LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #5
Can You Take my Order in
Hebrew?

CONTENTS
2 Dialogue - Hebrew
3 Vocabulary
4 Sample Sentences
6 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
8 Grammar
9 Cultural Insight

# 5
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 DIALOGUE - HEBREW

MAIN

.‫ערב טוב‬ A: .1

?‫ אפשר לקבל תפריט‬,‫שלום‬ B: .2

‫ודאי‬ A: .3

?‫ בבקשה‬,‫ אפשר כוס מים‬,‫סליחה‬ B: .4

.‫מיד‬ A: .5

?‫ אפשר להזמין‬,‫סליחה‬ B: .6

.‫כן‬ A: .7

ENGLISH

1. A: Good evening.

2. B: Hello, is it possible to get a menu?

3. A: Certainly.

4. B: Excuse me, can I have a glass of water?

5. A: Right away.

6. B: Excuse me, is it possible to order?

7. A: Yes.

ROMANIZATION CONT'D OVER

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1. A: Erev Tov.

2. B: Shalom, ef’shar lekabel tafrit?

3. A: Vada’i

4. B: Sliħah’ ef’shar kos mayim, be-vakashah?

5. A: Mi-yad.

6. B: Sliħah, ef’shar lehaz’min?

7. A: Ken.

VOWELLED

.‫ﬠֶר ֶב ט וֹב‬ A: .1

?‫תַפְר ִיט‬
ּ ‫ק בֵּל‬ ֶ ,‫שָׁל וֹם‬
ַ ְ ‫אפְשָׁר ל‬ B: .2

‫ו ַד ַּאי‬ A: .3

?‫קּשָׁה‬
ָ ַ‫ בְ ּב‬,‫אפְשָׁר כ ּוֹס מַיִם‬
ֶ ,‫סל ִי חָה‬
ְ B: .4

.‫מִי ָ ּד‬ A: .5

?‫אפְשָׁר ל ְהַזְמִין‬
ֶ ,‫סל ִי חָה‬
ְ B: .6

.‫כ ֵּן‬ A: .7

VOCABULARY

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 Romanizatio
Hebrew English Class Gender
n

‫ערב‬ erev evening noun masculine

‫טוב‬ tov good adjective masculine

‫מים‬ mayim water noun masculine

Le-haz’min/ to order/
‫הזמין‬/‫להזמין‬ hiz’min ordered verb

‫מיד‬ miyad right away adverb

‫לקבל‬ lekabel to receive verb

‫תפריט‬ tafrit menu noun masculine

‫ודאי‬ Vada'i certainly adverb

‫כן‬ ken yes adverb none

‫כוס‬ kos glass noun feminine

possible, is it
‫אפשר‬ ef'shar possible adverb

SAMPLE SENTENCES

.‫מגרש הטניס פתוח גם בערב‬ ‫לעתים קרובות אנו משחקים קלפים בערב‬
migrash ha`tenis patuakh gam ba`erev. .‫קיץ חמים‬
le'eetim krovot anu mesakhkim klafim be'erev
The tennis court is open in the evening, kaits khamim.
too.
We often play cards on a warm summer
evening.

.‫אני אוהב לטייל בערב‬ ?‫לאן נלך הערב‬

Ani ohev letayel ba-erev. le’an nelekh ha’erev?”.

I love to walk in the evenings. Where should we go this evening?

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 .‫הוא איש טוב‬ ?‫האם הדיסק טוב‬
Hu ish tov. ha-im ha-disc tov?

He's a good man. Is the CD good?

.‫תשתה מים כל יום‬ ‫ רק מים בבקשה‬,‫תשתו משהו? לא‬

Tish'teh mayim kol yom. tishtu mashehu? lo, rak mayim bevakasha

Drink water every day. Would you have something to drink? No,
just water please.

‫ כוסות מים ביום‬8 ‫חשוב לשתות לפחות‬ .‫יש מים חמים באמבטיה‬
Chasuv lishtot lefachot 8 cosot mayim be'yom. Yesh mayim ħamim ba-ambati’a.

It’s important to drink at least 8 glasses There is hot water in the bathtub.
of water a day.

.‫הוא עוצר לקנות מים‬ .‫חשוב לשתות הרבה מים‬

hu otser liknot maim. Hashuv lishtot harbe maim.

He stops to buy water. It's important to drink a lot of water.

.‫אני רוצה להזמין פיצה‬ .‫אלך לשם מייד‬

Ani rotzeh le-haz'min pitzah. elekh lesham miyad.

I want to order pizza. I will go there right away.

.‫אני בא מיד‬ ?‫אפשר לקבל כסף‬

Ani ba mi-yad. Ef'shar le-kabel kesef?

I'm coming right away. Is it possible to get money?

?‫אפשר לקבל את התפריט בבקשה‬ ?‫יש לכם תפריט‬

Efshar leka'bel et ha'taf'rit be'va'kasha? Yesh la-khem tafrit?

Can I see the menu please? Do you have a menu?

?‫אני יכול להסתכל בתפריט‬ ‫ודאי ראית את הסרט האחרון של בראד‬

ani yachol lehistacel ba-tafrit? .‫פיט‬
Vada'i ra'ita et ha-seret ha-aħaron shel Brad Pitt.
May I have a look at the menu?
Certainly you saw Brad Pitt's last movie.

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 .‫ זה מעולה‬,‫כן‬ .‫ אני ישראלי‬,‫כן‬
ken ze meuleh. ken ani yisraeli.

Yes, it's great. Yes, I am Israeli.

?‫אתה רוצה כוס מיץ‬ ?‫אפשר לשבת פה‬

Atah rotzeh kos mitz? Ef'shar lashevet poh?

Do you want a glass of juice? Is it possible to sit here?

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

‫טוֹב‬

Tov is the adjective "good." As with all adjectives, it has four forms:

Singular Plural

Masculin
e ‫טוב‬ ‫טוֹב‬ tov ‫טוֹבִים‬ ‫טובים‬ tovim

Feminin
e ‫טובה‬ ‫טוֹבָה‬ tovah ‫טוֹבוֹת‬ ‫טובות‬ Tov

We can also use the word tov to mean "okay," and we only use the masculine, singular
form for this.

‫פשָׁר‬
ְ ‫א‬
ֶ

Ef'shar means "possible," and we can use it in a few different ways. Many times, people use
it as a polite way to ask for something. We can also use it to state a possibility. Here
examples of these two uses.

For Example:

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1. Polite question:

‫?אפשר לקבל כוס מים‬

‫קבֶּל כּוֹס מַיִם‬ ֶ ?

ָ ֵ ‫א פ ְשָׁר ל‬

Ef'shar le-kabel kos mayim?

"Is it possible to get a glass of water?"

2. Stating a possibility:

‫אפשר ללכת לים‬.

ֶ .
‫א פ ְשָׁר לַלֶכ ֶת ל ַיָם‬

Ef'shar la-lechet la-yam.

"It's possible to go to the sea."

‫לְקַב ֵּל‬

Le-kabel is the infinitive form of "to receive" or "to get."

‫ו ַדַּאי‬

Vada'i means "certainly" or "sure."

‫מִי ָ ּד‬

Mi-yad means "right away" or "immediately."

‫לְהַזְמִין‬

Le-haz'min is the infinitive form of "to order" or "to invite."

‫כ ֵּן‬

Ken means "yes." We can also use it to emphasize a point.

For Example:

‫אני כן רוצה להבין אותך‬. .1

ַ ֵ ‫אַנ ִי כ ֵּן רוֹצ ֶה ל‬.

ָ ‫הבִין אוֹתְך‬

Ani ken rotzeh le-havin ot'cha.

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"I do want to understand you."

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is Asking for Something Politely in Hebrew.

‫?אפשר לקבל תפריט‬
‫ר יט‬
ִ ‫פ‬
ְ ּ‫ת‬
ַ ‫פשָׁר לְקַב ֵּל‬ ֶ ?
ְ ‫א‬
Ef'shar le-kabel tafrit?
"Is it possible to get a menu?"

When asking for something in Hebrew, the polite way to ask for it is to use the word ‫אפשר‬
plus an infinitive. You would use this form in restaurants, businesses, or at the home of
someone you don't know well.

For Example:

1. ‫?אפשר לעבור לשולחן אחר‬

ֶ ?
ַ ‫א פ ְשָׁר ל ַﬠֲבוֹר ל ְשׁוּלְחָן‬
‫אחֵר‬
Ef'shar la-avor le-shul'cħan acħer?
"Is it possible to move to another table?"

As we demonstrated in the dialogue, it is also possible to use this without an infinitive verb,
if you want to ask for a specific item.

For Example:

1. ‫?אפשר כוס מים‬

ֶ ?
‫א פ ְשָׁר כּוֹס מַיִם‬
Ef'shar kos mayim?
"Is it possible (to get) a glass of water?"

2. ‫?אפשר מלח‬
‫מל ַח‬ ֶ ?
ֶ ‫א פ ְשָׁר‬
Ef'shar melacħ?
"Is it possible (to get) some salt?"

In all these sentences, there is no word for the verb "to be," even though we translated it
with it. This is because in Hebrew the verb "to be" is implied in the present tense. Don't
worry if at first it feels like you are missing a word: you aren't. It is perfectly natural to feel
like you are lacking something until you get used to the feel of the language.

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Expressing the Affirmative: ‫ ודאי‬,‫כן‬, and ‫מיד‬

In the dialogue, we used three words to express an affirmative answer: vada'i, miyad, and
ken. The most basic of all of these words is ‫כן‬, meaning "yes." If the situation calls for a
more positive answer, you can use ‫ ודאי‬or "certainly." If there is an urgency in the situation
and you want to express your willingness to do something quickly, you can use the word ‫מיד‬
or "immediately."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

What's That Clucking Sound?

One thing that you will notice when you go to Israel is that Israelis will often use a cluck of
their tongues, like a "tsk," to answer "no." You can also use the Hebrew word ‫( לא‬lo), but we
use the "tsk" almost as much. This is especially true in situations that don't require any
explanation with the "no."

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