Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/אזרחות-#.m4a” /]אֶזְרָחוּת The word אזרח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/אזרחות-#.m4a” /] appears already in Biblical Hebrew, where it refers to a person native to a particular land or people. Today a person can become an אזרח or אזרחית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/אזרחות-#.m4a” /] – a citizen of a country (male and female, respectively), without having been born there. And citizenship? That’s אזרחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/אזרחות-#.m4a” /]….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /]דַּרְכּוֹן You may hear some Israelis still saying פספורט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /] in reference to this important document, but the proper Hebrew word for it is דרכון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /]. So that at the airport, you may be requested: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/דרכון-#.m4a” /]דרכון וכרטיס עלייה למטוס, בבקשה. Passport and boarding pass, please. This modern-day document דרכון…

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…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /]סִפּוּר כִּסוּי When I say cover story I’m not referring to a front-page article – that’s כתבת שער[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /]. I’m talking about an alibi, a fictitious story meant to cover up one’s true actions. The Hebrew term for this is סיפור כיסוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /] – literally, a cover story. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/סיפור-כיסוי-#.m4a” /]יש…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]לְשַׁכְנֵעַ To succumb or to surrender, in Hebrew, is the נפעל verb להיכנע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]אנחנו לא ניכנע! We will not surrender! להיכנע appears in Biblical Hebrew, where it means to humble oneself, which is what one does when surrendering. The word’s root is כ.נ.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/לשכנע-#.m4a” /]. But since the causative הפעיל usage…