Practice Hebrew

Free Hebrew lessons – February 2011 – Training – Day 57

Shalom,

Shalom? I don’t really see any peace or peaceful life around our little country. Everyone against everyone, and the end doesn’t seem very close…

Anyway, between all that mess, and although the world seems to be falling apart, there is a little island of us who want to learn Hebrew …   

In our previous lesson we learned the first, second and third person in masculine form of the word “say,” and we also learned how to say “a lot of, people, chocolate, week, end” and “weekend.”

Today, we will continue with the important word “say.”

Today’s menu: To say

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

Say
For “to say” [please sit… ] we say – lehagid (le-ha-gid), but all the other forms of this word in past simple include the root a.m.r., as we learned before. 

*)  I don’t always teach you “proper” (complex) Hebrew (like a college professor would), but I always teach you the right way to speak Hebrew like an Israeli… words and phrases that any Israeli will understand.  This includes the way we accent certain words. For instance, in perfect “college” Hebrew the accent on the word “amarten” would look like this:  (a-mar-ten), but it is commonly pronounced (a-mar-ten), with the accent on the middle syllable.

I said
- I said I want a cake – Amarti she’ani rotse uga (man speaking).
- I said I want a ring – Amarti she’ani rotsa tabaat (woman speaking).

You said
- You said you will not come – Amarta she’lo tavo (speaking to a man).
- You said you will not come – Amart she’lo tavoi  (speaking to a woman).

He said
- He said he loves you – Hu amar she’hu ohev ota^. (man loves woman)

She said
- She said she loves you – Hi amra she’hi ohevet ot^a. (woman loves man)

We said
- We said it is beautiful – Amarnu she’ze yafe.

You said
- You said you will come – Amartem she’tavou (plural).

They said
- They said goodnight – Hem amru laila tov. (m)
- They said goodnight – Hen amru laila tov. (f)

Isn’t it wonderful to look back and see how much we’ve learned together?!  I hope you are all enjoying studying Hebrew as much as I’m enjoying teaching it. Ok… I might be prejudiced (wink), but I feel like Hebrew is the most beautiful language an ear as ever heard and a tongue has ever uttered.
Come on, who can argue with that? 

Lehitraot in lesson 58…

You are welcome to join our group on Facebook

In and on

Free Hebrew lessons – January 2011 – Training – Day 52

Shalom,

Ma shlom^em hayom? – How are you (plural) today?

Today is Tu Bishvat holiday.
Tu Bi’shvat is the fifteenth in the Hebrew month – Shvat. In Hebrew numerology, “tu” is fifteen.
This holiday is the holiday of the trees. We plant many new trees and eat a lot of fruit, like: Teenim (te-e-nim) – figs, tsimukim – raisins, tmarim – palms…

In our previous lesson we talked about the Hebrew accent, and I showed you how important it is.

Today, we will talk about something that causes me lots of trouble in English…
It is not easy, therefore, we will learn it in two lessons, today and next Thursday, so please be focused.

Today’s menu: In and on

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

When I write in English, I make a lot of mistakes when I use “in” and “on.”
For example, I can’t see the difference between “June” and “June 13,” but you say “in June,” and “on June 13.” 

Let’s see how we use these words in Hebrew.

I will start with “on” since it’s easier…

On
You say “on” and I say al.
But… when I say al, in most cases I mean that something is laying on something else:
- The book is on the table – ha’sefer al ha’shul^an (table – shul^an).
- I have a hat on my head – Yesh li kova al ha’rosh sheli (a hat – kova, head – rosh).
- I (f) sit on the chair – Ani yoshevet al ha’kise. (sit (f) – yoshevet, chair – kise – pay attention to the “e” sound).

In
For “in” in Hebrew, we say “be” (pay attention to the “e” sound…) and “ba.”
Before we start, let’s understand the difference between be and ba.

In Hebrew “be” and “ba” is only one letter (the letter “b”), and it’s always connected to the next word.

Be and ba is the translation for “in” and sometimes also for “at” and “on“… (Don’t panic, I will teach you about it next lesson). 

Be represents “in.”
Ba usually represents two words “in + the” or, as Bob said in our Facebook group: “Ba, I understood, means “in the”, where the “aaa” sound represents the word “the” , like “in the garden” as opposed to “in Kew Gardens.”

Yes, usually, but not always!

Examples for be:
- My necklace is in a green box – Ha’sharsheret sheli be‘kufsa yeruka (necklace – sharsheret, box – kufsa, green (f) – yeruka)
- There is an elephant in a zoo – Yesh pil be‘gan ^ayiot (elephant – pil, zoo – gan ^ayiot. The meaning  is “a garden for animals”)
- I have a ring in my right pocket – Yesh li tabaat be‘kis yamin sheli (pocket – kis [sounds like "kiss"])
- I want (m) coffee in a big glass – Ani rotse cafe be‘kos gdola (glass – kos, big (f) – gdola)

As you can see, in Hebrew we actually say “in a box green / in pocket right mine” and “in a glass big…” {For example: be’kos (in a glass) big (gdola)}. That is because in Hebrew the adjective comes after the noun. 

Examples for ba:
- She will come in the morning – Hi tavo ba‘boker
- I have a ring in the pocket – Yesh li tabaat ba‘kis (pocket – kis).
- He puts the ball in the basket – Hu sam et ha’kadur ba‘sal (puts (m) – sam, ball – kadur, basket – sal)
- She is standing in the bus – Hi omedet ba‘otobus (standing (f) – omedet)

New words we’ve mentioned today (a good opportunity to learn them):

That’s it. Take a breath and have a wonderful day!

Lehitraot in lesson 52…

You are welcome to join our group on Facebook

BTW, last week I placed a “Like,” if you want to use it… 

Darkness and Light

Free Hebrew lessons – December 2010 – Training – Day 49

Shalom,

In our previous lesson we talked about “holiday” – ^ag, about vacation – ^ufsha and also about freedom – ^ofesh.

This year we have had 48 lessons. 
Today, we will talk about the holiday seasons.
In our next lesson, on January 6^th, 2011 we will have a long refresher and then we will start our second year of studying Hebrew, using Heblish. Next year (ba’shana ha’ba’a) we will delve deeper into Hebrew.

Today’s menu: Darkness and Light

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

Today (hayom), we will talk about one of the main elements of this holiday season – light.

The holidays at the end of the year include lots of lights. Trees and houses are decorated with lights… white lights, colored lights, twinkling lights, lights in the shape of stars, lights in the shape of reindeer and angels, lights, lights, lights, the more the better.  The electric company is very happy in December.   
In the colder climates where it snows, there is nothing quite as beautiful as a cold winter night with snow on the ground and twinkling lights on the trees and houses.
During Hanukkah we light the candles of the menorah (^anukiya) every day, and the name of that holiday is – ^ag ha’urim. 
I know that Muslims also have a holiday of lights, Id El Ad^a, during this time of the year.

Why?
Why are our holidays during this time of the year full of lights?
The answer is – ha’^ashe^a… the darkness.

In ancient times, before electricity was invented… the darkness appeared very early and the sun rose late in the morning, exactly as we have today. But back then, the days were very dark, too (no lights at home, no lights in the street, no lights in stores, you get the picture…)
Therefore, most religions used light as a way to express happiness (sim^a).

Dark

We have already seen that “darkness” is ^ashe^a in Hebrew.
For “dark” we say ^oshe^.
The funny thing is that ^ashe^a (darkness) is feminine and ^oshe^ (dark) is masculine.
Why? I don’t know… it’s weird.  If you know why, or if you have an idea, share it with us on our FB Group, maybe we can enjoy a laugh.   

Light

For light we say or (m).
Here are some words pertaining to light/s:
Light – or (plural – orot)
Lighting (illumination) – teura
Lamp – menora (plural – menorot)

I probably won’t be able to catch your attention again this year because I know how busy you are during this season, but don’t worry, in January you will need a comfortable chair and a big notebook…

Wishing you, your family and your loved ones a happy holiday season, and of course – Happy New Year!

Lehitraot in lesson 50, January 6^th, 2011…

You are welcome to join our group on Facebook

Testimonial:
“Shalom,
I have found your awesome website to learn Heblish! I would like to be added as your friend on Facebook so I can be reminded of new lessons every week. I just started lesson of Day 1 and would like to continue on until I can finally speak the language!  
Thank you for putting up such an excellent source to learn Heblish!! Lehitraot” E.W.