How to say it in Hebrew
Tip #15

I am often asked...

...how to say "right" in Hebrew?

Many faces of the word "right"!
Well, one - and most straightforward way to use it - is to say - "on the right side you can see..." in Hebrew you say - בצד יָמִין תּוּכְלוּ לִרְאוֹת...
So, "right" - יָמִין.

Now, if you want to say "go right!" - how do you say it? Right, יָמִינָה! You see, we add an "a"*, and you even don't have to say "go" - it's implied. :)

*Why is that? because we have this somewhat archaic ending attached to signify the direction, the movement! It works only with several words - הביתה, החוצה, ימינה, שמאלה.

But wait, I just wrote the word "right" above saying
"right, יָמִינָה!" - what if I wanted to say it in Hebrew? Do I use ימין twice?!

No. In this case we are not talking about direction any longer... and we can't use (ימינ(ה! ;) We need another word! But which?
When you want to confirm something, you just say.. נָכוֹן!
- We meet at 6pm, right? - ?נִפְגָּשִׁים בַּשֵּׁשׁ אחה''צ, נָכוֹן-

Or look at the "נכון" word in it's "true" meaning -

- Is it true that elephants can't jump?
!?זֶה נָכוֹן שֶׁפִּילִים לֹא יוֹדְעִים לִקְפֹּץ
- Yes, it's true! !כֵּן, זֶה נָכוֹן
But when you want to say "you are right!" - be careful!

We have a very-very special word for that - !צודק addressing a boy and !צודקת when addressing a girl!

Examples:
-Yes, you (to a girl) are right, but... כֵּן, צוֹדֶקֶת, אֲבָל...
All of you are right, but I'll do it differently.
כֻּלְּכֶם צוֹדְקִים, אֲבָל אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת זֶה אַחֶרֶת.

This is it!
Here to answer any questions you may have,
Stay in touch and - happy Hebrew-learning!

Alisa
Tip #15
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