Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

  נָאֶה, יָפֶה  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     When describing the beauty of objects in Hebrew, we typically use יָפֶה  listen and repeat for something grammatically masculine and יָפָה  listen and repeat for something feminine.   For example:   יֵשׁ לְךָ כּוֹבַע יָפֶה. You (a male) have a nice hat.  listen    אֵיזוֹ חֻלְצָה יָפָה! What a…

  שִׂמְלָה  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Though in Biblical times the word שִׂמְלָה  listen and repeat referred to apparel worn widely by both women and men, today שמלה refers specifically to a dress.   For example:   הִיא שָׁאֲלָה אֹתִי אִם הַשִּׂמְלָה שֶׁלָּהּ יָפָה. She asked me if her dress is nice.  listen    Other…

  לְהִתְנַשֵּׁק  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Yesterday we saw the various Hebrew words for hug. Today we’ll look at kissing, which has a similar grammar.   The root of kissing – נ.שׁ.ק (n.sh.k) – is the same as that of a weapon – נֶשֶׁק  listen and repeat – not because of the “kiss of death”,…

  שַׁחַר  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The morning prayer in Judaism is called שַׁחֲרִית  listen and repeat, as it is derived from the word for dawn, שַׁחַר  listen and repeat. In Hebrew, we talk about the dawn as it is a physical object like the sun and say that the dawn rises, as in:   הֵם…

  שְׁאִיפוֹת  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The English word aspiration finds its roots in the Latin word spirare – to breathe.   Likewise, the Hebrew word for to aspire is the same as that of to inhale – the active-simple verb לִשְׁאוֹף  listen and repeat.   And an aspiration is a שְׁאִיפָה  listen and repeat.   For example:  …

  לְהִתָּקַע  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The rain may be a blessing, but most people don’t like getting stuck in it for too long.   The Hebrew word for to get stuck is לְהִתָּקַע  listen and repeat.    Using the above example:   נִתְקַעְתִּי בַּגֶּשֶׁם. I got stuck in the rain.  listen   …

  לְנַחֵשׁ  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew word for to guess is the active-intensive verb לְנַחֵשׁ  listen and repeat.   For example:   אִם אַתָּה לֹא יוֹדֵעַ בְּוַדָּאוּת, תְּנַחֵשׁ. If you (a male) don’t know for sure, guess.  listen    This word can be found in Biblical Hebrew, though it refers to…