Learn the key pattern to say where you're from
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| Let’s take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Elad Eliyahu asks, |
| "Where are you from?" |
| ?מאיפה אתה |
| (Me'ei'fo ata?) |
| First is מאיפה (me'ei'fo), "from where." מאיפה |
| (Me) מ is an inseparable preposition which means "from." מ. מ |
| After this is איפה (ei'fo), "where." איפה. איפה |
| Together, מאיפה (me'ei'fo), "from where." מאיפה |
| Last is אתה (ata), meaning "you." אתה. אתה |
| Note, אתה (ata) is a term to address a male, and it translates as "you." You will learn the term to address a female shortly. |
| All together, ?מאיפה אתה (Me'ei'fo ata?) literally means "from where you?" when addressing a male, but it translates as "Where are you from?" |
| ?מאיפה אתה |
| (Me'ei'fo ata?) |
| Now, let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Ra'anan Regev says, |
| "I’m from Tiberias." |
| .אני מטבריה |
| (A'ni mi'tver'yah.) |
| First is 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. |
| Next is מטבריה (mi'tver'yah), "from Tiberias." מטבריה. מטבריה |
| The Hebrew letter מ- (mem) at the beginning of the word מטבריה (mi'tver'yah) is an inseparable preposition which means "from." |
| All together, .אני מטבריה (A'ni mi'tver'yah.), literally "I from Tiberias," but it translates as "I’m from Tiberias." |
| .אני מטבריה |
| (A'ni mi'tver'yah.) |
| The pattern is |
| .CITY NAME אני |
| A'ni CITY NAME. |
| "I'm from CITY NAME." |
| A'ni CITY NAME. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the CITY NAME placeholder with the name of your hometown city. |
| Note: This pattern requires the inseparable preposition מ (mem) before the CITY NAME. |
| Imagine you’re from Sydney. In Hebrew, סידני (Sidni). סידני. סידני |
| Say |
| "I’m from Sydney." |
| Ready? |
| .אני מסידני |
| (A'ni mi'sidni.) |
| "I’m from Sydney." |
| .אני מסידני |
| (A'ni mi'sidni.) |
| Hebrew operates with two words for "you:" |
| אתה (Ata), "you," a term to address a male; |
| את (At), "you," a term to address a female. |
| The following are the patterns for the question, "Where are you from?" |
| When asking a male, |
| ?מאיפה אתה |
| (Me'ei'fo ata?) |
| When asking a female, |
| ?מאיפה את |
| (Me'ei'fo at?) |
| The inseparable preposition mem is a single letter attached to the noun it precedes. In this case, מ (mem) is often pronounced "mi;" however it’s pronounced "me" before silent and guttural letters. |
| For example, |
| מסידני (mi'sidni), "from Sydney" מסידני |
| מאיפה (me'ei'fo), "from where…" מאיפה |
| Note: מ- (mem) in מאיפה (me'ei'fo), "from where," is pronounced מ- (me). |
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