how to say "sweetness" in Hebrew

having trouble seeing the print?

מְתִיקוּת

LAST DAY for the special discount on

Ulpan La-Inyan Fall courses!

As a way of wishing you a wonderful new year, here is a non-exhaustive list of words that come from the Hebrew root for sweet, מ.ת.ק (m.t.k). The nouns are all declined in the masculine singular.


מָתוֹק (mah-TOHK) - sweet
לְהַמְתִּיק (leh-hahm-TEEK) - to sweeten
מַמְתִּיק (mahm-TEEK) - sweetener
מַמְתַּק (mahm-TAHK) -
candy (a sweet)
מֹתֶק (MOH-tek) - sweetie (works for both males and females)
מְתִיקוּת (meh-tee-KOOT) - sweetness

שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְתוּקָה לְכוּלָם!

(shah-NAH toh-VAH oo-meh-too-KAH leh-khoo-LAHM!)
A good, sweet year to everyone!


From Ami and the team at Ulpan La-Inyan

This final Hebrew dose of the Jewish year
is sponsored by Yom Tov:

I've seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself.

how to say "to start afresh" in Hebrew

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לִפְתּוֹחַ דַּף חָדָשׁ

Two days left for the special discount on

Ulpan La-Inyan Fall courses

רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה (rohsh hah-shah-NAH) is a time for reflection over the past and for looking forward to a hopefully bright future. It's also an opportunity to commit ourselves to a new or revised way of living (or of learning Hebrew) where necessary: to turn over a new leaf.

The word leaf in that English expression actually refers to the leaf of a book - namely, a page. Thus the Hebrew equivalent for turning over a new leaf has virtually the same literal meaning: לִפְתּוֹחַ דַּף חָדָש (leef-TOH-ahkh dahf khah-DAHSH) - to open a new page.


In the image above, the Hebrew reads: פּוֹתְחִים דַּף חָדָש (poht-KHEEM dahf khah-DAHSH). That means, literally, (we're) opening a new page. Israelis get other people on board with their ideas - a form of peer pressure, whether positive or negative - by using the plural, effectively saying, "everybody's doing it." 

A Hebrew learning tool

I highly recommend:

announcements from Ktzat Ivrit and Ulpan La-Inyan

(your daily dose of Hebrew follows)

Announcements:

1 - Discount on Fall courses

2 - Israeli music show today

Announcement #1

Discount on Ulpan La-Inyan 

Fall 2011 courses

Our friendly, state-of-the-art Fall 2011 courses are starting all over Israel on October 30.

The registration deadline to save NIS 200 is October 11, as you probably know.


For the next few days, we're offering a further discount of NIS 30 off the course of your choice. This offer expires this Wednesday (September 28).

To take advantage of this offer, do two things:

1. Choose your course and location by checking out ulpan.com

2. Visit this page or click on the shofar below.

Announcement #2

Israeli Music Show Today

Since Wednesday is the day before רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה (rohsh hah-shah-NAH), I and the people at RustyMike Radio will be too busy to broadcast live.


Instead, I'll be presenting my show - playing and explaining Israel music to help you ease into Israeli culture - today (Monday) from 3-4pm Israel time.

Here's the tentative playlist. I'm open to requests.


Tune in today at 3pm, only at RustyMike.com!

how to say "generously" in Hebrew

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בְּיָד רְחָבָה

Watch a demo video of one of our Hebrew courses.

Class starts October 30 around the country.

Register by October 11 to save NIS 200.

Languages in general often make use of concrete images to express abstract ideas - we call this figurative language.


Here's a beautiful example from Hebrew.


Imagine a woman sitting on a park bench on a cool autumn day, enjoying a sandwich. As she watches the chirping birds skipping down from the trees onto the green slopes, the figure of a small boy passing by her interrupts her reverie. Glancing at the boy, the woman sees a frail figure with stooped shoulders making its way through the park.

"Orphan Boy" statue at Ireland Park, Toronto

The woman's heart sinks... and then opens up.


She calls to the boy, "Are you hungry? Come over here. I've got something for you." With caution but with desperate hope, the boy approaches this woman who smiles at him graciously and introduces herself. From her handbag, the woman pulls out her lunchbox, opens it up, and hands him its contents. She asks him his name, to which he responds that it is David, and that he is an orphan...

To give generously, in Hebrew, is לָתֵת בְּיָד רְחָבָה (lah-TET beh-YAHD reh-khah-VAH) - literally, to give with a wide hand.


Now being the time of the Jewish high holy days, 'tis the season.

Today's dose of Hebrew is sponsored by Yom Tov

I've seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself.

how to say "nose ring" in Hebrew

having trouble seeing the print?

נֶזֶם

Watch a demo video of one of our Hebrew courses.

Class starts October 30 around the country.

Register by October 11 to save NIS 200.

Last week I introduced the Hebrew word for anklet and bracelet - צָמִיד (tsah-MEED). I said that the word doesn't appear as such in Biblical Hebrew, but upon a reader drawing my attention to a couple of verses in סֵפֶר בְּרֵאשִׁית (SEH-fehr beh-reh-SHEET) - the Book of Genesis - I realized that the word certainly dose describe the bracelets (and perhaps anklets) of Biblical times.

Since we're already on the theme of jewelry, I'll now introduce the word for nose ring, a Hebrew term as ancient as any: נֶזֶם (NEH-zem). Unlike the case of צמיד functioning for both bracelet and anklet, נזם refers only to a ring placed in the nose; an earring, in contrast, is an עָגִיל (ah-GHEEL).


Probably the most well-known place in the Bible where נזם appears is in מִשְׁלֵי י"א, כ"ב (meesh-LEH-ee - Proverbs 11:22):
...נֶזֶם זָהָב בְּאַף חֲזִיר (NEH-zem zah-HAHV beh-AHF khah-ZEER) - a golden nose ring in the snout of a pig. The verse refers to something precious found in a contaminated place, akin to the English expression, a diamond in the rough. 

A Hebrew learning tool

I highly recommend:

how to say "contagious" in Hebrew

having trouble seeing the print?

מִדַּבֵּק

Watch a demo video of one of our Hebrew courses.

Class starts October 30 around the country.

Register by October 11 to save NIS 200.

This one's a tricky one, I've found.


The way to translate contagious disease into Hebrew is מַחֲלָה מִדַּבֶּקֶת (mah-khah-LAH mee-dah-BEH-ket). The latter word refers to contagious. If you can guess which verb form (בניין -been-YAHN) מִדַּבֵּק and מִדַּבֶּקֶת fall into, let us know!


But whereas in English, we'd normally say, stay away from me, I'm contagious, in Hebrew such a statement borders on slang, invoking the active-intensive פיעל (pee-EL) verb form to say, אֲנִי מְדַבֵּק/אֲנִי מְדַבֶּקֶת (ah-NEE meh-dah-BEK - masculine/ah-NEE meh-dah-BEH-ket - feminine).

Spoken properly, it's אֲנִי מַדְבִּיק/אֲנִי מַדְבִּיקָה (ah-NEE mahd-BEEK/ah-NEE mahd-bee-KAH), using the active-causative הפעיל (heef-EEL) verb form and meaning, literally, I am infecting.

Some examples:


הָיִיתִי חוֹלֶה, אָבָל הַיּוֹם אֲנִי כְּבָר לֹא מַדְבִּיק - I was sick, but today I'm no longer contagious (infecting) - (hah-YEE-tee khoh-LEH, ah-VAHL hah-YOHM ah-NEE keh-VAHR loh mahd-BEEK).


לַחָתָן בַּחֲתוּנָה אֶתְמוֹל הָיָה חִיּוּךְ מִדַּבֵּק - The groom at the wedding last night had a contagious smile - (lah-khah-TAHN bah-khah-too-NAH et-MOHL hah-YAH khee-YOOKH mee-dah-BEK).


שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom, and a pleasant weekend to all!

Today's dose of Hebrew is sponsored by Yom Tov

I've seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself.