Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

מוּאָר הֵיטֵב While to light something such as a candle or an incandescent bulb is להדליק, to light up or to brighten is להאיר. Both these words are הפעיל verbs, the first from the root ד.ל.ק and the second from the three-letter word אור meaning light. Something lit-up is מואר (a passive הופעל version of להאיר), so well-lit is מואר היטב. […]

לִפְתּוֹר A solution, in Hebrew, is פתרון (proper but less common pronunciation is פתְרון), as in: אני מצטער, אבל אין לי פתרון לבעיה הזאת. I’m sorry, but I don’t have a solution for this problem. To solve is לפתור, a פעל verb. For example: הילה הייתה הראשונה בכיתה שפתרה את כל התרגילים. Hila was the […]

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, […]

לְבַשֵּׁל The basic word for to cook is לבשל, a פיעל verb. For example: דני, מה בישלת לנו היום? Danny, what did you cook for us today? While the professional term for a cook is טבח for a male and טבחית for a female (think מטבח – kitchen), if you want to compliment someone for their great […]

מוּפְשָׁט The Hebrew verb לפשוט (a simple verb) is to remove a piece of clothing, as in: הוא פשט את המעיל ואז התיישב. He took of his (the) coat and then sat down. Something simple – devoid of any extraneous details – is פשוט, as in: הוא סיפור פשוט – לא צריך לחשוב יותר מדי […]