how to say "to boil" in Hebrew

having trouble seeing the print?

לִרְתּוֹחַ, לְהַרְתִּיחַ

Brought to you by Ulpan La-Inyan 

The Hebrew word for hot is חָם (khahm), an adjective. 

But the Hebrew word for boiling is רוֹתֵחַ (roh-TEH-ahkh), both an adjective and a verb.

For example, you could describe the water as boiling in the phrase, the boiling water - הַמַּיִם הָרוֹתְחִים (hah-MAH-yeem hah-roh-teh-KHEEM), where ה)רותחים) is an adjective.

But you could also declare that the water is boiling - הַמַּיִם רוֹתְחִים (hah-MAH-yeem roh-teh-KHEEM), where רותחים is a verb. The infinitive to boil is לִרְתּוֹחַ (leer-TOH-ahkh), an active-simple פעל verb.

by LearningToSee

לרתוח is also used to express that a person is very angry. For example, הוּא רָתַח כְּשֶׁהוּא שָׁמַע אֶת הַחֲדָשׁוֹת - he boiled when he heard the news (hoo rah-TAHKH keh-sheh-hoo shah-MAH et hah-khah-dah-SHOHT).

That's the water itself, boiling. But when a person boils water, s/he is actually causing the water to boil. That's לְהַרְתִּיחַ (leh-hahr-TEE-ahkh) in Hebrew, an active-causative הפעיל verb.

For example, כְּדֵי לְהָכִין תֶּה, קֹדֶם כֹּל צָרִיךְ לְהַרְתִּיחַ מַיִם - in order to prepare tea, first (one) needs to boil water.

Further build your
Hebrew vocabulary with...

special discount for
Ulpan La-Inyan enthusiasts like yourself