Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

לְהַקְפִּיץ To jump, in Hebrew, is לקפוץ. Likewise, to bounce – or to cause something to jump – is להקפיץ. But this הפעיל verb has additional meanings including to make someone angry (to cause their blood pressure to jump), and to give someone a ride (to bounce them from one place to another, as in: תוכלו להקפיץ אותי הביתה? […]

לְהִיכָּנַע, לְוַותֵּר The Hebrew word for to give up is להיכנע, a נפעל verb of the root כ.נ.ע meaning surrender.  For example: הוא לא נכנע ללחצים חברתיים. He doesn’t give in to social pressures. Another word sometimes used as to give up is the פיעל verb לוותר, as in: דויד, נשאר לך רק חצי קילומטר, אל תוותר! David, you’ve got […]

בָּצֵק The kind of dough from which one might bake is בצק in Hebrew. For example: הבצק מוכן – אפשר להכניס אותו לתנור. The dough is ready – you can put it in the oven. Another word, עיסה, means dough as well, but can also refer to any other doughy mixture, even one that isn’t edible. […]

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, […]

הַלְּוַואי, מִי יִתֵּן, לוּ יְהִי Hebrew has several ways of expressing a wish such as “if only!” The one that Israelis use in everyday speech is הלוואי, as in: הלוואי והיה לי זמן לעשות את הכול. If only I had time to do it all. הלוואי comes from Aramaic, a language closely related to Hebrew and […]