פָּזִיז If you’re like me and sometimes act on impulse without thinking, raise your hand. Like many words that came into Hebrew in the modern era, the foreign אימפולסיבי is the word of choice for many Israelis. Still, another much more ancient word – פזיז – can be found in Hebrew conversation as well. For…
לְהַטְמִיעַ The resurrection of Hebrew as a spoken language began over 100 years ago, but it didn’t stop then – new words enter the language all the time. Usually they fly in from the English-speaking west – words like telephone and information. When such words land in Tel Aviv they’re called by their foreign names, just with…
חוּקִּי The Hebrew word for law is חוק. For example: הוא חושב שהוא מעל החוק. He thinks he’s above the law. The adjective form of law – legal – is חוקי, as in: תגידו, זה חוקי לישון בלילה ביער הזה? Tell me guys, is it legal to sleep in this forest at night?
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף…
כַּדּוּר פּוֹרֵחַ Last week a cluster of balloons appeared in my garden, probably from a nearby birthday party. The Hebrew word for balloon is בלון… but when talking about a hot air balloon, the term is כדור פורח – literally, a flying ball. For example: לכבוד יום ההולדת היא רוצה טיסה בכדור פורח. For her…
לַעֲצוֹר, לְהַפְסִיק While English has to stop and to halt, Hebrew has לעצור and להפסיק. לעצור is to stop and basically stand still. You can also לעצור someone else, as in: עצר אותי שוטר כי לא עצרתי בתמרור עצור. A cop stopped me because I hadn’t stopped at a stop sign. (The true story is…