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Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Hebrew Survival Phrases, brought to you by HebrewPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Israel. You'll be surprised at how far a little Hebrew will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by HebrewPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment!
Survival Phrases Lesson 6 - Where Is the Bathroom in Israel?
In today's lesson, we'll cover an extremely important phrase, "Where is the bathroom?"
In Hebrew, "Where is the bathroom?" is ?אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Eifo hasherutim? Let's break it down by syllable, ?אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Eifo hasherutim? Now, let's hear it again, ?אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Eifo hasherutim?
Let's look at the components. The first word אֵיפֹה, Eifo means "where is." Let's break it down and hear it one more time, אֵיפֹה, Eifo. Next, we have הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Hasherutim. Please note the הַ, Ha, which in Hebrew is the way to say "the," attached to the word שֵּׁרוּתִים, Sherutim, which means "toilet." Let's break this word down as well, הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Hasherutim. So, to recap, we have ?אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Eifo hasherutim? Literally, this means, "Where is the toilet?"
There is a more formal way to ask (but we rarely use it in Hebrew) "Where is the bathroom?" It is ?אֵיפֹה הַנּוֹחִיּוּת, Eifo hanokhiyut? This means "Where is the bathroom?" Let's break it down by syllable, ?אֵיפֹה הַנּוֹחִיּוּת, Eifo hanokhiyut? The word אֵיפֹה, Eifo means, "where is." Next, we have הַנּוֹחִיּוּת, Hanokhiyut, which is the way to say "bathroom" in formal Hebrew.
Now, when you finally get to the bathroom, there may be one last hurdle. In some instances, only Hebrew words are written on the doors! What to do? Well, you can stop by the website and find the words for "man" and "woman" there, find them inside the PDF, or, if you have an iPod, click the on the center button and you can find them there. The word for "men" is גְּבָרִים, Gvarim. The word for "women" is נָשִׁים, Nashim. Let's hear it once more, The word for "men" is גְּבָרִים, Gvarim. The word for "women" is נָשִׁים, Nashim
Gvarim = גְּבָרִים Nashim = נָשִׁים.
When traveling, there may not be so many public bathrooms for tourists to use. This means your best option is to stop at either a café or a restaurant to use their bathrooms. Understandably, café owners aren't too keen on having people stop in just to use their bathroom. So, to be polite, you might buy a bottle of water or order a coffee before asking אֶפְשָׁר לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בַּשֵּׁרוּתִים, Efshar lehishtamesh basherutim? This last phrase means, "May I use the bathroom?" Of course, it will be nicer if you add בְּבַקָּשָׁה, Bevakasha, which means "please," thus becoming ?אֶפְשָׁר לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בַּשֵּׁרוּתִים, Efshar lehishtamesh basherutim bevakasha?
Let's repeat that one more time, ?אֶפְשָׁר לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בַּשֵּׁרוּתִים, Efshar lehishtamesh basherutim?
Ok, to close out today's lesson, we would like you to practice what you have just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it out loud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !בְּהַצְלָחָה, Behatzlacha! which means "Good luck!" in Hebrew.
"Where is the bathroom? (informal and formal)" - ?אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים, Eifo hasherutim?
"Where is the bathroom? (very formal)" - ?אֵיפֹה הַנּוֹחִיּוּת, Eifo hanokhiyut?
"May I use the bathroom?" - ?אֶפְשָׁר לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בַּשֵּׁרוּתִים, Efshar lehishtamesh basherutim?
Jessi: Alright! That's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by HebrewPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment!

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