Lesson 13

Contents:

         13.a Verbs
         13.b Adjectives
         13.c Nouns
         13.d Sentences

13.a: Verbs

Today we stay on with 2-consonants group of verbs:

• the root טס [t.s.] means 'to fly (passively, like on airplane)'
• the root נח [n.kh.] means 'to have a rest'
• the root דן [d.n.] means 'to discuss'. Note this verb is followed by the preposition בֵ ('in')

Verbs of this group behave the same in past tense as standard verbs do (except that they have a shorter root); for example:

אַנִי טַסתִי	[ani tasti]	i flew
הֵם דַנוּ	[hem danu]	they discussed
אַתַה נַחתַ	[ata nahkta]	you (masc.) had a rest

Let's learn 2 more verbs and start practicing:

• the root עף [!.f.] means 'to fly (actively, like a bird)'
• the root בא [b.!.] means 'to come'

Exercise – write the following in hebrew:

Every evening, when i (masc.) return from university, i have a rest.	כל עֵרֵב, כשֵאַנִי חוֹזֵר מֵאוּנִיבֵרסִיטַה, אַנִי נַח.	listen
Yesterday, in bank, they discussed inflation of this year.	אֵתמוֹל, בֵבַנק, הֵם דַנוּ בֵאִינפלַצִיַה שֵל הַשַנַה.	listen
They flew to Italy this year, for two weeks.	הֵם טַסוּ לֵאִיטַלִיַה הַשַנַה, לֵשבוּעַיִים.	listen
Before that you (masc.) came - we were studying.	לִפנֵי שֵאַתַה בַאתַ - אַנַחנוּ לַמַדנוּ.	listen
When i run - i have a rest every 5 kilometers.	כשֵאַנִי רַץ, אַנִי נַח כל חַמִישַה קִילוֹמֵטרִים.	listen

13.b Adjectives

Let's learn some more adjectives:

שַׂמֵחַ	[sameakh]	happy
עַצוּב	[atzuv]	sad
נַכוֹן	[nakhon]	correct
עַייֵף	[ayef]	tired

All right, let's learn a new preposition - עַל, [al]; it means on, as in הַסֵפֵר עַל הַשוּלחַן, or about, as in אַנִי חוֹשֵב עַל דַנַה. It goes like this:

עַלַי	alay	on me, about me
עַלֵיךַ	aleykha	on you, about you (masc.)
עַלַיך	alaykh	on you, about you (fem.)
עַלַיו	alav	on him, about him
עַלֵיַה	aleya	on her, about her
עַלֵינוּ	aleynu	on us, about us
עַלֵיכֵם/ן	aleykhem/n	on you, about you (plural masc./fem.)
עַלֵיהֵם/ן	aleyhem/n	on them, about them (masc./fem.)

Great, it's practice time:

She's tired, she worked a lot yesterday, and then worked even more today.	הִיא עַייֵפַה, הִיא עַבדַה הַרבֵה אֵתמוֹל, וֵאַז עַבדַה אַפִילוּ יוֹתֵר הַיוֹם	listen
I'm happy (masc.) that you (fem.) found what you wanted.	אַנִי שַמֵחַ שֵאַת מַצַאת אֵת מַה שֵרַצִית	listen
This week i saw a movie; it's a sad comedy about love, that all men are always cheating.	הַשַבוּעַ רַאִיתִי סֵרֵט; זאת קוֹמֵדִיַה עַצוּבַה עַל אַהבַה, שֵכל הַגבַרִים תַמִיד בוֹגדִים	listen
When i returned from school, i sat in my chair and had a rest.	כשֵאַנִי חַזַרתִי מִבֵית סֵפֵר, יַשַבתִי עַל הַכִיסֵא שֵלִי וֵנַחתִי	listen

13.c Nouns

Let's learn some nouns; try to recognise some roots:

טִיסַה	[tisa]	flight
מַטוֹס	[matos]	airplane
דִירַה	[dira]	appartment
צִיפוֹר (*)	[tzipor]	bird

(*) The word 'bird' in hebrew is fem., even though its plural form is constructed as masc. - צִיפוֹרִים.

All right, today we'll learn a new grammatic construction, that in some cases replace future tense. It's just as in english - "going to do smth.", "thinking to do smth." etc. Note that the second verb is always in its infinitive form. A few examples:

אַנִי הוֹלֵך לִלמוֹד מַחַר	listen	i'm (masc.) going to learn tomorrow
הֵם חוֹשבִים לִנסוֹעַ לֵיַפַן	listen	they think to go to Japan
הִיא יוֹדַעַת לִרקוֹד יַפֵה	listen	she knows to dance beautifully
הוּא עוֹמֵד לִמכוֹר אֵת הַדִירַה שֵלוֹ	listen	he is about to (lit.-standing to) sell his appartment

And back to some more nouns:

בַחוּר/בַחוּרַה	[bakhur/bakhura]	guy/girl
שַכֵן/שכֵנַה	[shakhen/shkhena]	neighbour (masc./fem.)
אַח/אַחוֹת	[akh/akhot]	brother/sister

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

I have a flight to London next week.	יֵש לִי טִיסַה לֵלוֹנדוֹן בֵשַבוּעַ הַבַא	listen
A plane to Paris flies three times a day.	מַטוֹס לֵפַרִיס טַס שַלוֹש פַעַמִים בֵיוֹם	listen
We have really good neighbours! And they dance tango at home every night, we see them in window.	יֵש לַנוּ שכֵנִים מַמַש טוֹבִים! וֵהֵם רוֹקדִים טַנגוֹ כל לַילַה, אַנַחנוּ רוֹאִים אוֹתַם בֵחַלוֹן	listen
Birds fly, and planes fly. But both these and these fall..	צִיפוֹרִים עַפוֹת, וֵמַטוֹסִים טַסִים. אַבַל גַם אֵלֵה וֵגַם אֵלֵה נוֹפלִים..	listen
This night i dreamed about my neighbours; they were flying, like birds.	הַלַילַה אַנִי חַלַמתִי עַל שכֵנִים שֵלִי; הֵם עַפוּ כמוֹ צִיפוֹרִים.	listen

13.d Sentences

It was a long lesson, so let's finish it with several useful words:

בֵין	[beyn]	between
כִמעַט	[kimat]	almost
בלִי	[bli]	without

And let's introduce a lovely group of words in hebrew - how does one say "someone", "somewhere", "somehow" and so on?
One takes the appropriate wh-word, adds to it שֵ and הוּא (usually dropping the last letter א), and there you go:

מִישֵהוּ	[mishehu]	someone, somebody
מַתַישֵהוּ	[matayshehu]	some time
אֵיפשֵהוּ	[eyfoshehu]	somewhere
אֵיכשֵהוּ	[eykhshehu]	somehow
לַמַשֵהוּ	[lamashehu]	for some reason

Final exercise of the day!! Translate the dialogues without writing, and listen:
Flying

- Hey Noa, i heard that you're flying to Madrid! That's true?	listen
- Yes, Nir, i'm flying! I'm really happy!	listen
- Good! For a week?	listen
- No no, for two weeks!	listen
- Wow, nice! With whom are you flying?	listen
- I'm flying with my boyfriend, Lior. You already were in Madrid?	listen
- Yes, i were there, four or five years ago. But only for three days.	listen
I think that now it's really cold there. You took warm clothes?	listen
- Yes, of course.	listen
- What are you going to do there two weeks?	listen
- I want to learn a bit spanish ('sfaradit'), and i also want to take course of flamenco.	listen
- Very good! Ok, when's your flight?	listen
- I'm going to fly tomorrow!	listen