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Five Hebrew Mistakes To Avoid To Sound Like A Real Israeli
There are few mistakes that olim always do. Are you ready to get rid of them? Here are five little and annoying mistakes that you’ll never do AGAIN.
#1 Don’t use “Lifnei” ALL THE TIME!
How would you translate the sentence: I’ve lived in Israel for 3 years?
Most of olim would say: “אני גר בישראל לפני 3 שנים”
BUT you should rather say: “אני גר בישראל שלוש שנים״” – if your sentence is in present tense, you don’t have to add anything!
#2 Know when to use “Be” and when to use “Le”
All the movement verbs go with the preposition ‘lé” – not bé”, not “al”, not “etzel” – only “lé”
for instance, if you want to say that you’re going somewhere…
Most of olim would say: ani olekh be missada.
BUT you should rather say: ani olekh le missada. – For instance a taxi driver asks you: where are going? Tell him: ani tsarikh linsoa lé yerushalaim.
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#3 “Kshe” VS “Matai she”
Let’s take the following sentence: “When I go to the shouk, I take money”. Olim tend to translate “when” by the hebrew question word for when: “matai”. But when you have a sentence, not a question, you should use “kshe”.
Most of olim would say: “Matai she ani olekh la’shouk”
BUT you should rather say: “Kshe ani olekh la’shouk”
#4 Don’t make mistake when you say your age!
What do you usually answer when someone is asking you in Hebrew: how old are you? In English, you would say: I’m 20 years old. This is a sentence that you cannot translate to Hebrew. You have to adapt yourself and use the Hebrew formulation for this, that has nothing to do with your mother tongue…
Most of olim would say: “יש לי 20 שנה”
BUT you should rather say: אני בן 20/אני בת “20”
#5 Don’t think there is only ONE SINGLE WAY to ask “How are you” in Hebrew!
Last tip: you should know that there are planty of ways to ask “how are you “ in Hebrew/ Most olim will learn one of them and will be lost when Israelis will use other options…. It takes 3 minutes, and you will always understand when someone is asking you : how are you, in another way than “manishma”.
For instance you have all the following options: מה העיניינים ma ha’inianim, מה שלומך ma shlomkha, מה הולך ma olekh, איך הולך eikh olekh, איך אתה eikh ata, מה חדש ma khadash
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