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Lesson Transcript

Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Hebrew Survival Phrases, brought to you by HebrewPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Israel. You'll be surprised at how far a little Hebrew will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by HebrewPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment!
Survival Phrases Lesson 59 - Nationality
In today's lesson, we'll cover a phrase you will be able to use in all those moments in which you are introducing yourself or even your friends and you are talking about your own country and the place you come from.
First, let's review how to introduce ourselves. In Hebrew, "My name is Ofer" is קוֹרְאִים לִי עֹפֶר, Kor'im li Ofer. Let's break it down by syllable and hear it one more time,קוֹרְאִים לִי עֹפֶר, Kor'im li Ofer. Here we have קוֹרְאִים, Kor'im, which means "call," and לִי, Li, which means "me." To recap, we have קוֹרְאִים לִי, Kor'im li.
Now let's cover how to say where you're from! In Hebrew, "I'm from America" is אֲנִי מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Ani me'amerika. The first word אֲנִי, Ani means "I." Next, we have מְאָמֶרִיקָה, meamerika, which in English is "from America." Please note that in Hebrew we attach prepositions to nouns or adjectives. Thus, we attach the preposition מְ, Me "from" to the adjective אָמֶרִיקָה, Amerika "America" in this sentence. To recap here, we have just two words: a subject אֲנִי, Ani and an adjective מְאָמֶרִיקָה, meamerika. All together, we have אֲנִי מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Ani meamerika, meaning, "I am from America."
In Hebrew, "I'm from Spain" is אֲנִי מְסְפָרַד, Ani mesfarad. Now, let's hear it once again, אֲנִי מְסְפָרַד, Ani mesfarad. As you can see, the sentence doesn't change. You always have אֲנִי מְ, Ani me "I am from." Then, the only thing that changes is the place. Therefore, you have סְפָרַד, Sfarad in place of אָמֶרִיקָה, Amerika.
In Hebrew, as we have seen before, there are different ways to say things depending on the gender of the
speaker and listener. If you are a man, this phrase is the way you answer the question, מְאֵיפֹה אַתָּה, Me'eifo ata?
In English, this means, "where do you come from?" Let's break it down by syllable and hear it one more time, ?מְאֵיפֹה אַתָּה, Me'eifo ata? The first word מְאֵיפֹה Me'eifo means "from where." Then, you have Ata, which in English is "you." All together, we have ?מְאֵיפֹה אַתָּה, Me'eifo ata? This literally means, "From where you?" We translate it as "Where do you come from?"
If you are a woman, "Where do you come from?" is ?מְאֵיפֹה אָתּ, Me'eifo at? In English, this means, "Where do you come from?" Let's break it down by syllable and hear it one more time, ?מְאֵיפֹה אָתּ, Me'eifo at? The first word מְאֵיפֹה, Me'eifo means, "from where." Then, you have אָתּ, At, which in English is "you." All together, we have ?מְאֵיפֹה אָתּ, Me'eifo at? This literally means, "From where you?" We translate it as "where do you come from?"
The subject changes if you are introducing a friend to someone. Therefore, "He's from America" in Hebrew is הוֹא מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Hu me'amerika. The adjective doesn't change but the subject does. You have הוֹא, Hu, which means "he" in place of אֲנִי, Ani "I." All together, we have הוֹא מְאָמֶרִיקָה, הוֹא מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Hu me'amerika. "She's from American" would be היִא מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Hi me'amerika. Since היִא, Hi in English means "she" and the adjective stays the same.
Ok, to close out today's lesson, we would like you to practice what you have just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it out loud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so !בְּהַצְלָחָה, Behatzlacha! which means "Good luck!" in Hebrew.
"My name is Ofer." - קוֹרְאִים לִי עֹפֶר, Kor'im li ofer.
"I'm from America." - אֲנִי מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Ani me'amerika.
"I'm from Spain." - אֲנִי מְסְפָרַד, Ani mesfarad.
"Where do you come from?" (male listener) - ?מְאֵיפֹה אַתָּה, Me'eifo ata?
"Where do you come from?" (female listener) - ?מְאֵיפֹה אָתּ, Me'eifo at?
"He's from America." - הוֹא מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Hu me'amerika.
"She's from America" - היִא מְאָמֶרִיקָה, Hi me'amerika.
Jessi: Alright! That's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by HebrewPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment!

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