Do you have a hobby? Do you like to collect stuff? I do. I like to collect coins, I love photography and of course, I love learning languages. So let’s start talking about what we like to do – our hobbies.

The Hebrew word for ‘hobby’ is תַּחְבִּיב. To tell someone what your hobby is, you would say:

My hobby is… – התַּחְבִּיב שֶׁלִי …

You can also shorten it to התַּחְבִּיבי … and still mean the same thing.

So, what do you like to do? Here’s a few things that are popular:

writing – כְּתִיבָה
sculpting – פִּסּוּל
cooking – בִּשּׁוּל
gardening – גִּנּוּן
collecting – אִסּוּף
painting – צִיּוּר
handicrafts – מְלָאכָה

If you are more of a collector or simply interested in a certain amusement, you would say:

I collect… – אֲני אוֹסֶף …
I’m interested in… – אֲני מְעֻנְיָן ב…

Women would say:
I collect… – אֲני אוֹסֶפֶת…
I’m interested in… – אֲני מְעֻנְיֶנֶנת ב…

And then say what it is you’re interested in:

antiques – עַתִּיקוֹת
dolls – בובות
stamps – בּוּלִים
coins – מַטְבֵּעַוֹת
books – סֵפֶרִים</p

Showing possession in Hebrew

Possession in Hebrew can be shown in different ways. The first one we’ll look at is by using the preposition שֶׁלִ ‘of’:

John’s hobby – הַתַּחְבִּיב שֶׁל יוֹחָנָן
David’s book – הַסֶפֶר שֶׁל דָּוִד

Basically you’re saying “The hobby of John” and “The book of David”. Pretty simple construction there, don’t you think? And remember, Hebrew always attaches הַ/הָ (meaning ‘the’) to the noun being possessed.

The other way to show possession is by using the word שֶׁל with the endings indicating who is doing the possessing.

my – שׁלי
your (masc)* – שׁלך
your (fem)* – שׁלך
his – שׁלוֹ
her – שׁלה
our – שׁלנוּ
your (masc) – שׁלכם
your (fem) – שׁלכן
their (masc) – שׁלהם
their (fem) – שׁלהן

Examples:
My sister – אחות שׁלי
His book – ספר שׁלוֹ
Their car – מכוֹנית שׁלהן

Notice: של is placed after the noun in Hebrew.

*These two forms look the same in Hebrew without the niqqud. The context of the sentence will show you how to pronounce them.

Picture of coins: http://www.coincollectingclub.net