Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Shira: Hello and welcome to HebrewPod101.com’s Absolute Beginner Season 1, Lesson 9 - Asking a Question in Hebrew. I’m your host, Shira.
Amir: Shalom, I’m Amir.
Shira: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask questions in Hebrew.
Amir: The conversation takes place at David and Sarah’s house.
Shira: It’s between Peter, David and Sarah.
Amir: The dialogue is informal.
Shira: Let’s listen to the conversation

Lesson conversation

Peter: זה... בשביל מזל טוב?
(Zeh... bish'vil mazal tov?)
David: זאת חמסה.
(Zot ħam'sah.)
Sarah: כן, זה בשביל המזל.
(Ken, zeh bish'vil ha-mazal.)
Peter: חמסה.
(ħam'sah)
Shira: Let’s listen to the conversation one more time slowly.
Peter: זה... בשביל מזל טוב?
(Zeh... bish'vil mazal tov?)
David: זאת חמסה.
(Zot ħam'sah.)
Sarah: כן, זה בשביל המזל.
(Ken, zeh bish'vil ha-mazal.)
Peter: חמסה.
(ħam'sah)
Shira: Let’s listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Peter: זה... בשביל מזל טוב?
(Zeh... bish'vil mazal tov?)
Shira: Is this for good luck?
David: זאת חמסה.
(Zot ħam'sah.)
Shira: This is a hamsa.
Sarah: כן, זה בשביל המזל.
(Ken, zeh bish'vil ha-mazal.)
Shira: Yes, it’s for luck.
Peter: חמסה.
(ħam'sah)
Shira: Hamsa.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Shira: I think a fitting subject for this cultural insight is the hamsa.
Amir: A hamsa is a very popular item seen all over Israel. It’s a hand that symbolizes the hand of God or the hand of Miriam according to some Jewish traditions.
Shira: The hamsa is a sign of protection and it’s thought to bring good luck to its owner.
Amir: Some of them have an eye in the center of the hand to symbolize its protection against the evil eye.
Shira: You can find them as necklaces, bracelets, or in its most popular form, the wall hanging.
Amir: The word hamsa comes from the Arabic word for “five” because of the five fingers on the hand.
Shira: And actually, the hamsa originally comes from Islamic culture and it was adopted by the Jewish people living in Arab countries.
Amir: Later it was brought over when these people made Aliyah and came to Israel.
Shira: For a while it was thought to be something only for mizraħi Jews, but lately it’s been adopted by Israeli culture in general.
Amir: So, if someone gives you a hamsa as a gift, consider it good luck.
VOCAB LIST
Shira: Now let’s go to the vocabulary for this lesson. First we have:
Amir: זה (zeh) [natural native speed]
Shira: This, that or it.
Amir: זה (zeh) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. זה (zeh) [natural native speed]
Shira: Next:
Amir: בשבילך (Bish'vil'kha) [natural native speed]
Shira: For.
Amir: בשבילך (Bish'vil'kha) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. בשבילך (Bish'vil'kha) [natural native speed]
Shira: Next:
Amir: מזל (mazal) [natural native speed]
Shira: Luck.
Amir: מזל (mazal) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. מזל (mazal) [natural native speed]
Shira: Next:
Amir: טוב (tov) [natural native speed]
Shira: Good.
Amir: טוב (tov) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. טוב (tov) [natural native speed]
Shira: And last:
Amir: כן (ken) [natural native speed]
Shira: Yes.
Amir: כן (ken) [slowly - broken down by syllable]. כן (ken) [natural native speed]
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Shira: Let’s look at the vocabulary in this lesson.
Amir: So our first word is מזל (mazal).
Shira: Mazal means “luck” or “fortune”.
Amir: You’ve probably heard it in the expression מזל טוב (mazal tov).
Shira: Or Mazal Tov. This means “good luck”, but it’s used more like “congratulations” in this context.
Amir: Our last word is טוב (tov) or “good”.
Shira: As with all adjectives in Hebrew, tov has four versions.
Amir: You change it according to the noun it describes. To demonstrate this we have four examples for you, of course.
Shira: Of course! First up is masculine singular
Amir: אוכל טוב (ochel tov),
Shira: “Good food”. Now, feminine singular
Amir: מיטה טובה (mitah tovah),
Shira: “Good bed”. Next is masculine plural.
Amir: כלבים טובים (klavim tovim),
Shira: “Good dogs”. The last one is feminine plural
Amir: ילדות טובות (yaldut tovot),
Shira: “Good girls”. Okay, let’s move on to the grammar section.

Lesson focus

Shira: In this lesson, you will learn how to ask a question in Hebrew.
Amir: There are basically three ways to ask a question in Hebrew other than using an interrogative.
Shira: In our sample dialogue, Peter used voice inflection to ask his question.
Amir: ?זה בשביל מזל טוב (Zeh bish'vil mazal tov?)
Shira: This is really the easiest way to ask a question in Hebrew.
Amir: The second way is to add the word נכון or “correct” to the end of the sentence.
Shira: This is also pretty easy. Let’s hear it with Peter’s question.
Amir: ?זֶה בִּשְׁבִיל מַזָּל טוֹב, נָכוֹן
(Zeh bish'vil mazal tov, nakhon?)
Shira: The last way is the most formal way to ask a question in Hebrew.
Amir: You add the word האם to the beginning of the sentence. האם means “whether”.
Shira: האם means “whether”.
Amir: Here’s our sentence again with ?הַאִם זֶה בִּשְׁבִיל מַזָּל טוֹב
(Ha-im zeh bish'vil mazal tov?)
Shira: So it means “whether this is for good luck?”. Or “is this for good luck?”

Outro

Okay, that’s it for this lesson.
Shira: See you next time!
Amir: Le-hit’ra’ot!

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