Streetwise Hebrew

Sorry If I Hurt You

How do we say, “I don’t want to offend you” in Hebrew? How about “bullseye”? Or perhaps “fragile”? On this episode, Guy covers the verb לפגוע.

Read More

Strengthened Coffee and Upgraded Pizza?

What do we mean when we say in Hebrew קפה מחוזק (roughly translated as strengthened coffee), and is it legitimate to drink it at 1:30 PM? Or when we say הוא מתחזק (he’s getting stronger) about someone? It’s not what you might think.

Read More

Hold This for a Second, Will You?

It’s asked as a question but it’s actually a statement: ?תחזיק רגע That’s how we ask a friend to hold our bags. And how would we say, “I think highly of him” (or not so highly)?

Read More

What Are Some of Your Strengths?

Israelis sometimes use a single word to review a movie or tv series: “!חזק” In Hebrew, חזק (pronounced hazak) means strong. So what are they trying to convey and how else can we use the word חזק?

Read More

Searching for Deeper Meaning

The Hebrew word לחפש means “to search for.” So what does “המורה סתם מחפש אותי” or “לכי חפשי ת’חברים שלך” mean? Both are slang and they don’t mean what you might think they mean!

Read More

Here, Try This!

The word לנסות, to try, is very handy in everyday conversation. People always say, “try this” or “don’t try that.” So on this episode, Guy tries to explain it all.

Read More

“Ve,” “Va” or “Oo”

Vé- is sometimes pronounced Va- or Oo-, depending on the usage. So when is the letter ו at the beginning of a word pronounced Vé, Va or Oo? And should Hebrew learners invest their time to learn these elaborate rules?

Read More

Yea or Nay?

The word נגד means against,” and its root gives us the Hebrew words for contrast, contradiction and conflict. We’ll also head over to the Knesset in Jerusalem to hear an up or down vote take place.

Read More

Last Boarding Call for Flight #303 to Hebrewville

In this episode, Guy covers the different words and meanings derived from the root ק.ר.א, like how to say, “Call an ambulance”, “Let’s call a spade a spade,” and perhaps the most useful sentence of all, “Let me read to you the text he sent me.”

Read More

My Condolences To You And Your Family

In Hebrew, נחמה means consolation, comfort. It’s also a woman’s name. The difference comes down to pronunciation. Today Guy explains how to give your condolences and how to jokingly comfort a friend who was delivered a cold pizza.

Read More