Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזחול-1.m4a” /]לִזְחוֹל If you’ve got some basic Hebrew, you know some variation of the word ללכת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזחול-2.m4a” /] – to walk, a simple verb of the root ה.ל.כ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזחול-3.m4a” /]. Also a simple verb, the word for to crawl is לזחול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזחול-1.m4a” /]. Its root is ז.ח.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזחול-4.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לזחול-5.m4a” /]הנה שבלול זוחל על…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-1.m4a” /]דוֹאַר אִטִי, דוֹאַר שַׁבְּלוּל In English, snail and mail rhyme. Since Hebrew’s words for snail – שבלול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-2.m4a” /] or חילזון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-3.m4a” /], and mail – דואר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-4.m4a” /], don’t rhyme, there isn’t such a catchy term for the type of mail that requires physical shipment and delivery. You may hear דואר שבלול[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דואר-איטי-5.m4a” /] – literally, snail…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-1.m4a” /]עִדַּן הַקֶּרַח The basic word for time in Hebrew is זמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-2.m4a” /]. For period of time it’s תקופה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-3.m4a” /]. And for an extended period of time – an age – it’s עידן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-4.m4a” /] (also the first name of Israeli musician Idan Raichel). Thus an ice age is עידן קרח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עידן-הקרח-5.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-1.m4a” /]לִחְיוֹת There’s to live as in to reside: לגור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-2.m4a” /] or להתגורר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-3.m4a” /]. Then there’s to live as in to be alive: לחיות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לחיות-4.m4a” /]שנים הם חיו ביחד בשלווה. For years they lived together in tranquility. לחיות, a simple verb, follows the same patterns of conjugation…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-1.m4a” /]שַׁאֲנַנּוּת The lead singer of the Israeli hip-hop/funk band Hadag Nahash is Sha’anan Streett, whose first name – in Hebrew, שאנן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-2.m4a” /] – means calm, complacent. In the name, as in the names of other Israeli neighborhoods such as Tel Aviv’s נווה שאנן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/שאננות-3.m4a” /] – Neve Shaanan (Abode of Calm) and…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרגת-אותי-1.m4a” /]הָרַגְתָּ אֹתִי You may be familiar with the original Hebrew version of the sixth of the Ten Commandments: לא תרצח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרגת-אותי-2.m4a” /] – do not murder. לרצוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/הרגת-אותי-3.m4a” /], a simple verb, means to murder, to kill an innocent person intentionally. But sometimes killing happens when it’s not intended, or when the one…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-1.m4a” /]לְהַפְחִית If you’ve got some Level 1 Hebrew under your belt, you probably know the word יותר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-2.m4a” /] – more. The opposite of יותר is פחות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-3.m4a” /] – less, and this word forms the basis of to reduce or to lessen: להפחית, an active-causative הפעיל verb of the root פ.ח.ת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להפחית-4.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ערב-חג-1.m4a” /]עֶרֶב חַג In English, we have the expression on the eve of… meaning the day before an event, or the time leading up to it. Hebrew has the same, so that the day before a holiday – a holiday eve – is ערב חג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ערב-חג-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ערב-חג-2.m4a” /]אין לנו זמן לשבת בבית…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-1.m4a” /]הִתְנַדְּבוּת The concept of volunteering goes all the way to Biblical times, where the root נ.ד.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-2.m4a” /] of that meaning first appears. To volunteer is להתנדב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-3.m4a” /], a reflexive-intensive התפעל verb. Likewise, volunteering is התנדבות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/התנדבות-4.m4a” /]יש מקום התנדבות מעניין בשכונת בקעה בירושלים. There’s an interesting volunteering place in…