Basic Expressions
Free Heblish Challenge – February 2010 – Training – Day 10:

Shalom!

Day 10 and today I won’t bother you with a complex lesson like we had in Lesson 9… It’s a long lesson, but an easy one.

In our previous lesson we talked about the number “one (masculine)“ e^ad, and we also learned how to say “I” (ani), and the words in the following table:

So let’s see what we have today… 

Today’s menu: Yes, no, there is no, thanks a lot, excuse me and…how much

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

Yes

For yes you should say “ken” in Hebrew.

Are you ready for the next word?
Ken, ani ready.

No/ not

For no, you should say “lo” in Hebrew.

There is no / there are no

You say “there is no” and I say “ein.”

   – Question: Is there a telephone here?
   – Answer: No, there is not – lo, ein.

   – Customer: For me, fish and French fries – bishvili dag ve’chips.
   – Waiter: There are no French fries – ein chips.

Thanks a lot

We already learned that “thanks” or “thank you” is “toda” in Hebrew.

However, sometimes you want to say more than just “thanks”.
For “thanks a lot” you should say “toda raba“.

   – Waiter: I’m sorry, we do have French fries… so would you still like to have them?
   – Customer: Yes, thanks a lot – ken, toda raba.

Excuse me

Excuse me is “sli^a” in Hebrew.

You can use “sli^a” when you want to ask something: Sli^a, eifo malon Hilton? (excuse me, where is the Hilton Hotel?)

More examples:
   – Excuse me, do you have French fries? – Sli^a, do you have chips?
   – Excuse me, can I also get ketchup? – Sli^a, can ani get gam ketchup?
     (Remember, we learned that “also” is “gam” in Lesson 8.)

In the future, we will learn more about the expression “excuse me.”

How much & this

The translation for “how much” is “kama,” but when you are going to buy something you don’t say “kama?” You should say “kama ze“ or “kama ze ole?“

The word “ze” in Hebrew means “this.” “This” and “ze” refer to “something,” usually an object, for example: How much is this? - Kama ze ole?

Therefore, when you want to say “how much is this?” or just “how much?” you should say “kama ze?” or “kama ze ole?” We will talk about the word “ole” in the future, but for now take it as is.

Examples:
   – When you point to a plastic bag of roasted almonds, you say: “How much?” -  kama ze?
   – Then you point to a fresh fish and say: “and this?” – ve’ze?
      (Remember, we learned that “and” is “ve” in Lesson 7.)

When you want to ask how much “something” costs: “How much is the _____,” you don’t use the word “ze,” just like you don’t use the word “this” in this sentence.

Examples:
   – How much is the bracelet? – Kama ole ha’tsamid?
   – Excuse me, how much is the fish? – Sli^a, kama ole ha’dag?
   – And how much is the lamb? – ve’kama ha’keves?

Our lessons are longer now than at the beginning of this Heblish course.  But, since there is only one lesson a week, you can really dig into each lesson and maybe go through it twice a week. You have already seen that you can say a whole sentence in Hebrew, and more than just one… maybe we are galloping, and if so please let me know and we will “slow the horse down.”

Lehitraot in Lesson 11