Learn how to ask a question
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
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! |
Comments
Hide