What is the most interesting geographical feature in Israel for you?

Hi Tom,

Thanks a lot! I loved American TV shows as a kid, and also today, so I guess that's why ?

"Intermittent"! I'm glad to have learnt a new word.

Geographically, the Paran is in the south of Israel, in the Negev desert, close to the Jordanian border.

The Yarkon in Tel Aviv is usually used for recreation; rowing and a little fishing. it used to be polluted but it has been undergoing a process of purification.

Cheers,

Idit

Toda raba, Idit!

By the way, your English is exceptionally good. In watching some of the videos I would not guess you are not American.

We would call the Paran an intermittent stream. I still don't know where it is. On a map I see that Tel Aviv has the Yarkon River - is it used for recreation? Fishing? Swimming? Or is it polluted?

Hi Tom,

The Paran stream exists, but it is inactive most of the year - except during winter. Much like a dormant volcano is still called a volcano, an inactive stream is still called a stream. In Hebrew we call an inactive stream נַחַל אַכְזָב.

that means a stream that only has water running in it during winter.

hope this helps!

Idit

Team Hebrewpod101.com.

If the Faran River does not exist, perhaps another one should be listed?

Hi Shelley,

You said it! learning a new language, especially if it's very different from your native language, is really hard... But you know that already :sweat_smile:

Good luck to us both :wink:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

lol-Thank you, Yara-I know where the Arava is or at least what it is. Are you still in Japan learning Japanese? ( your Hebrew.com profile) How is that coming? Not easy learning a language!

Hi Shelley,

That's a very good question, and as a matter of fact, I don't think this river exists... There is a Faran river (sometimes pronounced Paran, I'm not sure which one is correct) in south Israel, in the Arava.

By the way, I had to look that up, so we both learned something today :smile:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

Wow-so many answers! Thank you thank you. You were very clear and I understand most of it. But where is the great Faron river found? Near what city? I never heard of it before.

Hi Shelley,

I'll try to answer everything :smile:

“et” appears only before "ha", so it will never appear before a proper noun (that never gets "ha"). I understand the confusion though because it's slightly different in English ("*the* river Farron" as apposed to נחל פרון). If you would write “where are rivers found?”, you wouldn't need "et" either, because "rivers" will not have "ha" either.

Yes, you did the “it” part right in the second sentence, but you could have just wrote הוא (instead of הינו), that would have made the sentence more natural - הינו is considered rather formal.

The Hebrew translation of the expression "to what - " will not always be the same - it will change according to the meaning. The word "lama" means only "why", but I suppose you meant "le-ma", which is a combination of the preposition ל (to/for) and the question word מה ("what"). This expression can only be used to ask "for what", like in "למה זה משמש" - le-ma ze meshamesh, "what is it used for". You're right, Hebrew is indeed more specific and requires the use of “to which”.

I would say the most natural phrasing of your sentence would be:

?איפה נמצא נחל פרון הגדול? לאיזו עיר הוא קרוב

I hope I answered all your questions :sweat_smile:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

Thank you, Yaara, I debated about the "et", but since it is a specific river I think I needed to put it in. If I wrote "where are rivers found?" then I would not need to include it? So I did the "it" part right in the second sentence, but I could have just left it out of the sentence instead of putting "the form for she" there? In English we can say to what, but it seems that Hebrew is more specific and I need to use to which. "to which" sounds more formal in English. Does "to which" also mean "to what?" is there any use of "lama" in Hebrew?

How would you write the first sentence in Hebrew to make it mean the same way I had it in the English? so many questions and there will be so many answers!

Hi Shelley,

Thank you for posting.

First of all, you're right - In the notes, there are a few missing details: the gender of some of the words. Here it is:

מכתש (crater) - masculine

דיונה (dune) - feminine

נחל (stream) - masculine

Thank you for letting us know.

Regarding הינו - Yes, it can definitely be substituted for הוא or היא. Basically, it's simply a fancier way of saying "it", "he" or "she", but it can't always replace these words. As a matter of fact, I would recommend not using it at all - it's never necessary, and it's always confusing. Even native speakers tend to use it wrong.

"Where is the Great Farron river found? To what city is it near?"

?איפה נמצא נחל פרון הגדול? לאיזו עיר הינו קרוב

Your version (איפה נמצא *את* נחל פרון הגדול) is not wrong, but it has a slightly different meaning: "Where will we find the great Farron river".

Good job!

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

איפה נמצה את הנחל פרון הגדול ?למה עיר הינו קרוב? Where is the Great Farron river found? To what city is it near?

Hello team, the notes do not give the gender for three of the words. Does that mean that they can have both like "shemesh"?

I am confused by "heno"( here it is?) in two of the expansion sentences. Can " he or she" be substituted for"heno" ?