Free Hebrew lessons – September 2010 – Training – Day 36

Shalom mi-Israel (Hello from Israel),

Wow! It was a good vacation. We were in Berlin, and if you haven’t visited there yet, this is the time to think about it… No, I didn’t get a commission from the iriya (city council) of Berlin…  

In our previous lessons we had a refresher, but before that, in lesson 34, we learned some tenses. We learned that verbs in the present tense singular form remain the same, like: I sit, you sit, he sits -
Ani yoshev, ata yoshev, hu yoshev for masculine, and: I sit, you sit, she sits:  
Ani yoshevet, at yoshevet, hi yoshevet for feminine.

Today we’ll take another step ahead and learn the plural form.

Today’s menu: The present – plural form

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

Remember “Rule number 1″
In the present – there are only 4 inflections for EVERY Hebrew verb:
- Singular for (m) – (m) means masculine
- Singular for (f) – (f) means feminine
- Plural for (m)
- Plural for (f)

If you remember, when we talked about the singular form, we used the following table.

 * I hope you remember: There is no “it” in Hebrew

Today we will learn the plural form.

Let’s see how to say the last 3 words we learned: sit, write and learn, in the plural form:

Masculine:

We, you, they (masculine):
Sit – Ana^nu yoshvim, atem yoshvim, hem yoshvim.
Write – Ana^nu kotvim, atem kotvim, hem kotvim.
Learn – Ana^nu lomdim, atem lomdim, hem lomdim.

Feminine:

We, you, they (feminine):
Sit – Ana^nu yoshvot, aten yoshvot, hen yoshvot.
Write – Ana^nu kotvot, aten kotvot, hen kotvot.
Learn – Ana^nu lomdot, aten lomdot, hen lomdot.

I already said it, but I will say it again – There are two things you must remember:

1. In Hebrew there are no “present simple” and “present progressive” tenses – there is only one form of “present,” and the verb remains the same for the plural persons, depending on the gender.

2. The difference between masculine and feminine in the plural form is the “ot” on the end of the feminine verbs and the “im” for the masculine verbs.
In the present – “ot” is the suffix for all feminine plural verbs,  and “im” is the suffix for all masculine plural verbs. Again – I’m talking about the present!

To really “get” this, you must look at the tables above over and over and over… let it soak in and you will find it’s not that confusing.  If you want to talk about “confusing,” let’s talk about learning English.  Ha!… 

Lehitraot in lesson 37 …

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Hi from afar…

What’s this…Thursday without a lesson?!  Don’t worry; I have a little surprise for you. 

This time we don’t have to remember what we had in our previous lesson… we’ll do that in our next lesson, September 2rd.

Today’s menu: A coupon

As a special treat, below is a coupon for $20 off any one purchase at Goood Israeli Jewelry.  Redeem your coupon today and tomorrow only(!) – Thursday August 19, 2010 and Friday August 20, 2010. One coupon per customer.

To redeem your coupon, simply enter the code from the coupon in the “Notes” section of your order and $20 will be deducted from your total amount. You will receive an automated response which will not reflect your discount – but two days later when I process your order, I will send another e-mail confirming your $20 discount.

See you soon…

You are welcome to join our group on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=230884728509. 

Free Hebrew lessons – August 2010 – Training – Day 35:

Hi,

It’s still hot outside, and I hope that most of you are sitting beside an air conditioner. (mazgan, in Hebrew).

In our previous lesson we learned that verbs in the present tense singular form remain the same, like:
I sit, you sit, he sits -
Ani yoshev,
ata yoshev,
hu yoshev or, in the feminine form:

I sit, you sit, she sits:  
Ani yoshevet,
at yoshevet,
hi yoshevet.

It’s almost the middle of August and some of you will be taking a short vacation… and I will, too.  Soooo, this lesson will be the last lesson for August, and it will be a refresher from our first lessons. I think it will be great to look backward and see how far we’ve come…

Today’s menu: some antique (old AND valuable) words…

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

First, let’s watch the video for the “e” sound: The sound of the vowel E (13 seconds).
Wherever I use an “e,” this is the sound I want you to remember.

And now we’ll do the same for the “i” sound: The sound of the vowel I (18 seconds).

You can find a more detailed explanation for the above sounds in lesson 4.

Now, let’s see if you remember the following words from our first lessons:

Test yourself  (the answers are below):

1. Boker tov

2. Shalom

3. Lehitraot

4. Laila tov

5. Toda

6. Beseder

7. Eifo

8. Bevakasha

9. Sherutim (I’m sure you forgot the meaning of this word…)

10. Telephone

Answers:

1. Good morning – Boker tov.

2. Hello / hi – Shalom / hi (slang).

3. See you – lehitraot.

4. Goodnight – laila tov.

5. Thanks – toda.

6. Alright / OK – beseder.

7. Where – eifo.

8. Please – bevakasha.

9. Toilet – sherutim.

10. Telephone – telephone.

Not bad at all…

Now, let’s see how to pronounce the “a” sound in Heblish?
Watch this video: The sound of the vowel A (16 seconds)

And the “o” sound: The sound of the vowel O (14 seconds)

Hey, what about the “u” sound?
Watch this short video on YouTube: The sound of the vowel U (20 seconds)

Vocabulary:
   Meat – basar
   Side dishes – tosafot
   Fish – dag

   French fries – chips
   Pasta – pasta
   Vegetable salad – salat (or salat yerakot)
  
   Egg – beitsa
   Juice – mits
   Bracelet – tsamid

Now listen to the most important sound: The “het” and “haf” sounds:
In this video you will hear the ^ (het/haf) pronounced with each of the vowels. ^, ^a, ^e, ^I, ^o, ^u (12 seconds on Youtube)

Toda raba (thanks a lot)…

Personally, I think our little “refresher” today has been refreshing!  It’s good to go back and read over things you have already learned. 

While I’m gone, I would like for you to think about things you want to learn on free-Hebrew.  For instance, would you like to learn some simple Israeli songs?  Would you like to learn how to negotiate a price (bargain/haggle), in Hebrew?  That could come in handy when you visit Israel. Let me know your thoughts – because this website is all about YOU! 

Although I will be gone for two weeks, you might want to check our website during my vacation. You just might find I’ve left a little surprise for you… So don’t forget to look for it, next Thursday…  

Lehitraot in lesson 36…

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