Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-1.m4a” /]לְיַדֵּעַ This week we’ve seen the root י.ד.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-2.m4a” /] meaning knowledge put to use in a variety of words, including להודיע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-3.m4a” /] – to notify, מודעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-4.m4a” /] – advertisement and ידיעות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-5.m4a” /] – one of the words for news. Plugging this root into the active-intensive verb form, we get ליידע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ליידע-1.m4a” /] – to inform. For…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חדשות-1.m4a” /]חֲדָשׁוֹת, יְדִיעוֹת The most common word for the news in Hebrew is החדשות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חדשות-2.m4a” /] or simply חדשות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חדשות-3.m4a” /], where the is implied. The singular form of this word, חדש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חדשות-4.m4a” /], is the basic word meaning new. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חדשות-5.m4a” /]שמעת חדשות היום? Have you (a female) heard the news today? Another…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסר-1.m4a” /]מֶסֶר, הוֹדָעָה A message can be something of moral substance. Or it could be a simple piece of information. Hebrew has a word for each: מסר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסר-2.m4a” /] usually functions as the moralistic or philosophical word, while הודעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסר-3.m4a” /] is a more simple message. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מסר-4.m4a” /]ילדים, איזה מסר אתם לומדים מהסרט הזה? Kids,…

  [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרסומות-1.m4a” /]פִּרְסוֹמוֹת Hebrew has two words that refer to an advertisement or an ad: מודעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרסומות-2.m4a” /] and פרסומת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרסומות-3.m4a” /]. מודעה can mean any kind of ad. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרסומות-4.m4a” /]ראיתי מודעה שאתם מחפשים מורים. I saw an ad that you’re looking for teachers. and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/פרסומות-5.m4a” /]יש יותר מדי מודעות אבל בעיתון הזה. There are…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אבל-לאומי-1.m4a” /]אֵבֶל לְאֻמִּי Today Jews around the world commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in ancient times, as well as all the other great tragedies of Jewish history. The term for national mourning is אבל לאומי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אבל-לאומי-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אבל-לאומי-2.m4a” /]תשעה באב הוא יום של אבל לאומי. Tisha B’Av (the ninth of the Jewish…

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 . Space Race . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דיאלוג-1.m4a” /]דּוּ-שִׂיחַ, הִדָּבְרוּת, דִּיאָלוֹג There’s dialogue in the literal sense of two people carrying a conversation. Then there’s dialogue in the more general sense, such as two nations engaging in a peace process. Dialogue in the literal sense, in Hebrew is דו-שיח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דיאלוג-2.m4a” /], where שיח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דיאלוג-3.m4a” /] means conversation and -דו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דיאלוג-4.m4a” /] indicates the number two, that this conversation…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לדבר-לעניין-1.m4a” /]לְדַבֵּר לָעִנְיָן When I was looking for an adequate translation for לדבר לעניין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לדבר-לעניין-1.m4a” /] to English, Google Translate gave me to talk turkey – an expression I must have missed, having grown up in the 80s and 90s. In any case, to talk turkey means to talk business – to talk in a way that gets to the point….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דובר-1.m4a” /]דּוֹבֵר So far this week we’ve seen various meanings of the root ד.ב.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דובר-2.m4a” /]. The better known of these meanings is speech, as in the words לדבר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דובר-3.m4a” /] – to speak, דיבור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דובר-4.m4a” /] – speaking or speech, etc. A speaker or a spokesperson is a דובר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/דובר-1.m4a” /] if he’s a male and a…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הדברה-1.m4a” /]הַדְבָּרָה Yesterday we saw the Hebrew word for a bee – דבורה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הדברה-2.m4a” /]. Another word ostensibly of the same root, ד.ב.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הדברה-3.m4a” /], is הדברה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הדברה-1.m4a” /] – pest control. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הדברה-X.m4a” /]כשהיא לא יכלה כבר לסבול את הנמלים במטבח, היא החליטה להתקשר לחברת הדברה. When she could no longer stand the ants…