Learn some of the most common Hebrew greetings
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| Hi everybody! Idit here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Hebrew questions. |
| The question for this lesson is… |
| Which are the most common Hebrew greetings? |
| Like any other language, Hebrew has many greetings that native speakers use all the time. In this lesson, we’ll learn some of the most common ones. The first one is-- |
| תִתְחָדֵשׁ |
| (titħadesh) |
| The expression תִתְחָדֵשׁ (tit’khadesh) is said to someone who just bought or got something new. It can be anything from a haircut to a new house. |
| This expression comes from the word חדש, (ħadash), meaning “new,” and its literal translation is something like “You shall be renewed.” There’s no natural translation in English. |
| If you want to say the same expression to a woman, you’ll say-- |
| תִתְחַדְשִׁי |
| (titħadshi) |
| If you want to use it to greet more than one person, you’ll use the plural form-- |
| תִתְחַדְשׁוּ |
| (titħadshu) |
| The next expression is-- |
| כָּל הַכָּבוֹד |
| (kol ha-kavod) |
| Kol ha-kavod literally means “all the respect.” You can say it to someone in order to show your appreciation for an achievement they’ve made, big or small. It means something like “Well done,” or “Way to go!” Unlike תתחדש (titħadesh), this expression doesn’t change according to the person you’re speaking to. An example would be-- |
| העברית שלך טובה מאוד! כל הכבוד! |
| (ha-ivrit shel’kha tova me’od kol ha-kavod!) |
| “Your Hebrew is very good! Way to go!” |
| The next expression is very useful; it’s said a few times every day-- |
| בְּתֵאָבוֹן |
| (be’te’avon) |
| בְּתֵאָבוֹן (be’te’avon) literally means “with appetite,” and is the Hebrew equivalent of the French bon appetit. You’ll hear it from waiters in restaurants and from hosts presenting a dish, and you can use it when eating with other people, right before taking the first bite. |
| If you happen to sneeze around Hebrew speakers, you’ll hear the next expression-- |
| לַבְּרִיאוּת |
| (la’bri’ut) |
| לַבְּרִיאוּת (la’bri’ut) literally means “to health.” It’s the Hebrew version of the English “Bless you,” and the Yiddish tzum gezunt. You can use it whenever someone sneezes. |
| Try using these expressions whenever you can - it’ll make your Hebrew sound more natural! |
| How was this lesson? Pretty interesting right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| להתראות! |
| (lehitra’ot!) |
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