Lesson 53 - A 3 a.m. Phone Call

For the second time, Liat has arrived at the Learn Hebrew Pod studio singing and dancing. Last time, she announced the engagement of her brother Amir. And today?

Team Conversation from the Lesson:

Dan, Jonathan and Liat

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Liat: (nichneset la-ulpan haklatot toch kedey shira - enters the recording studio while singing):

siman tov ve-mazal tov, mazal tov vesiman tov

siman tov ve-mazal tov, mazal tov vesiman tov

siman tov vemazal tov, mazal tov vesiman tov

yehe lanu…..

Liat & Dan: yehehe lanu yehe lanu velechol am Israel… yadadadadadada…

Jonathan: :)) shalom shalom… eyzo simcha…

Dan: shalom Liat, ma kara - what happened? zachit baloto - did you win the lottery?

Jonathan: lo Dan, ani choshev she-ani yode-a - I think I know, lama Liat kol kach smecha - why Liat is so happy.

?למה אני כל כך שמחה

Liat: hey chevre - hi guys. ma kore - what’s up? nu Yonatan, ata yachol be-emet lenachesh - can you really guess, lama ani kol kach smecha - why am I so happy?

Jonathan: ani choshev she-ani yachol - I think I can… im ani lo to-e - If I’m not mistaken, bapa-am ha-achrona sheshamati otach shara et hashir haze - the last time I heard you singing this song, ze lo haya kashur lekesef o leavoda - it had nothing to do with money or with work….

כסף

Dan: Yonatan, ani yachol lehishtatef banichush - may I join in the guessing? omnam lo ha-iti po - indeed I was not here, bapa-am sheavra she-Liat shara et hashir haze - on the last time that Liat sang this song, aval - but, kfi she-ata yode-a - as you know, he-ezanti lekol hashi-urim - I have listened to all the lessons. ata medaber al shiur shloshim veshesh - you are talking about Lesson Thirty-Six, kshe Liat nichnesa beshira verikudim - when Liat entered, singing and dancing, machriza al - announcing about, nisu-av shel achiha hayakar - the marriage of her beloved brother - Amir!

Liat: nachon Dan! kol hakavod! Wow… be-emet he-ezanta lekol hashiurim shelnu - you really have listened to all of our Hebrew lessons…

Jonathan: ken Dan, kol hakavod, aval ha-emet Liat - but the truth is Liat, shebashiur sheavar - that in the last Hebrew lesson, natat lanu remez makdim - you gave us an early hint…

Dan: nachon! kshe-Yonatan hizkir et hachatuna shel Amir bashiur sheavar - when Jonathan mentioned Amir’s wedding in the last Hebrew lesson, at amart - you said…

Liat: chevre, atem mamash balashim - you are real detectives! bashiur sheavar - in the last lesson, amarti she-ani me-od mekava - I hope very much, lehosif kzzat chadashot bekarov - to add a little bit of news soon. ani meta-eret leazzmi shenichashtem kvar - I imagine that you have guessed already… aval ulay bechol zot - but maybe nevertheless… tarshu li levaser lachem et hachadashot - you will allow me to break the news! :))

Jonathan: Of course!

Dan: betach!

*Listen to the full team conversation - Just in Hebrew - rak be-Ivrit - by using the Learn Hebrew Pod audio/visual session Part C at the top of this page.

Some Grammar from This Lesson:

Hebrew Nouns and Verbs:

דקדוק

Dan:  Linguistically speaking, there are two main differences between nouns and verbs:

First, nouns do not ‘contain’ time, meaning, they cannot be conjugated in a time-related manner as verbs can.

Learn Hebrew Pod - Lesson No. 53

Second, nouns can indicate a possessive relationship, such as Liat’s nephew or his name. In Hebrew, the word ‘shel’ and all of its personal pronoun declensions can be added to a noun to indicate possession. Or we can attach special suffixes directly to the noun itself, so in Hebrew we may say: haba-it sheli – beyti,  haba-it shelcha – beytcha, etc.

ביתי

ביתך

Jonathan: And it’s very important to remember that in Hebrew, every noun has gender pertinence, even abstract nouns and concrete inanimate nouns such as places or things.

For example, Hebrew masculine gender-pertinence nouns include:

ba-it – a house, shulchan – a table (concrete inanimate nouns); and chofesh – freedom, nizzachon – victory (abstract nouns).

נצחון

And some Hebrew feminine gender-pertinence nouns:

dira – an apartment, simla – a dress (concrete inanimate nouns); and ahava – love, batala – idleness (abstract nouns).

Dan: If a noun indicates an animal or a person, then in Hebrew we usually find that for every masculine noun there is a parallel feminine noun and vice versa:

Example Hebrew words for people:

yeled - a boy, yalda - a girl

more - a male teacher, mora - a female teacher

shoter - a male police officer, shoteret - a female police officer

?כלב או כלבה

Example Hebrew word for animals:

chatul - a male cat, chatula - a female cat

kelev - a male dog, kalba - a female dog

pil - a male elephant,  pila - a female elephant

?פיל או פילה

*Read the full grammar discussion by using the Learn Hebrew Pod unique Audio/Visual Hebrew learning sessions - Lessons A, B and C at the top of this page