language

Shabbat (שבת) in Hebrew means Sabbath. In a religious context, it’s the time span between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening. In secular terms, it’s Saturday, the day of the week. So how do we tell them apart? Guy explains.

Lehipared (להיפרד) means ‘to break up’ but can also be used to say goodbye. The root פרד is your foundation for the words you’ll need to request the salad dressing on the side or to explain that you and a friend are paying separately.

Lachtoch (לחתוך) means ‘to cut,’ like when we cut onions. But in slang, this word and its root ח.ת.כ can be used in many ways to mean many different things. From ‘breaking up’ to ‘you clean up nice,’ or ‘a hunk‘ and ‘a hottie.’

What’s the difference between ללימוד and ללמד? What’s the difference between לימוד and לימודים? And how could we have possibly missed the Hebrew root למד on a podcast meant to teach Hebrew?!

We Israelis say איזה בושות when we witness an embarrassing event. Remember the time your mother commented on a Facebook photo of you? איזה בושות!

The word פשוט (pashut) means “simple” in Hebrew. Knowing that, how would you attempt to say “simplify”, “simplicity,” or “simpleton”? Guy explains all the complexities behind the seemingly simple root פשט.

What can we learn from the music-listening habits of Israelis in 2018? Spotify published the most popular music listened to by Israelis this year. We revisit our archives to remind ourselves when and why we used these songs in previous episodes.

Dropped your phone? Did the screen crack? The phone needs fixing! The Hebrew word you’ll need to know is תיקון, from the root תקנ.

Gather = לרכז. Center = מרכז. Concentrated = מרוכז. On this episode, Guy is laser-focused on the Hebrew root: רכז.

We often hear the same errors made over and over again by those learning to speak Hebrew. Some sound worse than others. But once pointed out, they’ll be easy to fix. On this episode, Guy explains common mistakes made by Hebrew learners — why they happen and how to correct them.