Hebrew Language Blog

Hebrew verbs are composed of roots and verbal stems. The basis of every verb is the root, which is comprised of three letters. The verbal stems – the בּׅנְיָנׅים (bin-ya-nim) – are the patterns that shape the roots into actual words. בִּנְיָן (bin-yan) is a firm structure of prefix, suffix and punctuation, into which the…

The Hebrew language consists of patterns: verbs (called בנינים) and nouns (called משקלים). Those fixed patterns – בניינים and משקלים – form a frame to the numerous Hebrew roots. The prefixes and/or suffixes of the patterns are permanent, and the root just integrated into it. Some of the patterns also attribute meaning to the word…

Eilat is Israel’s southernmost city, located far away from the country’s main population centers. Situating on the Red Sea shores, Eilat is a popular resort town. The mountainous desert landscape, the beautiful bay, and the summer sun that shines all through the year attract more than 2 million visitors every year. Most of them are…

Cost of living = יֹוקֶר הַמִּחְיָה Israel’s high cost of living (יֹוקֶר הַמִּחְיָה) has been a major concern in recent decades. It sparked several large scale protests (מְחָאוֹת) over the years, drove Israelis to leave the country and try their luck abroad, and became a top issue during every government election. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem…

Review the vocabulary below and try to read this short Hebrew story. Use the following translation, and if you have any question leave me a comment. Bench (masculine) = סַפְסָל (saf-sal) The bench = הַסַּפְסָל (a-saf-sal) Demonstrative pronouns for bench – זֶה, הוּא This bench = הַסַּפְסָל הַזֶּה That bench = הַסַּפְסָל הַהוּא Benches =…

Two out of four seasons became popular Hebrew names: Aviv אָבׅיב (means “spring”) and Stav סְתָיו (means “autumn”). Aviv אָבׅיב My grandmother’s old friend never celebrated her birthday. She didn’t know the exact day, she didn’t even know the year (שָׁנָה sha-na) she was born. She only knew she was born during spring, because her…

Last month, the windsurfer Gal Fridman, Israel’ s sole Olympic gold winner, published an ad on his Facebook page: “מחפש תותח אי ביי שמבין במכירה פומבית של פריט נדיר היחיד מסוגו בארץ” “Looking for an Ebay expert who understands how to auction a rare item, one of its kind in Israel” Fridman won a bronze medal at…