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Lesson Transcript

Shalom, ani Yana. Hi everybody! I’m Yana.
Welcome to HebrewPod101.com’s “Ivrit be-shalosh dakot”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Hebrew.
In the last lesson, we learned how to ask "When" questions in Hebrew.
This time, we are going to ask questions with the interrogative word "Who?".
Imagine you want to ask your friend who is his favorite singer?
Here, the question you can ask Mi ha-zamar she-ata hahi ohev? Mi ha-zamar she-at hahi ohevet?
[slowly] Mi ha-zamar she-ata hahi ohev?
[slowly] Mi ha-zamar she-at hahi ohevet?
So let’s break down this answer:
First we had:
Mi- which is the basic translation of "Who" in Hebrew.
Ha-zamar- Is simply- `the singer`. (it is in the masculine form but in the question you usually ask in masculine, since it is the default form).
She-ata Or She-at- is `that you` (masculine or feminine).
hahi ohev/hahi ohevet- is `love the most`. Remember the romantic verb Leehov? Here you can use it too.
So in Hebrew, "Who" is mainly translated as Mi to ask about someone's identity.
For example, if you want to ask "Who are these people?" You will say Mi ha-anashim ha-ele? when talking about a group of unknown persons.
As in English, the interrogative word `who` is the first in the sentence.
Mi- only works for people, so you can't use it to ask information about things or places.
Lets see another example;
Mi ba mahar la-mesiba?
Who is coming to the party tomorrow?
[slowly] Mi ba mahar la-mesiba?
Note that Mi- can be used for singular or plural.
In Hebrew, `who` changes slightly depending on the direction, so for example-
`Who has party tomorrow?`, will be-
Le-mi yesh mesiba mahar?
[slowly] Le-mi yesh mesiba mahar?
Le- is the direction of `to`, `towards`.
Do you remember what Yesh means?
Another example-
Le-mi yesh et adom?
Who has a red pan?
[slowly] Le-mi yesh et adom?
In case the direction is `from`, you just add Mi-mi, that translates as `from who`;
Mi-mi shamata al ha-mis`ada ha-zo? (masculine)
Or, Mi-mi shamat al ha-misada ha-zo? (feminine)
Who did you hear from about this restaurant?
[slowly] Mi-mi shamata al ha-misada ha-zo?
[slowly] Mi-mi shamat al ha-misada ha-zo?
Before moving on, lets review the various forms of `who` in Hebrew;
Mi- the simplest interrogative word for `who`.
Le-mi- translates as `to who`.
Mi-mi- `from who`.
Now its time for Yana’s insights;
If someone that you didn't expect is knocking at your door in Israel, the common question you can ask is Mi ze?? before opening the door.
This literally means "Who is it?".
Again, note that Ze-`this` is the masculine form, but as a default you always use the masculine form in Hebrew.
In this lesson, we learned how to correctly use the interrogative word for "Who" which is Mi in Hebrew, but also its variations.
Now you can easily know who is who!
Next lesson will be our last of this absolute beginner series.
We will deal with the last but not least common interrogative word Lama- !I’ll be waiting for you in the next Ivrit be-shalosh dakot lesson!
Lehitraot ve-ad ha-paam ha-baa!!

Comments

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HebrewPod101.com
2014-06-06 18:30:00

Hi listeners! Who is your favorite Israeli singer?

HebrewPod101.com
2020-04-27 21:37:54

Hi Rebekka,

Thanks for posting your question! 😄

I'm not sure if there is a real reason for that... both versions are correct in spoken language and used interchangeably.

It resembles a little the situation in English, where one could say either "who's coming to the party tomorrow?" or "who's coming tomorrow to the party?"... We apologize if it created a confusion 😅

Best,

Roi

Team HebrewPod101.com

Rebekka
2020-04-26 01:22:53

Why is מחר before מסיבה in "who is coming to the party tomorrow?",

and after מסיבה in "who is having a party tomorrow?". ?

HebrewPod101.com
2020-03-28 00:05:11

Hi Tomek,

Thanks for posting and sharing your favorite Israeli singers!

A little note for your phrase - Here, the word "את" must be used after the verb "love" - " אני אוהב את עפרה חזה, לאה שבת, גלי עטרי ונורית גלרון" .

Another option will be to phrase it "I like listening to..." - "אני אוהב להקשיב לעפרה חזה..." where the "את" preposition isn't needed, but "le" (ל) is used instead.

The topic of the proper use of "את" is covered in other lessons, feel free to visit one of them in case you wish to learn more about it :)

Best,

Roi

Team HebrewPod101.com

Tomek
2020-03-22 03:47:10

אני אוהב עפרה חזה ולאה שבת וגלי עטרית ונורית גלרון....אני אוהב אותך ישראל ❤️️❤️️❤️️❤️️

Hebrewpod101.com
2017-09-05 00:38:24

Hi Larry,

Thanks for commenting!

Yes, you are correct, it is a way to indicate possession.

"Le Mi" (as it's pronounced) translates as "to whom?" and can be a part of a phrase, such as in this case - למי יש בלון אדום - who has a red balloon.

Yours,

Roi

Team Hebrewpod101.com

Larry
2017-07-30 23:22:44

Shalom,

I am a little unclear when you use "le me". Is this form used to indicate possession? . . . i.e., who has something? . . . or to whom something belongs?

Toda,

Larry

Hebrewpod101.com
2017-07-28 05:50:49

Hi Alice!

Sorry for forgetting your name on the last comment ??

Roi

Team Hebrewpod101.com

Hebrewpod101.com
2017-07-28 05:49:38

Hi ,

Thanks for commenting!

On the transcript there are both forms - as seen on this example -

[slowly] Mi ha-zamar she-ata hahi ohev? - asking a Male

[slowly] Mi ha-zamar she-at hahi ohevet? - asking a Female.

Glad to help,

Roi

Team Hebrewpod101.com

Alice
2017-07-21 16:12:10

Shalom

according to the script, we can always use masculine form as default form in questions, right?

HebrewPod101.com
2016-01-26 23:02:12

Hi Giada,

I'm happy I could help :smile:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

Giada
2016-01-17 23:56:05

!Yaara תודה רבה

Now it's clear and very helpful! :smile:

HebrewPod101.com
2016-01-17 20:32:53

Hi Giada,

Good question! לשמוע is "to hear", while להקשיב is "to listen". Now, that may seem weird, since in English we say "to listen to music"; But for some reason, in Hebrew we say לשמוע מוזיקה. Another way to say that, a bit more formal, is להאזין למוזיקה (le'ha'azin le-muzika). להאזין is a more formal word for "to listen".

Hope this was helpful :smile:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

Giada
2016-01-12 00:36:14

:smile: ! Yaara תודה

So לשמוע is the correct verb when I talk about music instead of להקשיב? What is the difference between these verbs?

HebrewPod101.com
2016-01-09 01:14:26

Hi Giada,

Thank you for posting!

.אני אוהבת את אביב גפן ועידן רייכל. אני בדרך כלל שומעת שירים שלהם

The phrase בדרך כלל (be'derekh klal) means "usually".

Good job :smile:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

Giada
2016-01-06 05:53:22

,אני אוהבת אביב גפן ועידן רייכל. אני מקשיבת לרב שיר שלהם

I love Aviv Geffen and Idan Raichel, I usually listen to their song.

HebrewPod101.com
2015-10-19 21:09:54

Hi Juliana Michelle Oliverio,

Thank you for posting.

?הזמר האהוב עליי הוא יוסי אזולאי. הוא שר שירי תפילה יפים. מי הוא הזמר הישראלי האהוב עליך

I changed some of the words since they were in the feminine form (היא ,זמרת ,ישראלית ,אהובה), but other than that - perfect!

הזמרת הישראלית האהובה עליי היא רונה קינן :wink:

Sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

Juliana Michelle Oliverio
2015-10-15 18:48:20

הזמרת האהובה עליי היא יוסי אזולאי. הו שר שירי תפילה יפים. מי היא הזמרת הישראלי האהובה עליך?

(My favorite singer is Yossi Azulay. He sings beautiful prayer songs. Who is your favorite Israeli singer?:sweat_smile:

HebrewPod101.com
2015-05-20 20:39:24

Hi Ronna,

Thank you for commenting.

למי literally means "to whom" - like in "to whom should I give this" - למי אני צריכה לתת את זה, but can also be used in the sentences shown in the lesson, such as למי יש עט אדום. The particle ל is directional since it is directing to an object - it literally means "to". It is the "to" in "where to go", "what to eat", "who to join" etc. Here are a few examples of it's use:

הוא הולך למסיבה - He is going to a party

היא קונה מתנה לחברה שלה - she is buying a present to her friend

לאבא שלי יש חולצה חדשה - my father has a new shirt, or literally: to my father there is a new shirt.

I hope my answer was helpful!

sincerely,

Yaara

Team HebrewPod101.com

ronna
2015-05-12 04:05:04

i don't understand when to use למי , what do you mean by it being directional?

HebrewPod101.com
2015-04-28 12:00:57

Hi Brett,

The lesson 14 is about Yesh!

https://www.hebrewpod101.com/2014/01/17/learn-hebrew-in-three-minutes-14-talking-about-possessions/

Thank you,

Jae

Team HebrewPod101.com

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