Hebrew word תַּפּוּז[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפוז-1.mp3″ /], a fruit not mentioned in Biblical Hebrew, is a compound of תַּפּוּחַ זָהָב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפוז-2.mp3″ /] – literally, an apple of gold. And orange juice is מִיץ תַּפּוּזִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפוז-3.mp3″ /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפוז-4.mp3″ /]אֵין עַל מִיץ…

מַטְעֵן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מטען-1.mp3″ /] To load, in Hebrew, is the simple verb לִטְעוֹן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מטען-2.mp3″ /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מטען-3.mp3″ /]הֵם טוֹעֲנִים אֶת הַמַּשָּׂאִית. They are loading the truck. To charge a battery, to cause it to be loaded, is the causative verb לְהַטְעִין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מטען-4.mp3″ /]. And a charger is a מַטְעֵן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מטען-1.mp3″ /], so that: [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 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!

בַּשָּׁנָה שֶׁעָבְרָה, אֶשְׁתָּקַד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אשתקד-1.mp3″ /] In spoken Hebrew, the way to say last year is בַּשָּׁנָה שֶׁעָבְרָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אשתקד-2.mp3″ /] – literally, in the year that has passed. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אשתקד-3.mp3″ /]בַּשָּׁנָה שֶׁעָבְרָה הָיִינוּ בְּצָרְפַת. Last year we were in France. A more literary way of saying this is אֶשְׁתָּקַד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אשתקד-4.mp3″ /]. Here’s an example…

פִּשְׁעֵי מִלְחָמָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פשעי-מלחמה-1.mp3″ /] This is not the place to share opinions about Israel and war crimes, but I will enable you to use the Hebrew term at your next Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or university-campus-abroad cocktail party. The term is פִּשְׁעֵי מִלְחָמָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פשעי-מלחמה-1.mp3″ /] – literally, crimes of war: פִּשְׁעֵי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פשעי-מלחמה-2.mp3″ /] is the construct…

Correction to earlier post: A couple of readers pointed out to me that while Israel’s diamond exchange is located in Ramat Gan, the stock exchange is in Tel Aviv. This information is now reflected in the corresponding post. אַכְזָבָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אכזבה-1.mp3″ /] Disappointment is that feeling we get after being let down after we had formed an expectation….

צִפִּיּוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ציפיות-1.mp3″ /] The simple verb לִצְפּוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ציפיות-2.mp3″ /] means to watch or look out on, so that while the male colloquial-Hebrew speaker will say… [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ציפיות-3.mp3″ /]אֲנִי רוֹאֶה טֶלֶוִיזְיָה. I’m watching (literally, I see) TV. The Israeli man speaking in a higher register would mean the same thing by saying: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ציפיות-4.mp3″ /]אֲנִי צוֹפֶה…

בּוּרְסָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בורסה-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for stock exchange, בּוּרְסָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בורסה-1.mp3″ /], originates in Ancient Greek, as it does for the same word in other languages as varied as German, Farsi and Italian. In Ancient Greek, the word refers to a pouch made of leather, which evolved into what we call today a purse. The word bursa came…