Streetwise Hebrew

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

‘Truth,’ emet, and its derivatives are found in all shapes and sizes in Hebrew. Host Guy Sharett teaches us some words and expressions with the alef-mem-tav root… we mean it! Be’emet!

Read More

Learning Hebrew? It’s ‘Davka’ Easy!

The Hebrew word דווקא does not have a direct English translation. Sometimes it means “actually”, at other times it means “particularly.” So what does the saying לעשות דווקא (to do a דווקא) mean?

Read More

Addicted to Acronyms

We love using ראשי תיבות (acronyms) in modern Hebrew. Sometimes the transformation from word to acronym is so extreme that some words even end up changing their gender!

Read More

To Life, L’Chaim!

The Hebrew word חיים, life, is so widely used that we just had to give it its own episode

Read More

Hebrew Is to Die For

The Hebrew word מת means dying and the word למות means to die. Today, Guy teaches us to use these words to mean ‘cool’ and ‘happy’

Read More

How Do YOU Like It?

Le, לְ, is how we say ‘to’ or ‘for’ in Hebrew. Guy teaches some cool expressions, and shows how we say stuff like ‘for you’ and ‘to her.’

Read More

I’m Fed Up With Hebrew… ‘Staaam’!

The word סתם can mean many things in Hebrew: ‘for no particular reason,’ ‘just kidding,’ and it also has many more linguistic uses

Read More

Time for Your Hebrew Class, ‘Nachon’?

Today, Guy teaches us how to use the word נכון in different circumstances. Also, why we should never trust a ‘shin’ when we see one.

Read More

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

What other ways are there to say ‘goodbye’ in Hebrew, apart from the ubiquitous, yalla bye?

Read More

“How YOU Doin’?”

Israelis love to indulge in the circular “how-are-you-how’s-it-going-what’s-new” conversation chain, so it’s important to become proficient in this verbal dance.

Read More