Practice Hebrew
Free Hebrew lessons – May 2011 – Training – Day 66
Shalom,
Ma nishma?
In our previous lesson we learned more about adjectives. We learned about “heavy” and “light” (kaved ve’kal), “beautiful” and “ugly” (yafe ve’me^oar) and also about “long” and “short” (aro^ ve’katsar).
Let’s see what we have today…
Today’s menu: Practice Hebrew
Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.
Before we start the lesson, last week I promised to teach you how to say “please speak slower,” because sometimes it’s necessary when you speak with an Israeli.
I will teach you to say it in two different ways, and my suggestion to you is to remember the second way.
One way to say “please speak slower” is:
– Bevakasha daber leat when you speak to a man, and
– Bevakasha dabri leat when you speak to a woman.
The problem with this saying is that it sounds like a command, even though you use the word “bevakasha” (please). That’s because the word “speak” (daber or dabri) is an imperative form.
The other way to say “would you speak slower” is:
– “Ata mu^an ledaber ktsat yoter leat?” when you speak to a man, and
– “At mu^ana ledaber ktsat yoter leat?” when you speak to a woman.
Here, it’s more like you are requesting an action, rather than demanding.
I opened this lesson with: “Shalom, ma nishma?”
In lesson 15 I taught you that for “What’s new?” you should ask “ma nishma?”
“Ma nishma?” is not the literal translation for “what’s new?” except for the word “ma” which is “what.”
As we learned in lesson 37, “new” is ^adash (m), or ^adasha (f). On the other hand, “nishma” means “we will hear…”
In this lesson we started to learn some of the subtle distinctions in language; that you can say something using the “right” words, but the meaning is not what you intended. As always in these lessons, I will teach you the more everyday way to communicate in Hebrew. If you ever have questions, of course I am available through Facebook to address them individually.
I want to keep this lesson short, but next week I will teach you a few more phrases, related to the popular question (what’s new?). Don’t miss it…
Lehitraot in lesson 67…
