Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

מִגְרָשׁ מִשְׂחָקִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגרש-משחקים4.mp3″ /]   A game in Hebrew is מִשְׂחָק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגרש-משחקים5.mp3″ /], from the root שׂ.ח.ק (s.kh.k) meaning playing. A court or a lot is a מִגְרָשׁ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגרש-משחקים6.mp3″ /], of the root ג.ר.שׁ (g.r.s) meaning expulsion or sending away (linguists theorize that people would send their animals away to graze in the מגרש, which was…

  מִזְעָרִי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מזער-1.mp3″ /] The word you’re most likely to hear on the street and in the office in Israel for minimal is מִינִימָלִי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מזער-2.mp3″ /]. But an authentic Hebrew word growing in usage is מִזְעָרִי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מזער-1.mp3″ /]. The word also means nominal or negligible, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מזער-3.mp3″ /]מְדֻבָּר בִּסְכוּם מִזְעָרִי, לֹא מַשֶּׁהוּ רְצִינִי. We’re…

יִשּׁוּב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יישוב-1.1.mp3″ /] The Jewish communities in the area variously called the West Bank, Judea and Samaria, Greater Israel, the Occupied Territories, etc, are often referred to as הִתְנַחֲלוּיוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יישוב-2.1.mp3″ /] – settlements. That word is formed from נַחֲלָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/יישוב-3.1.mp3″ /] – estate, plugged into the reflexive verb form, so that it sounds to the Israeli…

לְהַשְׁמִיט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להשמיט-1.mp3″ /] In Judaism, just like every seventh day is a day of rest for Jews, every seventh year is a Sabbath for the Land of Israel, during which observant Jews refrain from regular agricultural activity. This year is called שְׁנַת הַשְּׁמִטָּה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להשמיט-2.mp3″ /]. The word שְׁמִיטָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להשמיט-3.mp3″ /] comes from the root שׁ.מ.ט…

עָמִית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עמית-1.mp3″ /] The Biblical word for another is עָמִית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עמית-1.mp3″ /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עמית-2.mp3″ /]לֹא תְּשַׁקְּרוּ אִישׁ בַּעֲמִיתוֹ. Do not deceive one another. (Leviticus 19:11) This word is used today to refer to a peer or a counterpart, usually an adult in a formal capacity. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עמית-3.mp3″ /]עֲמִיתָיו לַעֲבוֹדָה הוֹקִירוּ אוֹתוֹ….

לְהִתְרַחֵץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתרחץ-1.mp3″ /] To wash something is the active-simple verb לִרְחוֹץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתרחץ-2.mp3″ /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להתרחץ-3.mp3″ /]רָחַצְתָּ יָדַיִם? Did you (a male) wash your hands? Now, that’s the simple action of washing an object or a body part. But to wash oneself or to bathe is a different action, a reflexive one. The word…

כָּל הַפּוֹסֵל – בְּמוּמוֹ פּוֹסֵל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כל-הפוסל-1-1.mp3″ /] The rabbis of the Talmud taught many great truths through their stories as well as their legal decisions. One such truth that has come into Modern Hebrew is: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כל-הפוסל-1-1.mp3″ /]כָּל הַפּוֹסֵל – בְּמוּמוֹ פּוֹסֵל. Whoever disapproves – he disapproves of his own lacking (blemish). In other words, when someone…

שִׂרְטוּט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שרטוט-1.mp3″ /] To scratch someone is לִשְׂרוֹט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שרטוט-2.mp3″ /], a simple verb of the root שׂ.ר.ט (s.r.t). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שרטוט-3.mp3″ /]אִמָּא, רָחֵלִי שׂוֹרֶטֶת אֹתִי! Mom, Racheli is scratching me! We might say that a sketch is series of scratches on a page… as is a blueprint. Both of these are called שִׂרְטוּט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שרטוט-1.mp3″…

  [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להגיד-1.mp3″ /]לְהַגִּיד, לוֹמַר, לֵאמֹר The most common way of saying to say in Hebrew is לְהַגִּיד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להגיד-2.mp3″ /], an active-causative verb of the root נ.ג.ד (n.g.d). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להגיד-3.mp3″ /]אֲנִי רוֹצֶה לְהַגִּיד לְךָ כַּמָּה דְּבָרִים. I (a male) want to say a few things to you. In spoken Hebrew, this verb is…

The last post gave you the correct links to the review materials, but also wished you a Happy Passover a few weeks late… or almost a year in advance. So I’ll take this opportunity to wish you: [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 as well as give you another…