Learn the key pattern to talk about your occupation
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| First is אתה (ata), "you," when addressing a male. אתה . אתה |
| Note: when addressing a female, use את (at), "you." את . את |
| For example, ?את סטודנטית (At stu'den'tit?) "Are you a student," when addressing a female. |
| Note: Hebrew implies, rather than expresses the verb "to be," or "are" in this case, in the present tense therefore there is no corresponding word in the Hebrew translation. |
| Next is סטודנט (stu'dent), "student." סטודנט. סטודנט |
| In Hebrew, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. סטודנט (Stu'dent) is masculine singular. |
| All together, ?אתה סטודנט (Ata stu'dent?) Literally "You student" but it translates as "Are you a student?" |
| ?אתה סטודנט |
| (Ata stu'dent?) |
| Now, let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Elad Eliyahu says, |
| "No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
| .לא, אני לא סטודנט. אני משקיע |
| (Lo, a'ni lo stu'dent. A'ni mash'ki'a.) |
| First is the expression, לא (lo), meaning, "no." לא . לא |
| It answers Ra'anan's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" |
| ?אתה סטודנט |
| (Ata stu'dent?) |
| After this, Elad specifies that he's not a student. |
| .אני לא סטודנט |
| (A'ni lo stu'dent.) |
| "I'm not a student." |
| .אני לא סטודנט |
| (A'ni lo stu'dent.) |
| אני (a'ni), literally, "I," but translates as "I [am]." אני . אני |
| Note: Hebrew implies, rather than expresses the verb "to be" in the present tense therefore there is no corresponding word in the Hebrew translation. |
| Next is לא (lo). "No." לא . לא |
| Together, it's אני לא (A'ni lo), literally "I not" but it translates as "I'm not." אני לא |
| Next is סטודנט (stu'dent), "student." סטודנט |
| סטודנט (Stu'dent) is a masculine singular noun |
| All together, אני לא סטודנט (A'ni lo stu'dent). "I'm not a student." |
| .אני לא סטודנט |
| (A'ni lo stu'dent.) |
| Elad then tells Ra'anan his actual occupation. אני משקיע (A'ni mash'ki'a). "I'm an investor." |
| .אני משקיע |
| (A'ni mash'ki'a.) |
| First is אני (A'ni), "I [am]." אני |
| Next is משקיעה (mash'ki'a), "investor." משקיעה . משקיעה |
| משקיעה (Mash'ki'a) is a masculine singular noun. |
| Together, אני משקיע (A'ni mash'ki'a), literally "I investor," but it translates as "I'm an investor." |
| .אני משקיע |
| (A'ni mash'ki'a.) |
| All together, לא, אני לא סטודנט. אני משקיע. (Lo, a'ni lo stu'dent. A'ni mash'ki'a.) Literally "I not student. I investor," but it translates as "No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
| .לא, אני לא סטודנט. אני משקיע |
| (Lo, a'ni lo stu'dent. A'ni mash'ki'a.) |
| The pattern is |
| .ACTUAL OCCUPATION אני .OCCUPATION לא, אני לא |
| Lo, a'ni lo OCCUPATION. A'ni ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
| "No, I'm not OCCUPATION. I'm ACTUAL OCCUPATION." |
| Lo, a'ni lo OCCUPATION. A'ni ACTUAL OCCUPATION. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the OCCUPATION and ACTUAL OCCUPATION placeholders with the occupations that are appropriate to the conversation. |
| Note: This pattern requires nouns. Their gender will depend on the gender of the speaker. |
| Imagine you're Emma Eisenberg, a student. The word for a female student is סטודנטית (stu'den'tit). סטודנטית . סטודנטית |
| Elad asks you if you’re a teacher, מורה (mo're). מורה . מורה |
| The word for a female teacher is מורה (mo'ra). מורה . מורה |
| Say |
| "No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
| Ready? |
| .לא, אני לא מורה. אני סטודנטית |
| (Lo, a'ni lo mo'ra. A'ni stu'den'tit.) |
| "No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
| .לא, אני לא מורה. אני סטודנטית |
| (Lo, a'ni lo mo'ra. A'ni stu'den'tit.) |
| In Hebrew, a general rule of thumb is that occupation words that end in -ה (-ha) or -ית (-it) are feminine, while those that do not are masculine. |
| Note, the "-it" (-ית) ending is often added to a masculine form ending in a consonant or consonant cluster with an "e" vowel in the final syllable. |
| (Male &Female teacher showing on screen) |
| מורה (mo're) |
| מורה (mo'ra) |
| (Male &Female student showing on screen) |
| סטודנט (stu'dent) |
| סטודנטית (stu'den'tit) |
| While this rule of thumb works for many occupations, some occupations are described by one gender neutral word, such as, |
| (Male &Female artist showing on screen) |
| בריסטה (ba'ris'ta) |
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