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Apr 11, 2011

how to say "employee" in Hebrew...


עוֹבֵד, מָעֳסָק
THANK YOU to those who have already helped! 


If you're attending a Passover Seder this year, here's קצת עברית (keh-TSAHT eev-REET)  - a bit of Hebrew - for you that you can share at the table.


About a year ago I wrote an entry on the Hebrew words for employer - מַעֲסִיק (mah-ah-SEEK - masculine) and מַעֲסִיקָה (mah-ah-see-KAH - feminine).


from www.draftnz.com




These words come from a "causative" הפעיל (heef-EEL) verb. Their passive הופעל (hoof-AHL) version - someone who is employed or an employee - is a מָעֳסָק (moh-ah-SAHK) if he's a male and a מָעֳסֶקֶת (moh-ah-SEH-ket) if she's a female.


Another, more common way of saying employee is to simply use the word worker - עוֹבֵד (oh-VED - masculine) or עוֹבֶדֶת (oh-VEH-det - feminine).


from www.ha-lool.co.il



Please, do not confuse the word עובד with the word for slave - עֶבֶד (EH-ved). For example, יֵשׁ לִי הַרְבֵּה עֲבָדִים בָּעֵסֶק (yesh lee hahr-BEH ah-vah-DEEM bah-EH-sek) - I have lots of slaves in my (the) business is something you probably won't want to say.


The terms פוֹעֵל (poh-EL) and פוֹעֶלֶת (poh-EH-let) refer to laborers.



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