Lesson 3

Contents:

         3.a Alphabet
         3.b Verbs
         3.c Nouns & Adjectives
         3.d Sentences

3.a: Alphabet

There we go with two more consonants:

• ק - k, as in 'king'
  
• ש - sh, as in 'push'
  

All right, let's read and then listen to get the exact pronunciation:

שֵקֵל	listen
קֵשֵר	listen
שוֹקוֹ	listen
שוֹר	listen
קַר	listen
קַפֵה	listen
שוֹקוֹלַד	listen

And now listen and try to write down in hebrew (and check the right answer):

listen	אַמֵרִיקַה
listen	אַפרִיקַה
listen	שוֹפִינג
listen	קַפֵה
listen	קִילוֹגרַם

And the geography game:
Write in hebrew and match pairs of countries and capitals, from the list:
מֵדִינוֹת: מַרוֹקוֹ, דֵנמַרק, פיִנלַנד, תַאִילַנד, קוֹרֵיַאה, אוּקרַאִינַה, רוּסִיַה, סוּרִיַה
capital cities: kopenhagen, moscow (literally-moskva), casablanca, bangkok, kiev, seoul, helsinki, damasque (lit.-damesek)

3.b Verbs

Let's have 3 more verbs:

• the root לבש [l.v.sh.] means 'wear'
• the root ישב [y.sh.v.] means 'sit'
• the root אמר [!.m.r] means 'say' (the first consonant is not pronounced)

We add 2 more pronouns:

• הֵם – [hem] – they, masculine, or where the objects are of mixed gender
• הֵן – [hen] – they, feminine

Cool, now it's time we start learning the past:
The good news are there's only one past tense (unlike english with its abundance), and it takes no auxiliary verb. The bad news – each pronoun has its own form for past verb.
The basic for all past forms is the pattern XaXaX, or םַםַם (where the three ם / X represent 3 root letters). This basic form is also the 'he' form, for instance – 'he learned' is הוּא לַמַד ([hu lamad]).
The 'she' form, as is typical for hebrew, is created by attaching [a] to the male form (the vowel of 'a' plus the not-pronounced consonant ה). Therefore 'she learned' should have been הִיא לַמַדַה ([hi lamada]). However, to make speaking faster and easier, the second 'a' is omitted – so that 'she learned' is really הִיא לַמדַה ([hi lamda]).
Similarly, the 'they' form is the basic form + [u] (and the omission as before), so that 'they learned' is הֵם לַמדוּ ([hem lamdu]) and הֵן לַמדוּ ([hen lamdu]). Note that it's the same for masculine and feminine.
Some examples:

• boy learned - יֵלֵד לַמַד ([yeled lamad])
• girl learned - יַלדַה לַמדַה ([yalda lamda])
• boys learned - יֵלַדִים לַמדוּ ([yeladim lamdu])
• girls learned - יֵלַדוֹת לַמדוּ ([yeladot lamdu])

Great, now let's add two more verbs to practice with:

• the root שמר [sh.m.r.] means 'keep, guard'
• the root בדק [b.d.k.] means 'check'

Practice time! Translate the following:

הוּא שַמַר גַן	listen	he guarded (a) garden
הִיא לַבשַה בֵגֵד	listen	she wore (a) cloth
הֵם אַמרוּ: הַי	listen	they said: hi
הֵן בַדקוּ בֵסֵפֵר	listen	they checked in book

And final exercise for the part - write in hebrew, compare to the answer and listen:

they (masc.) guarded school	listen	הֵם שַמרוּ בֵית סֵפֵר
the girls loved fairytales	listen	הַבַנוֹת אַהַבוּ אַגַדוֹת
she said to Adam “shalom” (common israeli greeting)	listen	הִיא אַמרַה לֵאַדַם שַלוֹם
Dan loved very much Dina	listen	דַן אַהַב מֵאוֹד דִינַה
why they sat?	listen	לַמַה הֵם יַשבוּ?
Adam not stole (a) book from Dana	listen	אַדַם לא גַנַב סֵפֵר מֵדַנַה
they (fem.) counted million portions	listen	הֵן סַפרוּ מִיליוֹן מַנוֹת

3.c Nouns & Adjectives

How to say “big boy”? The opposite way - “boy big”.

Let's get 4 adjectives (note the pattern – XaXoX):

גַדוֹל	[gadol]	big	listen
יַרוֹק	[yarok]	green	listen
אַדוֹם	[adom]	red	listen
מַתוֹק	[matok]	sweet	listen

So, 'big boy' is יֵלֵד גַדוֹל ([yeled gadol])

Now, unlike english (big boy, big boys) – in hebrew adjectives do conjugate with noun. They take up the same endings as nouns do, so:

• 'big girl' should be יַלדַה גַדוֹלַה ([yalda gadola]), but you can already guess the the first [a] is omitted for simplicity, and so
  'big girl' is יַלדַה גדוֹלַה ([yalda gdola])
• 'big boys' is יֵלַדִים גדוֹלִים ([yeladim gdolim]) (similar omission)
• 'big girls' is יֵלַדוֹת גדוֹלִוֹת ([yeladot gdolot])

Similarly, if we want to add definite article – we add it to both the noun and the adjective:
'the big boy' - הַיֵלֵד הַגַדוֹל ([hayeled hagadol])

And we can't go without learning new nouns:

יַם	[yam]	(m.)	sea	listen
גַל	[gal]	(m.)	wave (also a feminine name)	listen
שַנַה	[shana]	(f.)	year	listen
שַבַת	[shabat]	(f.)	shabbat, saturday (the holiday in israel)	listen

Exercise – write in hebrew, pronounce and compare to the recorded version:

green sea	listen	יַם יַרוֹק
the big wave	listen	הַגַל הַגַדוֹל
sweet year! (a typical new-year congratulation)	listen	שַנַה מַתוֹקַה
red kindergarten	listen	גַן יֵלַדִים אַדוֹם
green gardens	listen	גַנִים יַרוֹקִים
sweet dishes (desserts)	listen	מַנוֹת מַתוֹקוֹת
the red sea	listen	הַיַם הַאַדוֹם
big love	listen	אַהַבַה גדוֹלַה
green school	listen	בֵית סֵפֵר יַרוֹק
the big stage	listen	הַבַמַה הַגדוֹלַה

3.d Sentences

A very useful connection word – “that” – is שֵ ([she]). Note that the word, being of just one letter, is written together with the following word. Also note - it's 'that' as in
“i say that he (is) big” - אַנִי אוֹמֵר שֵהוּא גַדוֹל ([ani omer shehu gadol]),
or as in

“the boy that learns” - הַיֵלֵד שֵלוֹמֵד ([hayeled shelomed]),
but NOT as in
“that boy”.

Another useful word is “of” - שֵל ([shel]). It shows explicit possession, as in:
“book of Dana” - סֵפֵר שֵל דַנַה ([sefer shel dana]).

And we finish the lesson with two more:

שַלוֹם	[shalom]	peace, also a common greeting	listen
אֵתמוֹל	[etmol]	yesterday	listen

And final exercise of the lesson – write the sentences in hebrew:

he fell to red sea	listen	הוּא נַפַל לֵיַם אַדוֹם
he (has) not checked the garden	listen	הוּא לא בַדַק הַגַן
he said that the book (is) of Dan (“Dan’s”)	listen	הוּא אַמַר שֵהַסֵפֵר שֵל דַן
she learned in school this year	listen	הִיא לַמדַה בֵבֵית סֵפֵר הַשַנַה
they (masc.) went down to sea yesterday	listen	הֵם יַרדוּ לֵיַם אֵתמוֹל
I worry that he (is) (a) thief	listen	אַנִי דוֹאֵג שֵהוּא גַנַב
the girls wore red cloth yesterday	listen	הַיֵלַדוֹת לַבשוּ בֵגֵד אַדוֹם אֵתמוֹל
why you keep fish (in plural) to Saturday?	listen	לַמַה אַתַה שוֹמֵר דַגִים לֵשַבַת?
in saturday many big boys sit in home	listen	בֵשַבַת הַרבֵה יֵלַדִים גדוֹלִים יוֹשבִים בֵבַית
the gardener said that Dan (is) son of Adam	listen	הַגַנַן אַמַר שֵדַן - בֵן שֵל אַדַם
I like very much that she wore green cloth	listen	אַנִי אוֹהֵב מֵאוֹד שֵהִיא לַבשַה בֵגֵד יַרוֹק
they picked up fish (plural) in sea yesterday?	listen	הֵם אַספוּ דַגִים בֵיַם אֵתמוֹל?