Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-1.m4a” /]אֲבַטִּיחַ This word appears already in Biblical Hebrew, as אבטיח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-1.m4a” /] – watermelon – native to southern Africa, was cultivated in Egypt and eaten by the People of Israel. In researching the word, I spotted the root ב.ט.ח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-2.m4a” /], which normally means safety as the word ביטחון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אבטיח-3.m4a” /] – security. I started pondering possible…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-1.m4a” /]אֶשְׂמַח! In English, most feelings are adjectives (with a notable exception of to love): I am happy, she is afraid, they are angry, etc. In Hebrew, they’re verbs: לשמוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-2.m4a” /] – to (be) happy לפחד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-3.m4a” /] – to (be) afraid (also in English to fear) לכעוס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/אשמח-ב-4.m4a” /] – to be angry So if your friend invites…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-1.m4a” /]תָּכְנִיּוֹת I used to think that the word for content or substance – תוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-2.m4a” /] – derives from the word תוך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-3.m4a” /] – inside. Makes sense, right? Contents are inside something. Except that תוכן appears in Biblical Hebrew, where it means measurement or quota. In any case, the related word תכנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תכניות-4.m4a” /] – plan – has elements of both contents and measurement: a good plan…

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/עולם-כמנהגו-נוהג-1.m4a” /]עוֹלָם כְּמִנְהָגוֹ נוֹהֵג A literal translation of the world keeps on turning is העולם ממשיך להסתובב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עולם-כמנהגו-נוהג-2.m4a” /]. But a more ancient expression not translated from English, appearing in the Talmud, is עולם כמנהגו נוהג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עולם-כמנהגו-נוהג-1.m4a” /] – the world conducts itself as its custom. Broken down: עולם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עולם-כמנהגו-נוהג-3.m4a” /] – world -כ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עולם-כמנהגו-נוהג-4.m4a” /] – as מנהגו[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מאותה-סיבה-1.m4a” /]מֵאֹתָהּ סִבָּה People think verbs in foreign languages are hard to learn, but mistranslations of words like at, to, from and with – prepositions – remain the most common errors when speaking a second language. For example, may I use your (a female’s) pen? in Hebrew is ?אפשר להשתמש בעט שלך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מאותה-סיבה-2.m4a” /] – literally, may (I) use with your…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ירק-1.m4a” /]יֶרֶק What are the primary colors? That’s subject to debate, but green – ירוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ירק-2.m4a” /] – is generally considered one of them. In the feminine ירוק becomes ירוקה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ירק-3.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ירק-4.m4a” /]יש להם בית ירוק עם גינה ירוקה. They have a green house with a green garden. Green is the color…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כל-מיני-1.m4a” /]כָּל מִינֵי The word מין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כל-מיני-2.m4a” /] means kind or type, including a type of person or animal – sex or species also use the word מין. Kinds are מינים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כל-מיני-3.m4a” /], so kinds of are מיני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כל-מיני-4.m4a” /]. Thus all kinds is כל מיני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כל-מיני-1.m4a” /]. So if you ask a teenager: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/כל-מיני-5.m4a” /]מה למדת היום בבית הספר? What did…

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/לעלות-לירושלים-1.m4a” /]לַעֲלוֹת לִירוּשָׁלַיִם The simple word for to go by foot, in Hebrew, is ללכת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לעלות-לירושלים-2.m4a” /]. To go by vehicle is לנסוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לעלות-לירושלים-3.m4a” /]. But going to Jerusalem is a special affair, partly because it requires ascending a mountain, but also because it’s such a special place that it involves a personal ascent as well. Thus to go…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/איחוד-1.m4a” /]אִחוּד Looking at the word at hand today, איחוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/איחוד-1.m4a” /], you may spot the word אחד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/איחוד-2.m4a” /] – one. איחוד, unification, derives from the active-intensive verb לאחד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/איחוד-3.m4a” /] – to unite. Referring to the reunification of Jerusalem that took place 50 years ago in the wake of the Six Day War, Hebrew uses the term…