Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

  בּוֹ זְמַנִּית, בַּד בְּבַד  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     While Israelis sometimes say בְּאֹפֶן סִימוּלְטָנִי  listen and repeat to express simultaneously or at the same time, they’re also likely to use the expression בּוֹ זְמַנִּית  listen and repeat – literally, at that moment. Likewise, בּוֹ-זְמַנִּי  listen and repeat means simultaneous.   For example:   הוּא מְסֻגָּל לְנַגֵּן…

  מִצַּד שֵׁנִי, לְעֻמַּת זֹאת  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     On the one hand, the snow is pretty. But on the other hand, it’s cold and I prefer warmth.   English uses the metaphor of hands to speak about the two sides of a dilemma. Hebrew uses sides:   מִצַּד אֶחָד –…

  תַּשְׁבֵּץ  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The root שׁ.ב.צ (sh.b.ts) means checkered or plaited.   Thus a slot on a calendar is called a מִשְׁבֶּצֶת  listen and repeat, and an informal way of saying to book an appointment is לְשַׁבֵּץ פְּגִישָׁה  listen and repeat.   For example:   שִׁבַּצְתִּי אֶת הַפְּגִישָׁה שֶׁלָּךְ…

  סֶרֶט תִּעוּדִי  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     A film is a סֶרֶט  listen and repeat, invoking the Biblical Hebrew word for ribbon (film fed through a projector is a ribbon).   And while a (male) witness is an עֵד  listen and repeat, documentation – the written account of that which is witnessed…

  הַעֲדָפָה  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The verb לְהַעֲדִיף  listen and repeat – to prefer – comes from the root ע.ד.פ (a.d.f) meaning extra or hanging over the edge.    For example:   אֲנָשִׁים מַעֲדִיפִים לְהִשָּׁאֵר בַּבַּיִת מֵאֲשֶׁר לָצֵאת בַּגֶּשֶׁם. People prefer to stay home over going out in the rain.  listen   …

  חֻלְצָה מְכֻפְתֶּרֶת  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew word for shirt is חֻלְצָה  listen and repeat. And the word for button is כַּפְתּוֹר  listen and repeat.   To form button-down or that which is made with buttons, Hebrew plugs כפתור into the passive-intensive verb form to yield מְכֻפְתָּר  listen and repeat in the…

  מַטְבֵּעַ  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew root ט.ב.ע (t.b.a) means sinking and is the root of such diverse words as טֶבַע  listen and repeat – nature, מַטְבֵּעַ  listen and repeat – coin or currency, and to sink – לִטְבּוֹעַ  listen and repeat (not to be confused with to sue – לִתְבּוֹעַ  listen and repeat with a…

  מִלּוּאִים  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     A staple of the typical Israeli household is a certain amount of time every year when the man goes away on reserve duty – שֵׁרוּת מִלּוּאִים  listen and repeat.   מילואים  listen and repeat comes from the root מ.ל.א (m.l.a) meaning full, since these reserves are called…