how to say “relatively speaking” in Hebrew

Tue | Dec 09

how to say “relatively speaking” in Hebrew

 

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יַחֲסִית, בְּאֹפֶן יַחֲסִי
 
Last week I posted a dose on relatives, so here’s a dose on a related word – relatively.
 
אלברט איינשטיין
אַלְבֶּרְט אַיינְשְׁטַיין, אָבִיהָ שֶׁל תּוֹרַת הַיַּחֲסוּת
Albert Einstein, father of the theory of relativity
 listen and repeat
Hebrew has two words for relatively. These are mostly interchangeable, with subtle distinctions.
 
יַחֲסִית listen and repeat is the far more common word, used in such contexts as:
 
הוּא בַּיִת גָּדוֹל, יַחֲסִית לָאֵזוֹר.
It’s a big house, relative to the area.
 
and
 
יַחֲסִית לַח הַיּוֹם.
It’s relatively humid today.
 
The term בְּאֹפֶן יַחֲסִי listen and repeat means, literally, in a relative fashion. It is used primarily when comparing two things, such as:
 
תֵּל אָבִיב חֲמִימָה בַּחֹרֶף, בְּאֹפֶן יַחֲסִי לִירוּשָׁלַיִם הַקָּרָה מִמֶּנָּה.
Tel Aviv is warm in the winter, relative to Jerusalem, which is colder than it.
 
The root י.ח.ס (y.kh.s) means relatedness. Another related term is יַחֲסֵי צִבּוּר listen and repeat, discussed here.
 
by Ami SteinbergerFounder and Director, Ulpan La-Inyan
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