Today’s date: 23rd of Iyyar, 5772 כ״ג באייר תשע״ב
38th day of the Omer – ל״ח בעומר

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When you first meet someone, what is the first thing you’d say? probably “Hello, my name is…”. This would be the first step in communication and making friends. So let’s start with this first.

Introducing Yourself

We already know the word for “hello” (שלום). To say your name, you’d start off with the word שֵׁם – shem (name). As we’ve seen in last week’s post, most nouns are changed slightly when a pronominal suffix is added.

So, we’re going to take the word שֵׁם – shem (name), and add on the suffix meaning “my” (do you remember what it is?). Adding the suffix is going to change the pronunciation of the word from “shem” to “shmee” and will look like this: שְׁמִי – “My name”. In Hebrew, as in Arabic, there is no word equivalent to “am”, “is” or “are” in the present tense. Therefore to say “My name is Dan” you’ll be literally saying “My name Dan”. שְׁמִי דָן – shmee dahn. You try it with these names:

Example: מִינָה – mee-nah (Mina) – שְׁמִי מִינָה

רָן – rahn (Ran / Ron)
דִינָה – dee-nah (Dina)
אַנְיָה – ahn-yah (Anya)
יַנַאי – yah-nigh (Yanai)

Formal Introductions

If you have a friend or family member with you and you want to introduce them to someone else, a little formality is in order.

תָכִּיר – tah-keer – You will know…
בְּבַקָּשָׁה – beh-vah-kah-shah – Please
תָכִּיר בְּבַקָּשָׁה – tah-keer beh-vah-kah-shah (Please meet...)

אֶת – et – (a preposition indicating the object of the verb)
מַר – mahr – Mr., Sir
ווִילִיאַמְס – Williams
אֶת מַר ווִילִיאַמְס – eht mahr Williams (this is Mr. Williams)

All together:

תָכִּיר בְּבַקָּשָׁה אֶת מַר ווִילִיאַמְס – tah-keer beh-vah-kah-shah, eht mahr Williams

Are you pleased to meet the person? Of course you are, here’s how you let them know:

נָעִים – nah-‘eem (pleasant)
לִי – lee (to me)
מְאוֹד – meh-‘od (very)
נָעִים לִי מְאוֹד
Note: this can be shortened to simply נָעִים מְאוֹד – nah-‘eem meh-‘od.

לֶהִכִּיר – leh-ha-keer (to know a person)
אוֹתךָ – ot-khah (to you masculine)
לֶהִכִּיר אוֹתךָ

נָעִים לִי מְאוֹד לֶהִכִּיר אוֹתךָ, מַר ווִילִיאַמְס Pleased to meet you Mr. Williams

This is a very formal way to introduce someone to another. mainly used when introducing someone to someone older than you, or to a Rabbi, etc. Basically use this when showing respect.

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Are you introducing a woman? Remember, Hebrew makes use of differences in gender. Notice the changes in the following sentences.

תָכִּירִי בְּבַקָּשָׁה אֶת גְבֶרֶת ווִילִיאַמְס.
נָעִים לִי מְאוֹד לֶהִכִּיר אוֹתֶךְ, גְבֶרֶת ווִילִיאַמְס.

The differences are:

תָכִּירִי – tah-kee-ree
אוֹתֶךְ – ot-ehkh
גְבֶרֶת – g’-veh-ret / geh-veh-ret

Informal Introductions

If you are introducing someone to a friend or member of your family, you can be a little more informal and use something like “This is…”. Remember to keep the gender issue in mind. Here I’ll show you two common ways to make these introductions:

First, we can use a part of the introduction we learned above
This is … (when introducing a male) – תכיר את – tah-keer eht…
This is … (when introducing a female) – תכירי את – tah-kee-ree eht…

תכיר את ציוֹן – tah-keer eht tsee-on (This is Zion)
תכיר את מֹשֶׁה – tah-keer eht moh-sheh (This is Moses)
תכירי את שָׂרָה – tah-kee-ree eht sah-rah (This is Sara)
תכירי את גִילָה – tah-kee-ree eht gee-lah (This is Gila)

You can also use זֶה – zeh (this is… (masculine)) or זוֹ – zoh (This is… (feminine)) when introducing someone:

This is my husband – זֶה בַּעַלִי – zeh bah-‘ah-lee
This is my son – זֶה בֵּנִי – zeh beh-nee
This is my boyfriend – זֶה הַחָבֵר שֶׁלִי – zeh hah-khah-ver sheh-lee

This is my wife – זוֹ אִשְׁתִי – zoh eesh-tee
This is my daughter – זוֹ בַּתִי – zoh bah-tee
This is my girlfriend – זוֹ הַחָבֵרָה שֶׁלִי – zoh hah-khah-ver-ah sheh-lee

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Introduce these people to your Rabbi (רַב – rahb):

Example: Rabbi Kohen, please meet Mr. Karmi – רַב כֹּהֵן, תָכִּיר בְּבַקָּשָׁה אֶת מַר כָרְמִי

1. דִינָה – dee-nah (Dina)
2. אִשְׁתִי – eesh-tee (my wife)
3. מַר כָרְמִי – mahr kahr-mee (Mr. Karmi)
4. יָדִידִי – yah-dee-dee (friend)
5. נָתָן – nah-tahn (Nathan)

Now introduce these same people to your friend, Dina (דִינָה)
Example: Dina, this is Mr. Karmi – דִינָה, זֶה מַר כָרְמִי

Bonus: Tell them you’re glad to meet them.

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Reading Conversation from How are you?

שלום, משה. מה שלומך?
shah-lom moh-sheh, mah shlom-kha? (Hello Moses, how are you?)

תודה רבה. טוב. ומה שלומך?
toh-dah rah-bah, tohv. oo-mah shlom-kha? (I’m fine, thanks, and how are you?)

מה שלומ המשפחה?
mah shlom hah-mish-pah-kha? (How is the family?)

בסדר. מה שלום אשתך?
beh-seh-der. mah shlom eesh-teh-kha? (Fine. How is your wife?)

גם שלומה טוב.
gahm shlo-mah tohv (She’s fine, too.)