Photo: David Cohen/Flash90

The Hebrew word טוב means good. How would we use טוב when speaking to a well-behaving female dog? How about a male dog? The difference, as it turns out, is more than just changing the feminine/masculine form. And how about the saying, ‘for your own good,’ in Hebrew? There’s a lot of goodness in this episode and Guy explains it all.

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Check out the course material and have the $50 discount applied automatically at to tlv1.fm/happy8

New Words and Expressions:

Tov – Good – טוב

Tov, ma yihye? – What’s the deal? – טוב, מה נהיה

Tovvvvvv – Okaaaaay – טווווווב

Ba li eize pizza tova, eize miklachat tova, eize bira tova – I feel like a pizza, shower, beer – בא לי איזה פיצה טובה, איזה מקלחת טובה, איזה בירה טובה

Lo tsarich tovot – I don’t need any favors – לא צריך טובות

Taase li tova, taasi li tova – Do me a favor – תעשה לי טובה, תעשי לי טובה 

Ta’ase / Ta’asi li tova – Come on, give me a break – תעשה / תעשי לי טובה

Ose li tov – It does me good, I enjoy it – זה עושה לי טוב

ze ma-ze ose li tov, ze mamash ose li tov – It really does me good – זה מה-זה עושה לי טוב, זה ממש עושה לי טוב

Ha-dafuk ha-ze ose lach tov – This weird guy does you good – הדפוק הזה עושה לך טוב

Kalba tova / Tova! – Good dog (f.) – כלבה טובה / טובה

Kelev tov – Good dog (m.) – כלב טוב

Mi tova – Who is good? – מי טובה

Letovat mishehu – In favor of, for the sake of someone – לטובת מישהו

Letovat ele she-lo mevinim ivrit, ani atargem – For the sake of those who do not understand Hebrew, I am going to translate – לטובת אלה שלא מבינים עברית, אני אתרגם

Yom yavo ve-ata tir’eh, she-kol ma she-asiti, ha-kol, haya letovatcha – was for you, for your sake. – A day will come and you’ll see that everything I did, everything, was for your sake – יום יבוא ואתה תראה שכל מה שעשיתי, הכל, היה לטובתך

Ani mekave, letovatcha, she-heveta et ha-kesef – I hope, for your own good, that you brought the money – אני מקווה, לטובתך, שהבאת את הכסף

Tovat ha-yeled – The interest of the child – טובת הילד

Kol toov – All the best – כל טוב

Kol tov, toda, shalom! – All the best, thanks, goodbye! – כל טוב, תודה, שלום

Toda, kol tov! – Thanks, all the best – תודה, כל טוב

Tevasri li bsorot tovot – Give me some good news – תבשרי לי בשורות טובות

Bsora tova – Good news – בשורה טובה

Playlist and Clips:

Tamuz – Holech Batel (lyrics)

Ben Zini & Shilo Ben-Saadon – Ose Li Tov

Yirmi Kaplan – Ha-dafuk Ha-ze Ose Lach Tov (lyrics)

Kalba Tova! – Good dog (f.)!

Letovatcha – For your sake

Hanan Ben-Ari – Bsorot Tovot (lyrics)

Further Listening:

Ep. no. 3 about sign-offs 

Ep. no. 23 about the imperative and how to talk to dogs 

Ep. no. 128 about Mazal tov

Ep. no. 144 about nihya 

Ep. 172 about dafuk

Ep. 185 about muzar

Ep. No. 235 about common mistakes in Hebrew

Previous Episodes

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Want Guy to talk about a pressing Hebrew issue? Find him at StreetwiseHebrew.com or follow him on Twitter.

1 comment on “Who’s A Good Girl?

  1. Ricky Schneider says:

    Can you produce an episode about the phrase נעל הבוק. My wife uses it all the time when she gets upset with the kids. I don’t exactly get it. Thanks.

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