Learn the top 25 phrases
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| Hi everyone, my name is Yaara, and today we are going to do Top Hebrew Phrases. These are very useful phrases you are going to hear a lot when you come to Israel. So make sure to memorize them. Okay let’s start! |
| 1. |
| שלום |
| (shalom) Hello |
| שלום |
| (shalom) literally means “peace” but we use it also as a greeting. |
| 2. |
| מה נשמע? |
| (ma nishma?) How are you? |
| That’s a very casual way of asking how are you and it literally means “what is heard” like yeah, like what have you been up to, what’s going on with you. |
| 3. |
| תודה |
| (todah) Thanks |
| Thanks and probably the only way to say it. We don’t have like thanks or thank you. It’s just תודה(todah) . |
| 4. |
| בבקשה |
| (bevakasha) Please |
| It means please but it can also mean “there you go”. So you can say ?אפשר לקבל מיים בבקשה (efshar lekabel main bevakasha?) Can I have water please? And when you give someone water, you can also say בבקשה (bevakasha) “there you go”. |
| 5. |
| סליחה |
| (slikhah) Excuse me. |
| It means “excuse me” or “sorry”. So when you like push through people in the bus, you can go סליחה ,סליחה ,סליחה (slikhah, slikhah, slikhah) but when you step on someone on the bus, you can also say סליחה (slikhah) “I’m sorry.” |
| 6. |
| להתראות |
| (lehitraot) See you. |
| It literally means to “see each other again”. So it’s like to see each other again later oun. It’s also very casual. |
| 7. |
| בסדר |
| (beseder) Okay. |
| This is a very, very useful word you can say to when someone asks you how are you, בסדר (beseder) . |
| You can say to show you understand something. When someone gives you direction, you are like בסדר (beseder) . It literally means “in order” like everything is in order. |
| 8. |
| טוב |
| (tov) Fine. |
| Literally it means “good”, a lot like בסדר (beseder) . How are you? טוב (tov). |
| To respond to a direction like, go that way please טוב (tov). Fine, I understand. |
| 9. |
| על לא דבר |
| (al lo davar) You are welcome. |
| We use it as “you are welcome” and it literally means “oh for nothing”. Thank you, oh על לא דבר (al lo davar) “it was nothing”. |
| It’s maybe a bit more formal than בבקשה (bevakasha). |
| Most of the times when people say תודה (todah), you answer בבקשה (bevakasha). You can also answer על לא דבר (al lo davar), it’s pretty much the same though בבקשה (bevakasha) is a bit more common. |
| 10. |
| בוקר טוב |
| (boker tov) Good morning. |
| Which literally means “good morning” and you obviously use it in the morning. בוקר טוב. |
| 11. |
| לילה טוב |
| (layla tov) Goodnight. |
| So yeah, goodnight you can say when you leave a party at night. You know, you can say okay, bye, goodnight. לילה טוב. |
| 12. |
| צהריים טובים |
| (tsohora-eem tovim) Good afternoon. |
| You can definitely say that but you don’t hear it that often. Literally means “good noon”. |
| 13. |
| מה שמך? |
| (ma shimkha?) What’s your name? |
| For a male, it would be מה שמך?(ma shimkha?) |
| For female, מה שמך?(ma shmekh?) |
| What is your name? |
| You can also ask ?איך קוראים לך (eikh kor’eem lakh?), which literally means “how are you called”, and this is the most common way to ask. |
| 14. |
| נעים להכיר! |
| (na'eemm lehakir!) Nice to meet you. |
| Literally I guess it would mean pleasant, it is pleasant to meet you. and you can say נעים להכיר אותך (na'eem lehakir otakh!) for women, or נעים להכיר אותך (na'eem lehakir otkha!) for men. |
| 15. |
| איפה...? |
| (eifo...?) Where…? |
| ?איפה התחנה (eifo ha’takhana?) Where is the station? |
| איפה...? (eifo...?) is very important. You should memorize this one. |
| 16. |
| אני מבין |
| (ani mevin) I see. |
| For women, it would be אני מבינה (ani mevinah.) I understand, I see. אני מבינה (ani mevinah.) |
| 17. |
| מה השעה? |
| (ma ha'sha-ah?) What time is it? |
| The literal translation would be “what is the hour?” |
| This is how you ask: ?סליחה, מה השעה (slikhah, ma ha'sha-ah?) Excuse me, what time is it? |
| 18. |
| אפשר בבקשה לקבל...? |
| (efshar bevakasha lekabel...?) Can I please have… |
| ?אפשר בבקשה לקבל מיים (efshar bevakasha lekabel mayim?) Can I please have some water? |
| And this would be the same for a male speaker and for a female speaker. |
| 19. |
| איפה השירותים? |
| (eifo ha'sherutim?) Where is the restroom? |
| איפה השירותים? (eifo ha'sherutim?)Where is the restroom? שירותים (sherutim) is a “restroom”. |
| איפה השירותים? (eifo ha'sherutim?) another one to memorize |
| 20. |
| אני מצטער |
| (ani mitstaer) I am sorry |
| אני מצטער (ani mitstaer), or for a female speaker, אני מצטערת (ani mitstaeret.) |
| אני מצטערת להפריע (ani mitstaeret l’hafria.) I am sorry to interrupt. |
| 21. |
| כן. |
| (ken) Yes. |
| You can use it in any way you use “yes”. Yeah use it, be positive. |
| 22. |
| לא. |
| (lo) No. |
| I like this word, it has a fun sound and it was my sister’s first word לא (lo) no. |
| 23. |
| בא לי (ba li) I feel like… |
| It’s two words, בא לי (ba li). And it means “I feel like”, “I want”, and you can also use it as a negative. |
| בא לי גלידה (ba li glida.)I feel like ice cream. I want ice cream. |
| לא בא לי ללכת לבית הספר (lo ba li lalekhet lebeit hasefer.) I don’t feel like going to school. |
| So it’s very useful. Children use it a lot but grownups use it too. |
| 23. |
| !די (dai) enough! stop! |
| It sounds really bad but it’s harmless. It means “enough” or “stop” when someone is, like, bugging you or poking you, like, !די (dai) Stop it, enough. Yeah. |
| 24. |
| כמה זה עולה? |
| (kama ze oleh?) How much is it? |
| How much is it, how much does it cost? |
| 25. |
| !מעולה (meuleh) |
| Awesome, great. |
| I guess that maybe equivalent of the word “awesome”, it’s !מעולה (meuleh) |
| The masculine form is !מעולה (meuleh) |
| And the feminine is !מעולה (meulah) |
| Like, !ההופעה הזאת מעולה (hahofa hazok meulah!) This show is awesome, it’s great! |
| ?איך היה הטיול How was the trip? |
| !היה מעולה (haya meuleh!) |
| How was the trip? It was מעולה (meuleh) great, awesome. |
| Okay that’s it for today for top Hebrew phrases. Thank you so much for watching and what is your favorite Hebrew phrase. Tell us on the comments below and don’t forget to subscribe. Bye. |
Comments
HideWhich phrase do you like the most?
Hi Napoleon!
Great to hear that your favorite phrase is "אני מבין" (Ani mevin / I understand)! 😊 It's a useful phrase to know. If you have any questions or need help with anything else, feel free to ask.
Have a great day!
תודה רבה (Toda raba / Thank you very much)
Team HebrewPod101.com
My favourite phrase is: Ani mevin
Hi Napoleon!
!מעולה (Me'uleh! "Excellent!") That's a fantastic word to have as a favorite! 😊 It's always great to hear which words resonate with our students. If you have any questions about its usage or anything else, feel free to ask.
Have a great day!
תודה (Toda, "Thank you")
Team HebrewPod101.com
My favourite word is !מעולה
Hi Yosef,
Thank you for your comment!😄
תודה רבה! (Thank you very much!)❤️
Happy learning!
Yours,
Tal
Team Hebrewpod101.com
❤️ טוב
Hi יונתן,
Thank you for your comment!😄
Thank you for your positive feedback!
Your favorite Hebrew phrase, "אין בעיה" ("ein be'ayah"), meaning "no problem," is indeed commonly used in colloquial Hebrew. It's interesting how its literal translation, "there is no problem," contrasts with the sarcastic interpretation you've mentioned, "יש בעיה גדולה" ("yesh be'ayah g'dolah"), meaning "there is a big problem." It's a playful twist on the phrase's meaning, reflecting the nuanced nature of language and how context can alter interpretation. Keep up the enthusiasm for learning Hebrew! 😎
Happy learning!
Yours,
Tal
Team Hebrewpod101.com
Great delivery on this lesson...
My favorite Hebrew phrase might be אין בעיה "no problem", which I understand usually means יש בעיה גדולה "there is a big problem" 😎
Hello Stefania,
A big thank you for your post and kind feedback!❤️
We're glad to have you here!
Please feel free to shoot through any questions you have throughout your studies.
Cheers,
Ali
Team HebrewPod101.com
She is the best to teach <3 ❤️
Hi Zagor Tenay,
Thank you for your comment!😄
We have lessons dedicated for the Hebrew alphabet for subscribed users!
Also it's important to learn each letter and give it its own time to practice it in order to be able to memorize it.😎
Happy learning!
Yours,
Tal
Team Hebrewpod101.com
How will i learn the alphabet?😳 it looks so difficult?
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your comment!😄
"בבקשה," "bevakashah," (you're welcome), is definitely a wonderul and useful word!😁
Have a pleasant learning!
Yours,
Tal
Team Hebrewpod101.com
בבקשה this is my favourite word!
Shalom GF Founder,
THanks for commenting and sharing this!
This is great! I guess learning a language is like riding a bike! 😄😄
Happy learning and please feel free to contact us in case you have any questions 👍
Yours,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
Wow, 50 years ago I had four years of Hebrew training. Today you have already begun refreshing it all as though it were yesterday!!!
TODA!
Hi Anna,
Thanks for postign your question!
Do you perhaps mean the letter ף ? this is the sofit form of the letter פ - it conveys the sound "F" and it appears this way when it is the last letter of a word, as in the name Yoseph - יוסף
I hope that helps :)
Yours,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
What is the symbol “ כן “ mean backwards? Like the symbol flipped or reversed- does it have a meaning?
Shalom Kody,
Thank you very much for sharing your comment and positive feedback on this lesson! We appreciate it very much and are very glad you've enjoyed learning with Yaara 😄😄❤️❤️
These two phrases are basically synonyms when the Hebrew phrase "ba li" is used in slang, while "ani rotze" would be the correct translation of "I want".
Happy to help 😇
Best,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
❤️ Yaara your awesome I love the way you said (dai) stop or enough. You said it just like an annoyed American would say it 😆😆. I have a quick question ba li which means I want... What does ani rohtzeh mean? What's the difference between the two?