Hebrew Starter Kit

Language is dynamic and there are often numerous ways to say the same thing, especially when considering slang and colloquialisms. The aim of this guide is to offer some basic words, idioms and terms and phrases in Hebrew which will hopefully help newcomers, visitors, volunteers, and others feel more comfortable by having some information at their fingertips. Cultural flavour and explanations have also been thrown into the mix. On the whole, American and British English has been taken into account – further proof that language can be complicated!

There will be additions and changes over time and suggestions and comments are welcome.

There is something here for everyone … from people who have never heard Hebrew before and don’t know the alphabet to people who have a grasp of some basic Hebrew. The guide has been put together especially with volunteers in mind. It is true that many people you will encounter in Israel speak and/or understand English at some level (although perhaps not necessarily other languages). However, it is helpful to have some words and phrases in Hebrew upfront and it assists in providing a feeling of assurance. Locals usually appreciate the effort and it should be fun too to try your hand at Hebrew!

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters – more if you include the “final” letters. (Certain letters have a final letter which is used if it appears at the end of the word). The reason that the alphabet is of note here in this guide is that there are some letters in the Hebrew alphabet which simply don’t exist in English (or perhaps other languages as well).

• Most notably is the letter hhet ח which is often transliterated as CH. However, the letter hhet ח doesn’t make the sound of CH as in the word CHIPS. It makes a guttural H sound. Therefore, the letter hhet ח is written in this guide with two letters HH together showing a heavy, more guttural H sound.

• Another letter in the Hebrew alphabet which doesn’t exist in English is the letter taddik צ.  This letter takes the sound of TZ together in the guide.

Let’s begin!!

Volunteering opportunities often start early in the morning and a good way to greet people at the start of the day is by saying BO’-CARE TOV – Good morning. In Hebrew, the adjective comes after the noun that it modifies, so BO’-CARE is morning and TOV means good.

Similarly, Good evening is EREV TOV and Good night is LIE-LA TOV.

TOV	Good	טוֹב	He-טוֹב.ogg
BO’-CARE	Morning	בֹּוקֶר
BO’-CARE TOV	Good morning	בֹּקֶר טוֹב
EREV TOV	Good evening	עֶרֶב טוֹב
LIE-LA TOV	Good night	לַיְלָה טוֹב

The summer months are long in Israel and it is important to take care in the hot weather.  It is essential to drink plenty of water – MA-YIM so try to keep a bottle of water with you at all times. It is good to know the words: BACK-BOOK (bottle) MA-YIM.  When out in the sun, it is also strongly recommended to wear a hat – KO’-VA to protect oneself from the sun.  Other useful words are:

HHAM (pronounced more like HAM but with a guttural sounding H) meaning hot.

CREM HA-GA-NA – literally translated protective cream, sunscreen, sunblock

SHE-MESH – the sun

CAR – cold

MAZ-GAN – air conditioner

In order to say, “I am cold”, you can say CAR  LEE or the opposite “hot” HHAM  LEE.

YE-TOOSHIM - Mosquitoes.  There are sprays and roll-ons in every pharmacy and most supermarkets, including natural varieties. Also popular are small electric gadgets that plug into the socket.

MA-YIM	Water	מַיִם
BACK-BOOK	Bottle	בַּקְבּוּק
KO’-VA	Hat	כּוֹבַע
HHAM	Hot	חַם
CREM HA-GA-NA	Sunscreen	קְרֵם הֲגַנָּה
SHE-MESH	Sun	שֶׁמֶשׁ
CAR	Cold	קַר
MAZ-GAN	Air conditioner	מַזְגָן
CAR LEE / HHAM LEE	I am cold / hot	קַר לִי / חַם לִי
YE-TOOSHIM	Mosquitoes	יתּוּשִׁים

Back to Basics

KEN means yes

LOW means no

And OO-LIE means maybe, best with a flick of the wrist like ‘I don’t know’

KEN	yes	כֵּן
LOW	no	לֹא
OO-LIE	maybe	אוּלַי

You can learn one of the following words by heart and say it all the time, they are words that go a long way and can become a mantra!

BA-ROOR	Clearly	בָּרוּר
LE-GAM-RAY	Absolutely	לְגַמְרֵי
BE-TAHH	Sure	בֶּטַח
BE-VA-DIE	Of course	בְּוַודַּאי
AHH-LA	Great!	אַחְלָה
SA-BA-BA	Good!	סַבַּבָּה
BE-SE-DER	Okay!	בְּסֵדֶר
BE-SE-DER GA-MOOR	Absolutely okay!	בְּסֵדֶר גָּמוּר
MA-MASH	Really!	מַמָּשׁ

Introductions and Meeting People

There are a few ways to say “My name is …” or “I’m called …..” but the simplest way is to say “I am …….” as follows:

The Hebrew word for “I” is A-NEE, with the emphasis on the 2^nd syllable. It is like saying the name “Annie” but with the emphasis on the second part of the word. So “I am Sara” is simply:

A-NEE  SARA.   

A-NEE (“I”)  is both masculine and feminine so “I am David” is also: A-NEE  DAVID.

The form of the word ‘to be’ (am/is/are) is not used in the present tense in Hebrew. In other words, whereas one says “I am Sara” in English, we’re only really saying “I Sara” in Hebrew.

Even in professional settings, relationships tend to be informal. First names are used quickly.

The customary “nice to meet you” phrase in Hebrew, is:

NA-EEM  MEH-ODE – na-eem means pleasant/nice and meh-ode means very.   (very pleasant)

To explain that you are a volunteer, the word “volunteer” takes a masculine or feminine form.

A-NEE  MIT-NA-DEV is the masculine form to say “I am a volunteer”. Technically, it says “I volunteer” because again, there is no equivalent of “am” and no equivalent of the word “a” in that sentence.

A-NEE  MIT-NA-DEH-VET is the feminine form to say “I am a volunteer”.

Let’s put all that together:

A-NEE  SARA.                                   I am Sara

A-NEE  MIT-NA-DEH-VET.                    I am a volunteer (feminine form)

NA-EEM  MEH-ODE.                               Nice to meet you

ANEE	I (man or woman)	אֲנִי
A-NEE  SARA A-NEE  DAVID	I am Sara I am David	אֲנִי שָׁרָה אֲנִי דָּוִד
NA-EEM  MEH-ODE	Very nice to meet you	נָעִים מְאוֹד
A-NEE  MIT-NA-DEV	I am a volunteer (masculine form)	אֲנִי מִתְנַדֵּב
A-NEE  MIT-NA-DEH-VET	I am a volunteer (feminine form)	אֲנִי מִתְנַדֶּבֶת

And to continue introducing yourself:

A-NEE Meh ….. I am from (masculine or feminine form)

Many countries sound similar in Hebrew and English.

A-NEE  Meh-AMERICA           I am from America

A-NEE  Meh-ANGLIA                  I am from England

Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina are other examples of countries that sound almost the same.

Two notable exceptions are France and Greece.

A-NEE  Meh-TZAR-FAT  I am from France.       A-NEE  Meh- YA-VAN I am from Greece.

A-NEE Meh	I am from …	אֲנִי מ ...
A-NEE Meh-AMERICA	I am from America	אֲנִי מֵאָמֵרִיקָה
A-NEE Meh-ANGLIA	I am from England	אֲנִי מֵאַנְגְּלִיָּה
A-NEE Meh-TZAR-FAT	I am from France	אֲנִי מִצָּרְפַת

An ‘aside’ about first names. Most modern Israeli families give names that have a meaning. It’s often interesting to hear the story behind the name. It is not unusual for names to be popular for both girls and boys. I know of a husband and wife who are both named LIOR.  There are also some names which sound peculiar in English but are popular in Hebrew. For example, Dor, Bar, (two especially bad names if your last name is Bell or Mann – and I know of someone with that first and last name!), Osnat, Dudu and others, so don’t be taken by surprise. Gal is often a boy’s name.

Positivity and Encouragement

Some positive phrases to start off any volunteering experience as well as some practical questions. Verbs in the present tense in Hebrew have masculine and feminine forms and singular and plural forms for each (usually the feminine form of the verb has an extra ending AH, or ET).  Adjectives which describe a person also take on masculine or feminine forms, depending on who is speaking. (Furthermore, adjectives which describe nouns also take on masculine or feminine forms but we won’t be getting into that at this point).

Some examples of adjectives and verbs in masculine or feminine forms in the singular:

1. “I am happy”, the adjective happy will be different depending on whether a man or a woman is speaking.  A man will need to say SA-MAY-AHH and a woman will need to say SA-MAY-HHA.

2. I love Israel, the verb love will be different depending on whether a man or a woman is speaking.  A man will need to say O’HEV and a woman will need to say O’HEV-ET.

This is a very simplified version of masculine/feminine rules for verbs and adjectives, but it’s a start and no one would expect a beginner to get everything right, you’ll still make yourself understood!

See above for an explanation of the word A-NEE – I.

A-NEE  SA-MAY-AHH  L’HEE-YOT  KAN (masculine)	I am happy to be here	אֲנִי שָׂמֵחַ לִהְיוֹת כָּאן
A-NEE  SA-MAY-HHA  L’HEE-YOT  KAN (feminine)		אֲנִי שְׂמֵחָה לִהְיוֹת כָּאן
A-NEE  SA-MAY-AHH  LA-AZOR  (masculine)	I am happy to help	אֲנִי שָׂמֵחַ לַעֲזֹר
A-NEE  SA-MAY-HHA  LA-AZOR  (feminine)		אֲנִי שְׂמֵחָה לַעֲזֹר
A-NEE  O’HEV  V’TOE-MEHH  B’YIS-RAEL (m)	I love and support Israel	אֲנִי אוֹהֵב וְתוֹמֵךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
A-NEE O’HEVET  V’TOE-MEH-HHET  B’YIS-RAEL (f)		אֲנִי אוֹהֶבֶת וְתוֹמֶכֶת בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
A-NEE  KAN  KEE  EHH-PAT  LEE	I am here because I care	אֲנִי כָּאן כִּי אִכְפַּת לִי

Some fairly easy, positive, uplifting words and phrases are:

• B’SIM-HHA – Happy to ……..

• B’KEF – With pleasure or my pleasure

• AY-ZEH  KEF – What fun!

These words can be used all the time.

Another useful word that is multi-functional is EF-SHAR. It means “possible” and can be used to start a question such as:

• Is it possible to have some water? Just say EF-SHAR  MA-YIM? You can add please at the end, but you don’t have to. B’VA-KA-SHA.  Israelis are usually fairly direct in their speaking, and you don’t need to add “please” very often.

• Is it possible to fill my water bottle?  EF-SHAR  L’MA-LEH  ET  HA-BACK-BOOK?

• Is it possible to wash my hands?    EF-SHAR  LISH-TOFF  ET  HA-YA-DA-YIM?

• Is it possible to get some gloves?   EF-SHAR  KE-FA-FOT?

• Is it possible to get some help? EF-SHAR  EZ-RAH?

• Is it possible to get the check/bill? EF-SHAR  ET  HA-HHESH-BON? 

It can also mean “yes, that’s possible,” in other words, “yes, I can/will do that”. In other words, when someone asks you to do something, you can happily answer EF-SHAR.

Another, perhaps simpler, way to ask these questions is to use the word YAYSH – literally means “there is”, or “is there”. For instance:

• Is there water?                                YAYSH  MA-YIM?

• Is there water to fill my bottle?      YAYSH  MA-YIM  L’BACK-BOOK?

• Is there a place to wash my hands?    YAYSH  MAKOM  LISH-TOFF  ET  

HA-YA-DA-YIM?

• Is there a bathroom?                       YAYSH  SHAY-ROO-TEEM?

• Are there gloves?                            YAYSH   KE-FA-FOT?

If you would like to ask “Is this where the volunteer activity is taking place?”, the easiest way is to say:

KAN  HA-HIT-NAD-VOOT? The word KAN means here and basically it is asking “Is the volunteering right here?”

Health Care Words

Help is EZ-RA

First aid is EZ-RA  REE-SHOW-NA

PLASTER is a plaster (in America band aid!)

Aspirin is ACAMOL (that’s a brand name)

Allergy is ALLERGIA  L…. (to)

• Nuts – EH-GO-ZIM

• Milk – HHA-LAV

• Dairy products – MOO-TZA-RAY  HHA-LAV

• Gluten is GLUTEN (emphasis on 2^nd syllable)

• Spicy food – HHA-REEF

Police: 100

Magen David Adom: Ambulance - 101

Fire Department: 102

Dentist -  ROE-FAY  SHEE-NA-YIM

Some Niceties

These are also words which can be used over and over again!

TOE-DA is Thank you

TOE-DA  RABBA is Thank you very much

SEH-LEE-HHA is Sorry, excuse me

SHALOM means hello, goodbye and peace, so it’s something of a catch-all when you arrive and leave! Israelis also say hi and bye in any event, but if you want to try out a harder Hebrew word, say L’HEET-RAH-OT meaning “see you”.

BEH-VA-KA-SHA – means please, it can also mean “you’re welcome”. The word ‘please’ isn’t used as often as in other countries!

TOE-DA	Thank you	תּוֹדָה
TOE-DA  RABBA	Thank you very much	תּוֹדָה רַבָּה
SEH-LEE-HHA	Sorry, excuse me	סְלִיחָה
SHALOM	Hello / goodbye / peace	שָׁלוֹם
L’HEET-RAH-OT	See you	לְהִתְרָאוֹת
BEH-VA-KA-SHA	Please / you’re welcome	בְּבַקָּשָׁה

It is customary to wish people SHABBAT SHALOM at any point of the day on Friday – have a peaceful Sabbath. Sometimes people even start to say Shabbat Shalom on Thursday and if someone wishes you Shabbat Shalom, it is polite to say it back.  Similarly, when there is a holiday coming up (and there very often is a holiday coming up!) it is customary to wish one another HHAG  SA-MAY-AHH   – HHag is holiday and sa-may-ahh is happy (again, the adjective comes after the noun, not the other way around). People often buy flowers (PE-RA-HHIM) for Shabbat or a holiday and also the traditional HALLA loaf of bread.

On an ordinary day, one can say YOM  TOV  LEHHA – good day to you (if speaking to a man), YOM  TOV LAHH - good day to you (if speaking to a woman) or just say YOM TOV – it should be a good day.

MAZAL TOV – means Congratulations and is used on many happy occasions.

KOL HA-KA-VOD – is a nice phrase and means Well done.

YOM  HOO-LE-DET  SA-MAY-AHH   – means Happy birthday. As we saw above, YOM is day and SA-MAY-AHH  is happy.

SHABBAT   SHALOM	Have a peaceful Sabbath	שַׁבַּת שָׁלוֹם
HHAG   SA-MAY-AHH	Have a happy holiday	חַג שָׂמֵחַ
YOM  TOV  LEHHA	Good day to you (speaking to a man)	יוֹם טוֹב לְךָ
YOM  TOV  LAHH	Good day to you (speaking to a woman)	יוֹם טוֹב לָךְ
YOM  TOV	Good day	שֶׁיִּהְיֶה יוֹם טוֹב
MAZAL  TOV	Congratulations!	מַזָּל טוֹב
KOL  HA-KA-VOD	Well done!	כָּל הַכָּבוֹד
YOM  HOO-LE-DET  SA-MAY-AHH	Happy birthday	יוֹם הֻולֶּדֶת שָׂמֵחַ

How Are You Doing?

When you want to ask someone “How are you?”, the way that you say the phrase in Hebrew depends on the person you are speaking to. In English, the pronoun “you” can refer to one man, one woman, or a group of people in the room, etc.  On the other hand, in Hebrew, the word “you” takes a different form depending on who you are addressing.

To simplify things, if you want to ask one man “How are you?”, say:

MA  SHLOM-HHA? (Gutteral sounding H towards the end of the second word)

If you want to ask one woman “How are you?”, say:

MA  SHLO-MAYHH? (Gutteral sounding H at the end of the second word)

Or skip all of that and simply ask MA  NISH-MA? – What’s up, what’s happening, how are you doing (technically it means ‘what’s it sound like’, but that doesn’t make any sense in English!)

Or simply ask MA  IN-YA-NIM? - What’s going on, how are things?

What should you reply if someone asks you “How are you?”

A well-rounded phrase in reply is:

B’SE-DER – meaning everything is in order, fine, good. You can add TODA (thank you)

As a matter of fact, you can use this word in many situations, just as you would use the phrase Okay.

and you can answer B’SE-DER  TOE-DA.

When someone says YI-HI-YEH  B’SE-DER (using the future tense – it will be fine/alright, that’s usually the starting point at which to worry because it’s a phrase people say even if they have no idea if it will be Okay!

MA SHLOM-HHA?	How are you? (speaking to a man)	מָה שְׁלוֹמְךָ?
MA SHLO-MAYHH?	How are you? (speaking to a woman)	מָה שְׁלוֹמֵךְ?
B’SE-DER	Fine, good, okay	בְּסֵדֶר
B’SE-DER TOE-DA	Fine, okay thank you	בְּסֵדֶר תּוֹדָה
MA  NISH-MA	What’s up?	מָה נִשְׁמָע?
MA  IN-YA-NIM? -	What’s going on, How are things?
YI-HI-YEH B’SE-DER	It will be okay	יִהְיֶה בְּסֵדֶר

Some Question Words and Essentials

First, the word “Where”

AY-FOE – Where is …?

SHAY-ROO-TEEM – Bathroom

MA-LON (or BAYT  MA-LON) – Hotel

RE-HHOV - Street

O’TOE-BUS – Bus

BAYT  HHOLIM – Hospital

BAYT  MEER-KA-HHAT – Pharmacy/drugstore

MIS-A-DA – Restaurant

BAYT  CAFÉ – Coffee shop

SUPER – Supermarket

MA-KOE-LET – Corner store, usually sell all the basic staples

YAM – The beach, the sea

TA-YE-LET – The promenade near the beach

Let’s say you want to ask: “Where is the Maxim Hotel on Hayarkon Street (number 86)”. You can say “AY-FOE  MA-LON  MAXIM,  B’YARKON?”  In this question, the prefix “B” means “on”.  Because Hayarkon is a long, major street, it is mainly just called HAYARKON and no need to add the word street in Hebrew. The number 86 in Hebrew is SHMOE-NEEM  V’SHESH – but we’ll get to numbers below.

If you do want to ask where a particular street is, the name of the street comes after the word Street, so Herzl Street is RE-HHOV  HERZL. There are other words such as boulevard (SHDEROT), alley (MEVO) and others which you may notice when getting around town.

You can add the prefix HA in front of some of the nouns to be more correct in your sentence structure. AY-FOE  HA- SHAY-ROO-TEEM? Where is THE bathroom? Sometimes the noun comprises two words, like BAYT HHOLIM (hospital), the HA prefix (the) goes in front of the SECOND word, not the first. AY-FOE  BAYT HA-HHOLIM?

AY-FOE	Where	אֵיפֹה?
SHAY-ROO-TEEM	Bathroom	שֵׁירוּתִים
MA-LON	Hotel	מָלוֹן
RE-HHOV	Street	רְחוֹב
O’TOE-BUS	Bus	אוֹטוֹבּוּס
BAYT HHOLIM	Hospital	בֵּית חוֹלִים
BAYT  MEER-KA-HHAT	Pharmacy/drugstore	בֵּית מִרְקַחַת
MIS-A-DA	Restaurant	מִסְעָדָה
BAYT  CAFÉ	Coffee Shop	בֵּית קָפֶה
SUPER	Supermarket	סוּפֶּר
MA-KOE-LET	Corner store	מַכֹּלֶת
AY-FOE  MA-LON  MAXIM, B’YARKON?	Where is the Maxim Hotel on Hayarkon?	אֵיפֹה מָלוֹן מַקְסִים בְּהַיׇרקוֹן?
HA	The	ה ...
AY-FOE  HA- SHAY-ROO-TEEM?	Where is the bathroom?	אֵיפֹה הַשֵּׁרוּתִים?
AY-FOE  BAYT  HA-HHOLIM?	Where is the hospital?	אֵיפֹה בֵּית הַחוֹלִים?
NA-MAL  TE-OO-FA or SE-DEH  TE-OO-FA or NATBAG	Airport Ben Gurion airport	נְמַל תְּעוּפָה שְׂדֵה תְּעוּפָה נַתְבָּ"ג

A few words about Ben Gurion International Airport. It is often called just Ben Gurion or just the Airport. In Hebrew, the word airport is NA-MAL (port) TE-OO-FA or SE-DEH (field) TE-OO-FA.  Commonly used however is the acronym NATBAG, a rather strange sounding acronym for NAMAL TE-OO-FA BEN GURION.   NATBAG is used in the train stations. Note that the light railway does NOT go to the airport.

There was a time in Israel before Ways and Google Maps that people would always answer “go straight, straight, straight” YA-SHAR, YA-SHAR, YA-SHAR when asked directions, even if the destination was on the right YAMIN or left SMOLL or a combination of both. Israelis usually don’t like to admit that they really don’t know the answer LOW YO’DAY-AH / LOW YO’DA-AT and usually want to be helpful anyway. While on the topic of directions, North TZA-FON.  South DA-ROM.   East MIZ-RAHH.  We are in the Middle East (MIZ-RAHH  HA-TIHHON). West MA-ARAV.  The Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem is HA-KOTEL  HA-MA-ARAVI.

A-NEE  LOW  MAY-VEEN (masculine form) I don’t understand

A-NEE  LOW  MAY-VEENA (feminine form) I don’t understand

YASHAR	Straight	יָשָׁר
YAMIN	Right	יָמִין
SMOLL	Left	שְׂמֹאל
LOW YO’DAY-AH (masculine form)	Don’t know	לֹא יוֹדֵעַ
LOW YO’DA-AT (feminine form)	Don’t know	לֹא יוֹדַעַת
TZA-FON	North	צָפוֹן
DA-ROM	South	דְּרוֹם
MIZ-RAHH	East	מִזְרָח
MA-ARAV	West	מַעֲרָב
A-NEE  LOW  MAY-VEEN (masculine form)	I don’t understand	אֲנִי לֹא מֵבִין
A-NEE  LOW  MAY-VEENA (feminine form)	I don’t understand	אֲנִי לֹא מְבִינָה

KA-MA? – How much/how many? You can add KA-MA  ZEH – how much is this? ZEH = this

MAH?  - What? You can also add MAH  ZEH? – What is this?

MA-TAI? – When?

LA-MA? MA-DU-A?  -  Why?

MEE? – Who?  You can add MEE ZEH? – Who is it, who is this?

KA-MA?	How much?	כַּמָּה
KA-MA  ZEH	How much is this?	כַּמָּה זֶה
MAH?	What?	מָה
MAH  ZEH?	What is this?	מָה זֶה
MA-TAI?	When?	מָתַי
LA-MA?	Why?	לָמָּה
MEE?	Who?	מִי

Time and Days of the Week

First of all, the work week in Israel begins on Sunday, so there isn’t exactly a weekend! However, many people don’t work on Friday or at least finish work early that day. Shops and restaurants usually close at about 2:00 or 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday. Similarly, public transportation like buses and trains also stop at about 3:00 pm and only resume after the Sabbath on Saturday night. Most shopping centers also only re-open on Saturday night. There are many supermarkets and restaurants that stay open on Friday afternoon/evening and on the Sabbath in Tel Aviv and some other cities as well. There are some shuttle vans in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath.  All of this applies to holidays as well, such as Passover and other holidays.

The days in Hebrew are called numerically, not named. Starting with Sunday as “the first day”, Monday is “the second day”, etc.  YOM means day. Sometimes people skip the word YOM (day) and just say REE-SHOWN (which means first) and it’s implied that they are referring to Sunday, the “First Day” of the week or SHAY-NEE -the second day of the week, etc.

1 YOM  REE-SHOWN	Sunday	יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן
2 YOM  SHAY-NEE	Monday	יוֹם שֵׁנִי
3 YOM  SHLEE-SHEE	Tuesday	יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי
4  YOM  REH-VEE-EE	Wednesday	יוֹם רְבִיעִי
5  YOM  HHA-MEE-SHEE	Thursday	יוֹם חֲמִישִׁי
6  YOM SHEE -SHEE	Friday	יוֹם שִׁשִּׁי
7  YOM SHABBAT or just SHABBAT	Saturday	יוֹם שַׁבָּת

In Israel, the 24-hour clock is often used, less so when spoken, but especially when a time is written down. A.M. and P.M. are not used. In other words, 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon (p.m.) is written as 13:00 and so on until midnight.

1:00 pm       13:00                                               7:00 pm       19:00

2:00 pm       14:00                                               8:00 pm       20:00

3:00 pm       15:00                                               9:00 pm       21:00

4:00 pm       16:00                                               10:00 pm     22:00

5:00 pm       17:00                                               11:00 pm     23:00

6:00 pm       18:00                                                  

In addition, it’s worth keeping in mind that "Israeli time" can be a bit flexible. Things may start a little later than scheduled.

Food and Drink 

Two excellent words to start off the food and drink section are BE’TAY-A-VON (bon appetit) and LE’HHA-YIM (cheers).

You may be happy to learn that a lot of food and drink are the same in Hebrew and English, just pronounced a little differently. For example:

Tea is pronounced TAY

Coffee is pronounced CAFÉ

A cappuccino is called CAFÉ HA-FOOHH (again, this is a guttural sounding H at the end of the word). It literally means upside down coffee.

The word ‘with’ in Hebrew is EEM.  So if you want to say ‘with milk’, it is EEM  HHA-LAV.  Soy milk is basically the same as in English - HHA-LAV  SOYA.

If you want to say ‘without’ then say BLEE.

Worth noting that CAFÉ  SHAHHOR - which translates as black coffee is probably going to be understood by Israelis as Turkish coffee which is thick, strong coffee (an acquired taste but pretty good!) It’s also referred to as BOTZ, which means mud!

Cold coffee is CAFÉ  CAR  and ice coffee is ICE  CAFÉ.

Ice tea in a bottle is usually referred to as the brand name Nestea.

Another popular drink is mint tea, made with mint/nana leaves - TAY NANA.

Juice is MITZ and there’s often freshly squeezed fruit juice.

Many other examples of words that are the same in both languages are:

Pasta, pizza, hamburger, noodles, yoghurt, tuna, salmon, cornflakes (covers all manner of cereal), Quaker (porridge), pitta, crackers (crackerim), banana, avocado, lemon, cuscus, quinoa, soda, cola (Coca Cola), shake, beer (BEERA), Zero (diet Coke/Zero) chocolate (SHOKOLAD - almost the same), salad (SALAT), tofu, and of course felafel.

As stated above, SALAT is salad. An Israeli salad consists of small pieces of chopped tomato and cucumber. Depending on the type of restaurant, many places offer an array of small salads as a starter including re-fills (pickles, pickled vegetables, cabbage, the above mentioned Israeli salad, humus, tehina, roasted eggplant and more.)

As for felafel, street felafel vendors are plentiful. They freshly prepare either a whole pitta with felafel or a half pitta. If you want a whole pitta, ask for a MANA felafel (means a portion/serving). If you only want a half portion, ask for a HE-TZI  MANA.  They will ask you what to add in – tehina, salad, pickles, cabbage, sometimes chips/French fries, sometimes humus.  It is very good to know the word KE-TZAT – if you only want a little of something, like a little tehina or a little HHA-REEF – hot sauce, otherwise the vendor can go overboard!

Another favorite dish sold by street vendors is sabich – this is also in pitta and has roasted eggplant, a hard boiled egg, tehina, pickles and salad in it. Delicious and filling.

It is certainly worthwhile trying the felafel, sabich, shakshuka (eggs cooked in a tomato and pepper sauce), borekas (dough filled with cheese, sometimes spinach, potato, mushrooms) and spending time at a busy, colorful open air market (SHUK).

The Levinsky Market (SHUK LEVINSKY) has well-known places that sell ONLY borekas – with an egg, pickles and tomato relish on the side.

Please note: To say vegetarian - TZIM-HHO’-NEE.  There are masculine and feminine forms, but this will probably do but for those who wish - add a T at the end for the feminine ending. To say: “I am a vegetarian” is  A-NEE  TZIM-HHO’-NEE.  “Do you have vegetarian food or Is there vegetarian food?” is  YESH  OHHEL  TZIM-HHO’-NEE?

To say “vegan”, it is quite similar to what you need for vegetarian.   TIV-O’-NEE.  There are masculine and feminine forms, add a T at the end for the feminine. To say “I am a vegan” is  A-NEE  TIV-O’-NEE.  “Do you have vegan food of Is there vegan food?” is  YESH  OHHEL  TIV-O’-NEE?

Other useful food and drink words are:

LAHH-MA-NEE-YA	A roll	לַחְמָנִיָּה
LE-HHEM	Bread	לֶחֶם
GE-VEE-NA	Cheese	גְּבִינָה
HHA-LAV	Milk	חָלָב
BA-SAR	Meat	בָּשָׂר
OAFF	Chicken	עוֹף
DAG	Fish	דָּג
O’REZ	Rice	אֹרֶז
MA-RAK	Soup	מָרָק
TA-POO-AHH	An apple	תַּפּוּחַ
TA-POOZ	An orange	תַּפּוּז
YA-YIN	Wine	יַיִן
YE-RA-KOT	Vegetables	יְרָקוֹת

Transportation

RA-KE-VET – Train

TA-HHA-NAT  RA-KE-VET – Train station

RA-KE-VET  KA-LA – Light railway

O’TOE-BUS – bus

TA-HHA-NAT O’TOE-BUS – This refers to the bus stop but it can also mean the bus station, so it can be confusing at times. The Central bus station is usually referred to as TACHANA   (stop)  MER-KA-ZEET (central)

MO’-NEET – This is a taxi/cab but people also used the word taxi

SHAY-ROOT – a shared taxi, usually from the airport or from one city to the other

REH-HHOV – Street

RA-KE-VET	Train	רַכֶּבֶת
TA-HHA-NAT  RA-KE-VET	Train station	תַּחֲנַת רַכֶּבֶת
RA-KE-VET   KA-LA	Light railway	רַכֶּבֶת  קַלָּה
O’TOE-BUS	Bus	אוטובוס
TA-HHA-NAT  O’TOE-BUS	Bus stop	תחנת אוטובוס
MO’-NEET  The word taxi is also used	Taxi/cab	מונית
SHAY-ROOT	A shared taxi	שירות
REH-HHOV	Street	רחוב
NAH-HAG	Driver (bus, taxi)	נהג

At some point during a bus ride, you may hear someone shouting REH-GAH! רֶגַע  (just a minute) or NAH-HAG נהג (driver), to get the driver’s attention to stop the bus, open the doors, not to drive off so quickly or whatever. REH-GAH and it’s synonym RAK REH-GAH רַק רֶגַע (just a minute!) are helpful in many a situation when you want to tell someone to hold on a minute, or you’ll be there in just a minute.

And a good word for taxi drivers can be LE-AT לְעַט – slowly, not that they always listen but good to know.

You may also want to ask someone to speak slowly and you can say LE-AT. For emphasis, say it twice in a row. LE-AT, LE-AT – slowly does it.

ME-DA-BRIM  ANGLIT? – Do you speak English?  מְדַבְּרִים אַנְגְּלִית?    This is actually in the plural form, just makes it easier in this instance.

A-NEE  ME-DA-BER  KZAT  IVRIT – I speak a little Hebrew (masculine, singular)

אֲנִי מְדַבֵּר קְצָת עִבְרִית

A-NEE  ME-DA-BER-ET  KZAT  IVRIT - I speak a little Hebrew (feminine, singular)

אֲנִי מְדַבֶּרֶת קְצָת עִבְרִית

A-NEE  ME-DA-BER ……… I speak Italian (ITAL-KEET), Spanish (SFA-RA-DEET), French (TZAR-FA-TEET), etc.  (masculine, singular)

A-NEE  ME-DA-BER-ET ……… I speak Italian (ITAL-KEET), Spanish (SFA-RA-DEET), French (TZAR-FA-TEET), etc.  (masculine, singular)

 ZOE  HA-DE-REHH  L……    Is this the way to ………?   זוֹ הַדֶּרֶךְ ל

Terms of Endearment

Israelis often skip the formalities and become fast friends very quickly. In Israel it’s very popular to say KA-PPA-RA, including people you don’t know and just met. In literal terms, it means Atonement but it is just a term of endearment, like saying darling. It doesn't carry its literal meaning in this context. You might hear "כַּפָּרָה שֶׁלִּי" (kapara sheli) - my kapara.  MAMMY is a colloquialism for sweetie, honey, cutie, darling and is usually said to a child oddly enough! Like MAMMY  מאמי  there is also  נשמה NE-SHA-MA (soul). HHA-YIM   חַיִּים - Life. This is similar to NE-SHA-MA (soul), and is often used as "חַיִּים שֶׁלִּי" HHA-YIM   SHEH-LEE - my life. And let’s not forget AHHEE - My brother.  These terms don’t necessarily mean anything more than just being friendly though they can also be terms of endearment when in a relationship.  

Note: Gender often plays a role in the suffix of some of these terms (e.g., -i for masculine, -ati for feminine). However, many of the slang terms are used regardless of gender.

KA-PPA-RA - (Atonement). Just a term of endearment, like saying dear

MAMMY - Probably means “cutie”

NE-SHA-MA - (My) soul

HHA-YIM   חַיִּים - Life

HHA-YIM   SHEH-LEE - my life

AHHEE - My brother 

Funny Sounding Phrases

NOO - נוּ   Get on with it …. Come on, so? Well? This is a versatile interjection expressing impatience, questioning or prompting.

DIE - דַּי   That’s enough! (like Dayenu).  The simple, abrupt sound can come across as dismissive and rude.

YALLA - יַאלְלָה Let's go, come on, hurry up. This is a very common slang term borrowed from Arabic.

STAM - סְתָם  To do something in vain, a waste of time, for no reason at all.

DAV-KA - דַּוְוקָא   To do something on purpose to annoy. To do something just to be contrary. This word has a range of meanings depending on context and intonation. It’s the one and only Hebrew word that I believe I haven’t found a good English equivalent for.

HHA-VAL  AL  HAZ-MAN  - חֲבָל עַל הַזְּמַן   Literally this means what a waste of time. However, it is used as a compliment so it’s actually the complete opposite of the meaning of the phrase in English. In other words, it’s like saying “what a waste of time telling you how great this is, of course it’s great”!!

Numbers:

1      EH-HHAD

2      SHTAI-YIM

3      SHA-LOSH

4      AR-BA

5      HHA-MESH

6      SHAYSH

7      SHE-VA

8      SHMO’-NEH

9      TAY-SHA

10    EH-SAIR

Hopefully we will not need these words, but for now:

• KIKAR  HA-HHA-TOO-FEEM  -  Hostage Square. Kikar means square, but it also refers to a traffic circle. HHA-TOOF – is a hostage.  The Square is next to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 25 Shaul Hamalech Street, Tel Aviv.  If you want to ask someone “Where is Hostage Square”?  you can say AY-FOE    KIKAR   HA-HHA-TOO-FEEM?

• MIL-HHA-MA – war. Sword of Iron is HER-VOT   BAR-ZEL

• MIK-LAT is a shelter or a bomb shelter. Many apartment building are built with a shelter downstairs in the building and many apartments and houses have safe rooms in their home called a MAMAD.  In shopping centers, there are usually signs for the MER-HAV MOO-GAN – the protected area.  If you want to quickly ask someone where you should go, remember this phrase AY-FOE   HA-MIKLAT? – where is the shelter? Or just say MIK-LAT ?  and people will show you.

• AZ-A-KA – is a siren

• HHA-YAL – is a soldier (masculine, singular form)

There isn’t exactly a phrase that is the equivalent of “Thank you for your service” that people say in other countries to someone who has served, but the best thing is probably to say simply “Thank you very much” – TOE-DAH  RABBAH, תּוֹדָה רַבָּה .  “Thank you for protecting us”. TOE-DA  RABBA  SHEH  SHOM-RIM  A-LAY-NOO  תּוֹדָה רַבָּה שֶׁשׁוֹמְרִים עָלֵינוּ.  Hosting about 25 soldiers one evening, I really spent most of the time just saying “Thank you” because that’s genuinely how I felt!

HHA-YAL	A soldier (masculine)	חַיָּיל
HHA-YE-LET	A soldier (feminine)	חַיּיֶלֶת
HHA-YA-LIM	Soldiers (men and women)	חַיָּילִים
HHA-YA-LOT	Soldiers (only women)	חַיָּילוֹת

There is a popular satirical television show called ERETZ  NE-HE-DE-RET – This means A Wonderful Country.  At the end of each program, we are reminded that: YESH  LA-NOO ERETZ  NE-HE-DE-RET – We have a wonderful country!

Three final phrases to end:

• AM   YISRAEL   HAI – The Nation of Israel Lives!

• BESOROT   TOVOT – “Good tidings”, this can be used when saying goodbye and you want to say to someone that hopefully there will be good news ahead.

• GEE-BOR  -  A hero!  (not Jee, pronounced Ghee