Questions

Hebrew Lesson 9 (Questions and Misunderstanding)

Duration: 30 mins

Lessons Hebrew Lessons
Linguistic Hebrew Vocabulary
Culture Hebrew Phrases
Structure Hebrew Grammar

This 9th lesson teaches an important aspect in Hebrew which is the interrogative form also called questions. In addition, there is a list of vocabulary terms about misunderstanding and finally some commonly used phrases. I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar. That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate and when they are in a sentence. Going through the whole page should take about 30 min. Make sure to read the pronunciation and hear the audio as well. If you have any question about this course, please email me directly at Hebrew Classes.

Questions

Being able to ask questions is what makes us curious beings, which in turns broadens our knowledge. It is no different when it comes to learning Hebrew. You will always be asking questions, and the following are some tools to help you in that quest.

The following are the 5 Ws + "how" commonly used adverbs to express the interrogative form. Most likely, whenever a question needs to be asked, one of them should be used. The table contains 3 columns (English, Hebrew, and Audio). Make sure you repeat each word after hearing it by either clicking on the audio button or by reading the pronunciation. That should help with memorization as well as improving your pronunciation.

Interrogative Form in Hebrew

Questions Hebrew Audio
How?כיצד / איך? [Eikh / keitzad]
What?מה? [Ma-]
When?מתי? [Matai]
Where?היכן / איפה? [Eifo / eikhan]
Who?מי? [Mi-]
Why?מדוע / למה? [lama / madu'a]

Now we will try to implement the adverbs above into full Hebrew sentences. That way you will be able to use the word not only by itself but embedded in a structure.

Hebrew Questions in a Sentence

Can I come?אני יכול לבוא [ani yachol lavo]
Can I help you?אפשר לעזור לך? [Efshar laazor lekha?]
Can you help me? / אתה יכול לעזור לי אפשר לעזור לי? [ata yachol laazor li / efshar laazor li?]
Do you know her?אתה מכיר אותה [ata mekir otah?]
Do you speak English?אתה מדבר אנגלית [ata medaber anglit]
How difficult is it?כמה קשה זה [kama kashe ze]
How far is this?כמה רחוק זה [kama rahok ze]
How much is this?כמה זה עולה [kama ze oleh]
How would you like to pay?איך תרצה לשלם [eikh tirtze leshalem?]
What is this called?-?איך קוראים לזה [Eikh korim le-ze?]
What is your name?מה שמך? [ma shimha / ma shmekh]
What time is it?מה השעה [ma hashaa]
When can we meet?איפה נוכל להיפגש [eyfo nuchal lehipagesh]
Where do you live?איפה אתה / את גרה? [eyfo ata / at gar / a]
Who is knocking at the door?מי דופק בדלת [mi dofek badelet]
Why is it expensive?למה זה יקר [lama ze yakar]

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact me If you simply want to ask a question, please Hebrew contact form on the header above.

Vocabulary List about Misunderstanding

There are times when you will not understand what a person said in Hebrew, or simply that you want them to repeat a word. The following are 24 expressions used to clear misunderstandings. Very essential to any conversation!

Misunderstanding in Hebrew

Misunderstanding Hebrew Audio
Can you repeat??אפשר לחזור על זה [Efshar lakhzor el ze?]
Can you speak slowly??אפשר לדבר לאט [Efshar ledaber le'at?]
Did you understand what I said??הבנת מה שאמרתי [Hevanta ma she amarti?]
Don't worry!אל תדאג [Al tidag!]
Excuse me? (i.e. I beg your pardon?)?סליחה [Slikha]
How do you say "OK" in French??איך אומרים ""בסדר"" בצרפתית [Eih omrim ""beseder"" be-tzarfatit?]
I don't know!אני לא יודע / ת, אינני יודע / ת [Ani lo yode'a / yoda'at / Eineni yode'a / yoda'at]
I don't understand!אני לא מבין / נה [Ani lo mevin / a]
I need to practice my Frenchאני צריך / כה להתאמן בצרפתית [Ani tzarikh / tzrikha lehit'amen be-tzarfatit]
Is that right??האם זה נכון [Ha'im ze nakhon?]
Is that wrong??האם זאת טעות [Ha'im zot ta'ut?]
Mistakeטעות [Ta'ut]
My French is badהצרפתית שלי לא טובה [Hs-tzarfatit sheli lo tova]
No problem!לא משנה / אין בעיה [Lo meshaneh / Ein bea'ia]
Quicklyמהר [Maher]
Slowlyלאט [Le'at]
Sorry (to apologize)אני מתנצל / ת [Ani mitnatzel / et]
To speakלדבר [Ledaber]
What does that word mean in English??מה זה אומר באנגלית [Ma ze omer be-anglit?]
What is this??מב זה [Ma zeh?]
What should I say??מה צריך להגיד [Ma tzarikh leag'id?]
What??מה [Ma?]
What's that called in French??איך אומרים את זה בצרפתית [Eih omrim ze be-tzarfatit?]
Write it down please!בבקשה לרשום [Bevakasha lirshom]

Daily Conversation in Hebrew

Finally, a list of some common phrases that you might come across from time to time. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Hebrew Phrases page. Enjoy!

Common Expressions in Hebrew

English Hebrew Audio
Thisזה [Ze]
Thatההוא [Ha-hu]
Hereכאן / פה [Can / po]
Thereשם [Sham]
In The Morningבבוקר [Ba-boker]
In the eveningבערב [Ba-erev]
At Nightבלילה [Ba-layla]
Really!באמת [Be-emet]
Look!!הסתכל [Histakel / histakli]
Hurry up!מהר / י []

Fun Facts

Language Quote: The oldest written language was believed to be written in about 4500 BC.

Congratulations! You finished your 9th lesson in Hebrew about questions, and misunderstanding. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Hebrew Lesson 10. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Hebrew homepage.

Lessons Hebrew Lessons
Linguistic Hebrew Vocabulary
Culture Hebrew Phrases
Structure Hebrew Grammar