Learn how to say "thank you"
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| Shalom, ani Yana. Hi there! I’m Yana. |
| Welcome to HebrewPod101.com’s “Ivrit be-shalosh dakot”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Hebrew. |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to introduce ourselves in Hebrew. In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to use good manners as we thank people. |
| Atem muhanim? Are you ready? Az bou nathil, so let’s start! |
| There are several ways to thank someone, let’s start with the easiest. It is just one word: |
| Toda. |
| [slowly] Toda. |
| Toda means “thank you”. |
| When saying “thank you very much” you just need to add Raba. |
| Toda raba. |
| [slowly] Toda raba. |
| Raba means “a lot”. So Toda raba is like saying “Thank you very much.” |
| During the last lesson we mentioned two ways of addressing someone, depending on his or her gender. Toda or Toda raba can be used with anyone. But In case you want to address the recipient, there is another phrase you should use. |
| If you want to thank a woman, you say: |
| Toda raba lakh. |
| [slowly] Toda raba lakh. |
| Now, if you want to thank a man, say: |
| Toda raba lekha |
| [slowly] Toda raba lekha |
| Let’s break this phrase down. Lakh, means something like “to you” when you are talking to a woman. Toda raba lakh is thank you very much. |
| Lekha, is “to you” when you are talking to a man. Toda raba lekha is Thank you very much. |
| How do you answer? It’s easy! There are two ways to answer! |
| The first one is simple. “you are welcome” |
| Bevakasha |
| [slowly] Bevakasha |
| It’s the simplest way to answer. |
| But it is more polite to say; |
| Ein be-ad ma. |
| [slowly] Ein be-ad ma. |
| It’s literal meaning is “It’s nothing” and it is a common and polite way to respond to someone thanking you. |
| So when someone is saying toda or toda raba to you, we can simply reply with: |
| Bevakasha or Ein be-ad ma. |
| Now it’s time for Yana’s Insights. |
| If you’re not sure about whether to use Toda raba lakh or Toda raba lekha, keeping it simple is always your safest bet. Just Toda can be used with just about anyone, anywhere, and at anytime! |
| Do you know what Lehitraot means? In our next lesson you’ll learn this and other greetings in Hebrew! |
| Toda raba! Ve-ad ha-paam ha-baa! |
46 Comments
HideWho would you like to thank in Hebrew?
Hi Alexandra Popov,
Thanks for posting this important question! ❤️️
Hebrew is a very binary language, and it has no neutral gender. All objects and pronouns are either feminine or masculine.
For that reason, there's no grammatical possibility to refer to people in neutral, as it simply doesn't exist.
Some people choose to identify themselves as plural, but even in the plural tense we have either feminine or masculine, so that doesn't completely solve the problem. That said, I'm sure that we will see developments in the field in the next decades - Hebrew is a very dynamic language and new words are often invented in order to express contemporary ideas and emotions.
I hope that helps with your question for now :)
Yours,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
What about non-binary people
Shalom Rajesh,
Toda raba for your kind words, it really means a lot to us. 😇
If you have any questions, let us know. 😉
Kind regards,
Levente (לבנטה)
Team HebrewPod101.com
Yana your best teacher.. Your voice very clear.. ✌️
Hi Vera,
Thanks for posting this important question.
Hebrew can be tricky with its many letters that have similar sounds (you mentioned correctly "כּ" and "ק") and with its certain flexibility with how to write words.
Generally, when we're writing without nikkud (voweling) we will add vavs and yods often to stress a certain vowel. For example, the word "woman", (isha) is written אִשָּׁה with nikkud or "אישה" without it.
There is, unfortunately, no rule 'trick' that I could share with you - learning Hebrew involves acquiring a certain degree of intuition for it, which can be done after we have a large enough vocabulary. Then we can "predict" how a word is written even if we just heard it for the first time.
I hope that helps, please let us know if any further explanation is needed 👍
Best,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
Hi, l have a question about writing. For example; בבקשה bevakasha I thought like this ; בבכשה I mean with kaf then I saw, I’m wrong. Actually there are lots of letters I can not guess. One more; או o Or i Holam male. By which rule we write these. Is there a lesson I can learn. It is very important for me. Thanks a lot
Hi Aida Strocovsky,
Thank you for commenting and for the great feedback! 😄
We are happy to hear that you find our lessons motivating!
Enjoy learning Hebrew and always feel free to comment and post your thoughts and questions...!
Yours,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
You make people want to learn, Yana. Thanks!
Hi Valorie,
Thanks for commenting and posting your phrases.
Exactly! that is the correct (and very polite) way to thank someone in Hebrew 😄
Yours,
Roi
Team HebrewPod101.com
Toda Raba Le'kha. ( Male )
Thank You Very Much.
Toda Raba Lakh. ( Female)
Thank You Very Much.