Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חמש-נפשות-1.m4a” /]חָמֵשׁ נְפָשׁוֹת You may know the word נפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חמש-נפשות-2.m4a” /] – soul or mind – from the name of the organization Nefesh B’Nefesh – literally, soul with soul. In Biblical Hebrew it refers to the soul or the self, as well individuals. Thus when speaking of occupants of a home, the word is נפשות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חמש-נפשות-3.m4a” /] – souls. For example: [audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עבודה-יחידה-1.m4a” /]הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיְּחִידָה שֶׁלִּי Many people in Israel work several part time jobs – משרות חלקיות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עבודה-יחידה-2.m4a” /], which together make up a full-time salary or more. Now, משרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עבודה-יחידה-3.m4a” /] is one of the words for job. Another word is עבודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/עבודה-יחידה-4.m4a” /] which means literally, work. Only in Hebrew, in the sense of only one,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבחינה-פיזית-1.m4a” /]מִבְּחִינָה פִיזִית Some words in Hebrew are really easy to learn because they’re basically English. One of those words is פיזיקה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבחינה-פיזית-2.m4a” /] – physics. Likewise, פיזי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מבחינה-פיזית-3.m4a” /] is physical. To turn an adjective into an adverb, English usually tacks on the -ly ending, but Hebrew has several options. In the case of physically, the most common expression…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תלוי-1.m4a” /]זֶה תָּלוּי Do I prefer chicken, or beef? Chocolate or vanilla? For me, the answer is it depends. In Hebrew, that’s זה תלוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תלוי-1.m4a” /] or simply, תלוי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תלוי-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תלוי-3.m4a” /]מה אני מעדיף? תלוי. What do I prefer? It depends. תלוי means literally hung, as לתלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תלוי-4.m4a” /] is to hang something…

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/מעשי-1.m4a” /]מַעֲשִׂי, פְּרַקְטִי We’ve seen the word מעשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשי-2.m4a” /] (related to the Yiddish bubbe meise) meaning act or action. מעשה generates מעשי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשי-3.m4a” /] – practical or doable. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשי-4.m4a” /]זה רעיון טוב בתיאוריה, אבל הוא לא מעשי. It’s a good idea in theory, but it’s not practical. מעשי is a proper Hebrew word of the root…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-1.m4a” /]מַה הַכַּוָּנָה? מַה זּׁאת אוֹמֶרֶת? Text has dominated among the communication media in recent decades. But key elements of communication are lost in text – body language and tone of voice. Thus the question, What do you mean? could sound genuinely curious, or it could sound argumentative or dismissive. Hebrew’s מה הכוונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מה-זאת-אומרת-2.m4a” /] – literally, what’s the…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארצנו-הקטנטונת-1.m4a” /]אַרְצֵנוּ הַקְּטַנְטוֹנֶת The word ארץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארצנו-הקטנטונת-2.m4a” /] means earth as well as country or land. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארצנו-הקטנטונת-3.m4a” /]ארץ ישראל יפה. The land of Israel is beautiful. The word for small is קטן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארצנו-הקטנטונת-4.m4a” /]; little, said in a loving way, is קטנטן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארצנו-הקטנטונת-5.m4a” /] for a masculine object and קטנטונת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ארצנו-הקטנטונת-6.m4a” /] for a feminine object such as…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשה-גבורה-1.m4a” /]מַעֲשֵׂה גְּבוּרָה If you know a bit of Yiddish, you’ve probably heard the term bubbe meise. Meise, which means fable, comes from the Hebrew word מעשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשה-גבורה-2.m4a” /] which means tale or story… as well as action and act. Perhaps you’ve spotted the root ע.ש.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשה-גבורה-3.m4a” /] – doing – in the word מעשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשה-גבורה-4.m4a” /]. Thus an act of courage is מעשה גבורה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מעשה-גבורה-1.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-1.m4a” /]דֻּגְמָה The root ד.ג.מ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-2.m4a” /] spawns many words in Hebrew, including דוגמן/דוגמנית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-3.m4a” /] – model (as in Bar Refaeli), דגימה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-4.m4a” /] – sampling and דגם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-5.m4a” /] – model (think BMW i8). But perhaps the most common word derived from ד.ג.מ is דוגמה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-1.m4a” /] – example. For example (לדוגמה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-6.m4a” /]): [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/דוגמה-7.m4a” /]אני לא…

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!