What do Israelis mean when they say “ma pit’om”? What about just “pit’om,” all by itself? We hear it all the time in spoken Hebrew, and Guy will explain it all.

New Words and Expressions:

Pit’om -Suddenly – פתאום

“Pit’om kam adam ba-boker” – A person suddenly wakes up in the morning – פתאום קם אדם בבוקר

Pit’om giliti bor anak she-nif’ar – Suddenly I found a huge pit – פתאום גיליתי בור ענק שנפער

“Ahava, pit’om hi mitparetset kmo lehava” – Love, it’s suddenly erupting like a flame – אהבה, פתאום היא מתפרצת כמו להבה

Chazarta pit’om – You suddenly came back – חזרת פתאום

“Yeled, ma pit’om ata yoshev” – Hey boy, how come you’re sitting – ילד, מה פתאום אתה יושב

Ma pit’om? – It’s not true, no way, get out of here – מה פתאום

Pit’omi – Sudden – פתאומי

Geshem pit’omi – Sudden rain – גשם פתאומי

Ze haya mavet pit’omi – It was a sudden death – זה היה מוות פתאומי

Pit’omiyut – Suddenness – פתאומיות

Be-fit’omiyut – Suddenly – בפתאומיות

Be-ofen pit’omi – Suddenly (in a sudden manner) – באופן פתאומי

 

Playlist and Clips:

Shlomo Artzi – Shir Ba-boker ba-boker (lyrics)

MK Shelly Yechimovitch

Daniel Salomon – Ahava (lyrics)

Chava Alberstein & Arik Sinai – Shuv (lyrics)

Chasidischkeit 21 – Interview with Yaakov Shweiki

Arik Einstein – Gveret Im Salim (lyrics)

Gali Atari – Stav Israeli (lyrics)

Uzi Chitman & Ha-popolim – Ha-metsi’ot ba’ot be-ofen pit’omi

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