Intro
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Shira: Hello and welcome to HebrewPod101.com’s Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 9 - Asking a Question in Hebrew. I’m your host, Shira. |
Amir: Shalom, I’m Amir. |
Shira: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask questions in Hebrew. |
Amir: The conversation takes place at David and Sarah’s house. |
Shira: It’s between Peter, David and Sarah. |
Amir: The dialogue is informal. |
Shira: Let’s listen to the conversation |
Lesson conversation
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Peter: זה... בשביל מזל טוב? |
(Zeh... bish'vil mazal tov?) |
David: זאת חמסה. |
(Zot ħam'sah.) |
Sarah: כן, זה בשביל המזל. |
(Ken, zeh bish'vil ha-mazal.) |
Peter: חמסה. |
(ħam'sah) |
Shira: Let’s listen to the conversation one more time slowly. |
Peter: זה... בשביל מזל טוב? |
(Zeh... bish'vil mazal tov?) |
David: זאת חמסה. |
(Zot ħam'sah.) |
Sarah: כן, זה בשביל המזל. |
(Ken, zeh bish'vil ha-mazal.) |
Peter: חמסה. |
(ħam'sah) |
Shira: Let’s listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
Peter: זה... בשביל מזל טוב? |
(Zeh... bish'vil mazal tov?) |
Shira: Is this for good luck? |
David: זאת חמסה. |
(Zot ħam'sah.) |
Shira: This is a hamsa. |
Sarah: כן, זה בשביל המזל. |
(Ken, zeh bish'vil ha-mazal.) |
Shira: Yes, it’s for luck. |
Peter: חמסה. |
(ħam'sah) |
Shira: Hamsa. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Shira: I think a fitting subject for this cultural insight is the hamsa. |
Amir: A hamsa is a very popular item seen all over Israel. It’s a hand that symbolizes the hand of God or the hand of Miriam according to some Jewish traditions. |
Shira: The hamsa is a sign of protection and it’s thought to bring good luck to its owner. |
Amir: Some of them have an eye in the center of the hand to symbolize its protection against the evil eye. |
Shira: You can find them as necklaces, bracelets, or in its most popular form, the wall hanging. |
Amir: The word hamsa comes from the Arabic word for “five” because of the five fingers on the hand. |
Shira: And actually, the hamsa originally comes from Islamic culture and it was adopted by the Jewish people living in Arab countries. |
Amir: Later it was brought over when these people made Aliyah and came to Israel. |
Shira: For a while it was thought to be something only for mizraħi Jews, but lately it’s been adopted by Israeli culture in general. |
Amir: So, if someone gives you a hamsa as a gift, consider it good luck. |
VOCAB LIST |
Shira: Now let’s go to the vocabulary for this lesson. First we have: |
Amir: זה (zeh) [natural native speed] |
Shira: This, that or it. |
Amir: זה (zeh) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. זה (zeh) [natural native speed] |
Shira: Next: |
Amir: בשבילך (Bish'vil'kha) [natural native speed] |
Shira: For. |
Amir: בשבילך (Bish'vil'kha) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. בשבילך (Bish'vil'kha) [natural native speed] |
Shira: Next: |
Amir: מזל (mazal) [natural native speed] |
Shira: Luck. |
Amir: מזל (mazal) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. מזל (mazal) [natural native speed] |
Shira: Next: |
Amir: טוב (tov) [natural native speed] |
Shira: Good. |
Amir: טוב (tov) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. טוב (tov) [natural native speed] |
Shira: And last: |
Amir: כן (ken) [natural native speed] |
Shira: Yes. |
Amir: כן (ken) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. כן (ken) [natural native speed] |
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
Shira: Let’s look at the vocabulary in this lesson. |
Amir: So our first word is מזל (mazal). |
Shira: Mazal means “luck” or “fortune”. |
Amir: You’ve probably heard it in the expression מזל טוב (mazal tov). |
Shira: Or Mazal Tov. This means “good luck”, but it’s used more like “congratulations” in this context. |
Amir: Our last word is טוב (tov) or “good”. |
Shira: As with all adjectives in Hebrew, tov has four versions. |
Amir: You change it according to the noun it describes. To demonstrate this we have four examples for you, of course. |
Shira: Of course! First up is masculine singular |
Amir: אוכל טוב (ochel tov), |
Shira: “Good food”. Now, feminine singular |
Amir: מיטה טובה (mitah tovah), |
Shira: “Good bed”. Next is masculine plural. |
Amir: כלבים טובים (klavim tovim), |
Shira: “Good dogs”. The last one is feminine plural |
Amir: ילדות טובות (yaldut tovot), |
Shira: “Good girls”. Okay, let’s move on to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus
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Shira: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask a question in Hebrew. |
Amir: There are basically three ways to ask a question in Hebrew other than using an interrogative. |
Shira: In our sample dialogue, Peter used voice inflection to ask his question. |
Amir: ?זה בשביל מזל טוב (Zeh bish'vil mazal tov?) |
Shira: This is really the easiest way to ask a question in Hebrew. |
Amir: The second way is to add the word נכון or “correct” to the end of the sentence. |
Shira: This is also pretty easy. Let’s hear it with Peter’s question. |
Amir: ?זֶה בִּשְׁבִיל מַזָּל טוֹב, נָכוֹן |
(Zeh bish'vil mazal tov, nakhon?) |
Shira: The last way is the most formal way to ask a question in Hebrew. |
Amir: You add the word האם to the beginning of the sentence. האם means “whether”. |
Shira: האם means “whether”. |
Amir: Here’s our sentence again with ?הַאִם זֶה בִּשְׁבִיל מַזָּל טוֹב |
(Ha-im zeh bish'vil mazal tov?) |
Shira: So it means “whether this is for good luck?”. Or “is this for good luck?” |
Outro
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Okay, that’s it for this lesson. |
Shira: See you next time! |
Amir: Le-hit’ra’ot! |
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