a little revision: numbers 0 to 20

numbers 0-20

So today I'll just repeat the numbers up to twenty because so far we've only done them one by one:

the numbers below are in the feminine form which is also used for counting.  The masculine numbers will follow at a later date. 

When it comes to 1-10 the numbers in Hebrew have to agree with the noun they accompany. In theory 11-19 should do this too, but in normal everyday language, everybody uses the feminine form.

(I am using a lot of double 's' today to indicate the sharp pronunciation of the 's' but it's a debatable way of transcribing it of course)


0='efess

1=achat

2=shta'im

3=shalosh

4=arba'

5=chamesh

6=shesh

7=sheva'

8=shmone

9=tesha'

10='esser

11=achat 'essreh,

12=shtem 'essreh,

13=shlosh 'essreh,

14=arba' 'essreh,

15=chamesh 'essreh,

16=shesh 'essreh,

17=shva' 'essreh

18=shmone 'essreh

19=tsha' 'essreh

20='essrim


 

How modern Hebrew is evolving

this is Eilat by night and has nothing to do with today's post I just liked the picture


I just read this excellent article about the problems Hebrew is facing today.

http://www.worldandischool.com/subscribers/feature_detail.asp?num=25180

This article explains a lot about the history of the Hebrew language, about the formation of new words, about the difficulties native speakers have with reading and about current trends that may change the language quite considerably in the future.

One paragraph explains the problems of the writing system:

'To give the English reader an idea of the nature of the problem, try to make sense of the following sentence in which the vowels have been omitted and the prepositions attached to the following word.


 “thwnd nhs sl ws d tthbttr trp”


 Does this mean...?
a. The wind in his soul was due to the bitter trip.
b. The wound in his seal was due to the better trap.
c. The wand in his soil was due to the butter troop. '

looks a bit daunting, doesn't it?

Anyway if you're really interested in learning Modern Hebrew, as I am , take the time to read this article, it will give you a very differentiated insight into this amazing language.

lessons 59 and 60 I love you

lessons 59 and 60

 

 I love you

 

              

               and as you now know, there are four variations for this simple sentence in Hebrew:

 

אני אוהב אותך דוד         anee ohev otcha David             I love you David (man to man)

אני אוהב אותך חנה        anee ohev otach Channah        I love you Hannah (man to woman)

אני אוהבת אותך דוד      anee ohevet otcha David          I love you David (woman to man)

אני אוהבת אותך חנה     anee ohevet otach Channah      I love you Hannah (woman to woman)



 

 

אני גרתי בלונדון              anee garti beLondon             I lived in London

אתה גרת בפריז               ata garta beParis                   you lived in Paris (masc.)

את גרת בירושלים           at gart beJeroushalaim            you lived in Jerusalem (fem.)

הוא גר בניו יורק              hu gar beNew York               he lived in New York

היא גרה בסן פרנסיסקו   hee garah beSan Francisco    she lived in San Francisco

אותי                              oti                                           me (direct object)

אותך                             otcha                                       you (masc. direct object)

אותך                             otach                                       you (fem. direct object)

אותו                              oto                                           him (direct object)

אותה                            otah                                          her (direct object)

אני שמעתי אותך           anee shama'ti otcha                   I heard you (masc.)

אתה שמעת אותו          ata shama'ta oto?                        did you hear him?

את שמעת אותה           at shama't otah?                          did you hear her?

הוא שמע אותך             hu shama' otach                         he heard you (fem.)

היא שמעה אותי            hee sham'ah oti                          she heard me

 

 

 

and of course the memrise exercises

 

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

 

 

lessons 57 and 58

ugat pereg

עוגת פרג

אני אכלתי עוגת גבינה anee achalti ougat gvinah I ate cheese cake

אתה אכלת לחם וחמאה ata achalta lechem vechemah you ate bread and butter (masc.)

את אכלת עוגת פרג at achalt ougat pereg you ate poppy cake (fem.)

הוא אכל לחם וגבינה hu achal lechem vegvinah he ate bread and cheese

היא אכלה תפוח hee achlah tapuach she ate an apple

אני שתיתי מיץ תפוזים anee shatiti meetz tapouzeem I drank orange juice

אתה שתית חלב ata shatita chalav you drank milk (masc.)

את שתית בירה at shatit birah you drank beer (fem.)

הוא שתה מים hu shatah maim he drank water

היא שתתה תה hee shattah teh she drank tea

הוא שתה מים sefer katan a small book

ספרים קטנים sfarim ktanim small books

סרט גדול seret gadol a big film

סרטים גדולים sratim gdolim big films

תמונה קטנה tmounah ktanah a small picture

תמונות קטנות tmounot ktanot small pictures

עיר גדולה ir gdolah a big city

עירות גדולות irot gdolot big cities

and as always the memrise excercises

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

resources for learning Hebrew

  

 

 

just a few online resources I tend to use regularly:

 

My favorite keyboard for Hebrew is:

www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/hebrew.htm

 

 

My favorite conjugation site can be found at:

http://www.hebrew-verbs.co.il/

 

 

There's a great blog called Learn Hebrew, it teaches the letters beautifully and has great exercises and good explanations. I also really like their approach. It's just that the progression is far too steep for me but it is still a very good learning resource:

http://learnhebreweasily.blogspot.fr/2010/08/introduction.html

they are great for conjugation: 

http://learnhebreweasily.blogspot.fr/2010/02/grammar-verbs-table.html

 

 

I also like the Hebrew is easy website:  

http://www.davar3.net/files/other/ivrit_bkalut-en.pdf  

 

 

And I enjoy reading the Heblish lessons blog and I admire Yaron who put so much work into writing it. Todah rabah Yaron!

http://www.free-hebrew.com/

 

 

lessons 55 and 56 milim

lessons 55 and 56

  

 milim
 

 

 

 

 מלים

 

*************************************


some nouns undergo a little internal transformation in the plural. They loose their first vowel and or change their second one. This is actually quite frequent and it needs to be learned by heart which is actually a lot easier than it sounds because with a little repetition it all becomes second nature. 

sefer -  sfarim
davar - dvarim


 *************************************


 

בית ספר                                  bait sefer                               school

אני למדתי עברית                      anee lamadti ivrit                  I learned Hebrew

אתה למדת אנגלית                    ata lamadta anglit                you learned English (masc.)

את למדת אנגלית בבית ספר     at lamadt anglit babeit sefer   you learned English at school (fem.)

הוא למד לטינית באוניברסיטה   hu lamad latinit                       he learned Latin

היא למדה לטינית בבית ספר     hee lamdah latinit bebeit sefer      she learned latin at school

מלה                                   milah                                               word

מלים                                  milim                                               words

דבר                                   davar                                                 thing

דברים                                 dvarim                                             things

שפה                                   safah                                                language

שפות                                  safot                                                 languages

אני אהבתי מלים חדשים        anee ahavti milim chadashim          I loved new words

אתה אהבת דברים                ata ahavta dvarim chadashim          you loved new things (masc.)

את אהבת שפות חדשות        at ahavt safot chadashot                   you loved new languages (fem.)

הוא אהב למוד שפה חדש      hu ahav lilmod safah chadashah      he loved to learn a new language

היא אהבה למוד שפות           hee ahavah lilmod safot                   she loved to learn languages

לומר                                     lomar                                                to say / to tell

הוא רצה לומר משהו                    hu ratzah lomar mashehu                he wanted to say something

אני רציתי לומר תודה                   anee ratyiti lomar todah                   I wanted to say thank you    
           

please go to memrise to practice

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

lessons 53 and 54 mechoniot

lessons 53 and 54

 

mechoniot

 

 

מכוניות

 

 

 

today we take a break from all the verbs and concentrate on nouns and adjectives and how they behave in the plural


Hebrew nouns can be masculine or feminine and even though this is not so obvious in the singular, it is very clear in the plural:

masculine nouns take the ending -im to form the plural
machshev - machshevim

feminine nouns take the ending -ot to form the plural
mechonit - mechoniot


adjectives do not only have to conform to their nouns in gender but also in number

talmid chacham - talmidim chachamim
talmidah chachamah - talmidot chachamot


*********************************

תלמידים טובים         talmidim tovim                good students (masc. plural)

 

תלמידות טובות         talmidot tovot                  good students (fem. plural)

חדש                       chadash                             new (masc. singular)

חדשים                    chadashim                         new (masc. plural)

חדשה                    chadashah                          new (fem. singular)

חדשות                   chadashot                           new (fem. plural)

מחשבים                 machshevim                      computers

מכוניות                   mechoniot                          cars

מחשבים חדשים      machshevim chadashim      new computers

מכוניות חדשות        mechoniot chadashot          new cars

חכמים                   chachamim                          intelligent (masc. plural)

ילד                       yeled                                     boy

ילדים                   yeladim                                  boys

ילדים חכמים         yeladim chachamim              intelligent boys

חכמות                  chachamot                             intelligent (fem. plural)

ילדה                    yaldah                                      girl

ילדות                   yeladot                                     girls

ילדות חכמות         yeladot chachamot                  intelligent girls


and don't forget to practice:

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

           

lessons 51 and 52 ayefah

lessons 51 and 52

 

ayefah

 

עיפה

 

 

*************************

 

3rd p. sg. past tense:  XaXaX (masc.)    XaXXah  or XaXatah (fem.)

 

adjectives have to conform to the nouns they describe, if the noun is masculine the adjective has to adopt its masculine form and if the noun is feminine the adjective has to adopt its feminine form:

 

ish yafeh - ishah yafah (lesson 39 + 40)

 

and today's example:  ha talmid chacham - ha talmidah chachamah 

 

 

*************************

 

 

 

הוא אמר                           hu amar                                      he said

הוא אמר משהו                  hu amar mashehu                       he said something

היא אמרה                         hee amrah                                  she said

היא אמרה קלום                he amrah klum                            she said nothing

הוא כתב                           hu katav                                      he wrote

הוא כתב הספר                  hu katav hasefer                          he wrote the book

היא כתבה                          hee katvah                                she wrote

היא כתבה המיכתב              hee katvah hamichtav               she wrote the letter

הוא רצה                            hu ratzah                                     he wanted

הוא רצה קפה עם חלב         hu ratzah kafeh im chalav         he wanted coffe with milk

היא רצתה                           hee ratztah                                 she wanted

היא רצתה שוקולד               hee rathtah shokolad                  she wanted chocolate

חכם                                  chacham                                       intelligent (masc.)

חכםה                               chachamah                                    intelligent (fem.)

התלמיד חכם                     ha talmid chacham                       the student is intellegent (masc.)

התלמידה חכםה                 ha talmidah chachamah                the student is intellegent (fem.)

עיפ                                   ayef                                               tired (masc.)

עיפה                                ayefah                                            tired (fem.)

היום                                 hayom                                            today

היום אני עיפ                      hayom anee ayef                           today I am tired

היום חנה עי                      hayom Channah ayefah                 today Hannah is tired




and here the memrise course

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

 

lessons 49 and 50 mah ata amarta?

 

lessons 49 and 50

 

mah ata amarta? 

 

?מה אתה אמרת


*************

more 2nd p. sg. past tense today: XaXaX-ta (masc.)  and XaXaX-t (fem.)

 

 

and I 'd also like to mention something else regarding the three root consonants I've been mentioning so often over the last few posts:

 



the three consonants do not only appear in verbs but also in nouns and often enough the same consonants signal a relationship in meaning between the word containing them:

katav = he wrote
כתב
michtav = a letter (something written)

מכתב 

 

in the transcription it may appear confusing at first because the letter כ  stands for k and ch.

 

this relationship exists for great numbers of verbs and nouns and I'll mention a lot of them later and you'll see that it makes learning new words easier at some point.  For now just remember that this relationship exists.  

*************** 

אתה אמרת                     ata amarta                               you said (masc.)

את אמרת                       at amart                                   you said (fem.)

?מה אתה אמרת              mah ata amarta?                      what did you say? (masc.)

כלום                              kloum                                      nothing

?את אמרת משהו             at amart mashehu?                  did you say something? (fem.)

אתה כתבת                     ata katavta                               you wrote (masc.)

את כתבת                       at katavt                                  you wrote (fem.)

?אתה כתבת המכתב        ata katavta hamichtav?          did you write the letter? (masc.)

?מה את כתבת                 mah at katavt?                        what did you write? (fem.)

אתה רצית                       ata ratzita                                you wanted (masc.)

              

את רצית                         at ratzit                                    you wanted (fem.)

?מה אתה רצית                mah ata ratzita?                       what did you want? (masc.)

?את רצית משהו               at ratzit mashehu                      did you want something? (fem.)

ו                                    ve                                              and

?בן כמה אתה                 ben kamah ata?

אני בן עשרים ואחד         anee ben essrim ve'achat            I am 21 

?בת כמה את                  bat kamah at?

אני בת שלולים                anee bat shloshim                     I am 30

and your memory is already waiting for its session on memrise:

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

lessons 47 and 48: ben kamah ata?

lessons 47 and 48

anee katavti sefer

אני כתבתי ספר

More past tense today and how to ask someone how old they are.


verb conjugation

the first person singular past tense of to want, to write and to say is pretty simple:
basic form plus -ti, the first person ending. Seh ha kol.

asking someone how old they are:

it seems a bit strange at first but it's really very simple:

ben kamah ata?        son how much you?                 how old are you? (masc.)
bat kamah at?          daughter how much you?        how old are you? (fem.)

(just a little outlook to future joys of grammar: numbers can be a bit tricky:
1-10 has a masculine and a feminine form and the number and the noun it counts have to agree in gender, exactly as with adjectives.
11-19 also has two genders, but in normal everyday language only the feminine form is used.
20 - infinity are simpler and we'll talk about it later.
we'll do all this in detail and many repetitions later in this blog)

***************************************************************************

all the new words and phrases:

משהו                        mashehu                                   something

mashehu, that's how it's transcribed in my books but in normal everyday language it's mashu
 

אני אמרתי                  anee amarti                              I said

אני אמרתי משהו         anee amarti mashehu                I said something

אני כתבתי                   anee katavti                             I wrote

אני כתבתי ספר            anee katavti sefer                     I wrote a book

אני רציתי                     anee ratziti                               I wanted

אני רציתי קפה               anee ratziti kafeh                    I wanted coffee

כמה                             kamah                                      how much

בן                                ben                                            son

בת                                bat                                           daughter

בן כמה אתה                  ben kamah ata                          how old are you (masc.)

בת כמה את                    bat kamah at                            how old are you (fem.)

אני בן עשרים                  anee ben essrim                        I am 20

אני בת שמונה עשרה        anee bat shmoneh essreh          I am 18

and don't forget to practice:

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/

lessons 45 and 46: hou ra'ah habait

 

lessons 45 and 46

 

hou ra'ah habait 

 

 

 

הוא ראה הבית

 

 this is one of over 4000 Bauhaus-style buildings in Tel Aviv. read more about this at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_City_(Tel_Aviv)

 

Today again, only three verbs in the third person singular past tense. As discussed earlier, the third person singular masculine is the simplest and gramatically most important form of the verb. It is the form to which the other endings are added (-ti, -ta, -t etc.). But while the other persons just add endings, the feminine form changes the basic structure a little bit.

Just to repeat it again, the most regular verbs in the 3rd p. sg. masc. are constructed like this:
They have three root consonants (X - X - X) and the 'a' as the marker for the past tense:

X - a - X - a - X

H - a - L - a - CH

 

 

for the feminine form many verbs adopt the following pattern:  

they swallow the second vowel and add an -ah ending:

X - a - X - X - ah

H - a - L - CH- ah

 

halach - he went - is a really good example for this pattern:

הוא הלך                           hou halach                                   he went

היא הלכה                         hee halchah                                 she went

הוא הלך לקולנוע               hou halach lekolno'a                    he went to the cinema

היא הלכה לאוניברסיטה     hee halchah le'univeersitah        she went to university

 

other verbs however follow a different pattern:

they use a -tah ending to form the feminine form and swallow the third root consonant

 

X - a - X - a - X

R - a - ' - a - H

 

X - a - X - a - t -ah

 R - a - ' - a - t - ah

here, and that's a bit fiendish really, the 'h' in the ending is not the third root consonant, but only part of the the feminine ending. But we'll talk more about all fhis in future posts and it will all fall into place with more practice.

הוא ראה                          hou ra'ah                                       he saw

היא ראתה                        hee ra'atah                                    she saw

הוא ראה הבית                  hou ra'ah habait                            he saw the house

היא ראתה האוניברסיטה    hee ra'atah ha'universitah             she saw the university

הוא היה                          hou hayah                                    he was

היא היתה                        hee haytah                                   she was

הוא היה בתל אביב           hou hayah beTelAviv                  he was in Tel Aviv

היא היתה בלונדון             hee haytah be London                she was in London

and the easiest way to practise is my memrise course:

http://www.memrise.com/course/82286/modern-hebrew-for-beginners-3/