Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בטח-קרוב-1.m4a” /]בֶּטַח Israelis do not like to express doubt. So their word for probably… well, there isn’t a single word for probably. There’s קרוב לוודאי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בטח-קרוב-2.m4a” /] – close to certain, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בטח-קרוב-3.m4a” /]קרוב לוודאי שהלהקה תגיע לארץ בשנה הבאה. The band will probably (almost certainly) come to Israel next year. There’s also ככל הנראה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בטח-קרוב-4.m4a”…

  [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תצטרך-1.m4a” /]תִּצְטָרֵךְ… To say, I need in Hebrew, it’s either אני צריך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תצטרך-2.m4a” /] if you’re a male or אני צריכה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תצטרך-3.m4a” /] if you’re a female. Technically, these words are not verbs – so they don’t move smoothly into the past and future tenses. In the past, it’s הייתי צריך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/תצטרך-4.m4a” /] or…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/משרד-החוץ-1.m4a” /]מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ Whereas English tends to be long-winded, Hebrew is concise. English has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but Hebrew has משרד החוץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/משרד-החוץ-1.m4a” /] – literally, the office of the outside (to understand what “the outside” refers to, see yesterday’s dose). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/משרד-החוץ-2.m4a” /]היא קיבלה עבודה טובה במשרד החוץ. She got a…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בחול-1.m4a” /]בְּחוּ”ל They love going to Thailand, South America and Berlin, but for Israelis there really are only two location categories in the world: Israel and everywhere else. Israel is called הארץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בחול-2.m4a” /] – the land (yes, it’s the same name as the newspaper). Everywhere else is called חו”ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/בחול-3.m4a” /], an abbreviation of חוץ…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/צא-1.m4a” /]צֵא הַחוּצָה! The basic Hebrew word for to go out is לצאת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/צא-2.m4a” /]. You may recognize its root, י.צ.א[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/צא-3.m4a” /], from the Hebrew term for the Exodus: יציאת מצרים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/צא-4.m4a” /] (literally, the exit from Egypt). If you wish to ask someone (or you dog) to kindly leave your home or office, you…

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/פחם-1.m4a” /]פֶּחָם You’re all set for the barbecue on the beach in Tel Aviv with the food, disposable cutlery, a picnic blanket, a bottle opener and the barbecue itself. One thing missing: charcoal. So you go to the supermarket and ask: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פחם-2.m4a” /]איפה יש לכם פחמים? Where do you guys have charcoals? You…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פותחן-1.m4a” /]פּוֹתְחָן You invite people over, and everyone brings a bottle of wine. But you’ve got no opener. What do you do? You go to your neighbors and say: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פותחן-2.m4a” /]יש לכם פותחן? Do you have an opener? פותחן comes from the simple verb לפתוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פותחן-3.m4a” /] – to open. This ן-[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/פותחן-4.m4a” /] ending…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מפוצץ-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי מְפֹצָץ With their penchant for making light of difficult and chronic things like war and terror, Israelis translate I’m stuffed as אני מפוצץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מפוצץ-1.m4a” /] if it’s a male speaking and אני מפוצצת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מפוצץ-2.m4a” /] if it’s a female – literally, I’m exploded. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מפוצץ-3.m4a” /]קינוח? לא, תודה, אני מפוצץ! Dessert? No,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחבואים-1.m4a” /]מַחְבּוֹאִים The other day, we saw the word להטמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחבואים-2.m4a” /] – to conceal. The more basic verb, to hide, in Hebrew is להחביא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחבואים-3.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחבואים-4.m4a” /]אבא, איפה החבאת את האפיקומן? Dad, where did you hide the afikoman? A hiding place is a מחבוא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחבואים-5.m4a” /], so that the game hide and go seek,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חפש-את-המטמון-1.m4a” /]חַפֵּשׂ אֶת הַמַּטְמוֹן Suppose there’s a piece of מצה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חפש-את-המטמון-2.m4a” /] – matzah – hidden somewhere in the house. Kids know this game as searching for the אפיקומן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חפש-את-המטמון-3.m4a” /]. But in the broader sense, this game is an example of חפש את המטמון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חפש-את-המטמון-1.m4a” /] – treasure hunt, or literally, search for the treasure. For…