Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

הִזְדַמְּנוּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-1.mp3″ /] Earlier this week we saw the Hebrew word for availability – זמינות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-2.mp3″ /], which comes from the root ז.מ.נ (z.m.n) meaning time. Another word deriving from that root is הזדמנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-1.mp3″ /] – opportunity. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הזדמנות-3.mp3″ /]פסימיסט רואה בהזדמנות קושי. אופטימיסט רואה בקושי הזדמנות. (וינסטון צ’רצ’יל) A pessimist sees the difficulty…

צַעַר, יָגוֹן, עֶצֶב, עָגְמַת נֶפֶשׁ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-1.mp3″ /] Genuine grief, that painful feeling that comes with loss, is variably called in Hebrew צער[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-2.mp3″ /] (pain), יגון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-3.mp3″ /] (anguish), עצב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-4.mp3″ /] (sadness) and עגמת נפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עגמת-נפש-5.mp3″ /] (suffering, anguish of the soul). The latter term, עגמת נפש, is sometimes used the way grief is in English…

זְמִינוּת, פְּנִיּוּת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew root ז.מ.נ (z.m.n) meaning time finds itself in a variety of verbal applications. One of these is the word for available – זמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-2.mp3″ /] in the masculine, and זמינה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-3.mp3″ /] in the feminine. For example, you might text (a woman): [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/זמינות-4.mp3″ /]את זמינה? אפשר להתקשר? Are you…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הוא-לומד-ב-1.mp3″ /]הוּא לוֹמֵד בְּ… In English, when we talk about where a person studies, we often say, “he goes to the Technion” or “she goes to Columbia.” To go is the verb in the expression. In Hebrew, the verb is the active-simple ללמוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הוא-לומד-ב-2.mp3″ /] – to study. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הוא-לומד-ב-3.mp3″ /]הוא לומד בטכניון. He goes…

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 Game 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!

בְּרֹאשׁ מוּרָם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בראש-מורם-1.mp3″ /] To lift something, in Hebrew, is להרים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בראש-מורם-2.mp3″ /], an active-causative verb of the root ר.ו.מ (r.w.m) meaning height. Likewise, מורם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בראש-מורם-3.mp3″ /] – an adjective derived from the passive-causative verb form – means lifted up So that when someone walks with their head held high – with a lifted head – they do so בראש…

שֵׁרוּתִים, חֲדַר אַמְבַּטְיָה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שירותים-1.mp3″ /] This post elaborates on an earlier one. To Americans, the bathroom is where people do what they need to do. Sometimes it has a bathtub in it, sometimes it doesn’t. But to people from the Commonwealth, a bathroom is only called such if it has a tub, while the toilet is the room with an…

לִקְרוֹת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-1.mp3″ /] The Hebrew word for to happen is לקרות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-1.mp3″ /], a simple verb whose root is ק.ר.ה (k.r.h). For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-2.wav” /]מה קרה? What happened? and the informal greeting: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-3.mp3″ /]מה קורה? What’s happening? Since the word קרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרות-4.mp3″ /] sounds the same as the word for read as in he read –…

בְּסוֹפוֹ שֶׁל דָּבָר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בסופו-של-דבר-1.mp3″ /] Translated literally, at the end of the day is בסוף היום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בסופו-של-דבר-2.mp3″ /] in Hebrew. But that phrase is generally used in the figurative sense, not the literal. In the expression, “the day” really means “the matter at hand.” Hebrew’s equivalent expression is בסופו של דבר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/בסופו-של-דבר-1.mp3″ /] – literally, at the…

תַּפְסִיקוּ לָרִיב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפסיקו-לריב-6.mp3″ /] Suppose you’re driving on a family trip in Israel, and the two boys are fighting in the back seat. You might turn your head around and say to them: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפסיקו-לריב-7.mp3″ /]תפסיקו לריב, שניכם! Stop fighting, the two of you! The expression broken down: תפסיקו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תפסיקו-לריב-8.mp3″ /] – literally, you (plural) will stop. It’s a…

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 Game 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!