Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

חִיּוּךְ To smile is the פיעל verb לחייך, for example: דוד, אל תשכח לחייך! David, don’t forget to smile! Likewise, a smile is חיוך. For example: איזה חיוך טבעי ונינוח! What a natural, easygoing smile! לחייך  and חיוך follow the same verb-noun pattern as לדבר – to speak and דיבור – speech. These are characteristic of the פיעל […]

בְּאֹפֶן טִבְעִי The Hebrew word for natural is טבעי. For example: אנחנו מבשלים עם רכיבים טבעיים בלבד. We cook with natural ingredients only. To say naturally, add the word באופן before טבעי. For example: באופן טבעי אנחנו מתחברים עם מי שמרגישים איתו בנוח. Naturally we connect with people whom we feel comfortable with. Add באופן before most […]

לְהַרְגִּישׁ בְּנֹחַ Communication can be such a complex human activity. In order for communication to flourish, people need to feel at ease or feel comfortable with each other. To feel comfortable in Hebrew is להרגיש בנוח – literally, to feel with comfort. For example, David might say to Sarah: אני מרגיש איתך בנוח, ולכן אני מעלה את הנושא. […]

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, […]

גָּמִישׁ The Hebrew word for flexible is גמיש, or גמישה when referring to something or feminine or to a female. For example: אני לא יודע באיזו שעה בדיוק אני מגיע – את גמישה? I don’t know exactly at what time I’m arriving – are you flexible? And flexibility? That’s גמישות, for example: אחת התכונות שאנחנו מחפשים היא […]

תְּכוּנוֹת אֹפִי We’ve seen that the word for character is אופי. What about character trait? The word for that is תכונת אופי, where תכונה means trait or characteristic. For example: איזה תכונות אופי יש לה? What personality traits does she have? But remember that in Hebrew, אישיות (personality) and אופי are more or less synonymous. Thus תכונות אופי also […]

אֹפִי Yesterday we saw that the Hebrew word for personality – אישיות – comes from the basic Hebrew word איש meaning man, or more essentially, person. What about character – the parts of a person that are in some ways less personal but are nevertheless essential to who s/he is? That word in Hebrew is אופי. For example: אופי […]

אִישִׁיּוּת Though אדם refers to today to human being and גבר is the most commonly-used word for man, איש is the most basic Hebrew word for man. The word’s counterpart is אישה, the basic word for woman in biblical as well as modern times. So it could be argued that איש is the most basic Hebrew word for person. […]

נוֹצָר, נִבְרָא Hebrew has two words for to create – ליצור and לברוא. While לברוא is more about creating something from nothing – יש מאין, its synonym ליצור is more about bringing something into form. Something created? That’s נברא or נוצר, though נוצר also means formed. For example: הסיפור הזה לא היה ולא נברא. This story neither […]

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, […]

לְתַכְנֵן The Hebrew word for a plan – תוכנית – takes the word for content – תוכן – and activates it with an ית- ending. Modern Hebrew takes תוכנית and turns it into a verb with a פיעל structure, לתכנן. Its root is ת.כ.נ.נ, though its original root was probably כ.ו.נ. Here’s לתכנן in context: מעניין אותי לדעת מה […]