How to say it in Hebrew
Tip #25

I am often asked ...

...Nice summer day. The sun is shining. You've been hiking all day, towards the sunset on your way home you see something shining in the grass. It's getting dark and difficult to see, so you take a flashlight and shine on this something in order to see better. What was it? You tell. :) And I'll tell you how to say "shine" in Hebrew! * :D

What is the sun doing?
The sun - well, it can shine. Before that it should rise for us to see it shine, right? Not in Hebrew!
הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ זוֹרַחַת - it means BOTH
"the sun rises" and
"the sun is shining"! :)

And what if we want to talk about a person? Like: "he is shining with joy today!" Would we use the above verb? No. :) I'd say הוּא זֹהַר הַיּוֹם מִשִּׂמְחָה. (ZOHER)

--
In this same way - זוהר - but with different pronunciation (ZOHAR) a famous Jewish mystical book is called! Have you heard of it? ;)
--
More than that, it's also a popular name in Israel (for boys mostly, but also for girls, which can be confusing ;) ) Heave you heard such name as Zohar Argov? He is a very popular Israeli mizrakhi singer and the lyrics are rather simple - you can learn some Hebrew from his songs! :)
To shine on something
Back to the example of the flashlight - if you "shine a flashlight on something" - you already suspect we are not going to use "זֹהַר", right? Right! :)

Because when we "shine on something" the purpose really is to shed light on something, in order to see it better.

So - light - how do we say "light" in Hebrew? Like in "let there be light." :) Right, - it's אור.

There is a verb derived from this this root - להאיר. And this is exactly how we would say "shine a flashlight on" - לְהָאִיר עִם פָּנָס
Another example -
"The lamp lights up the room with a soft light"
הַמְּנוֹרָה מְאִירָה אֶת הַחֶדֶר בְּאוֹר רַךְ.

---
And of course, this word, too, is also good for making names - remember Golda Meir? ;) If not - you are welcome to Google who this interesting women was. :)
And that's it for this week! :)

Hope my newsletter מֵאִיר לָכֶם - illuminates for you - diverse unclear points on your Hebrew-learning journey,

Stay in touch and happy Hebrew-learning!

Alisa
Tip #25
video
Learn Hebrew on the go!
Subscribe to "Hebrew Tips"
Close
Free Hebrew Tips Newsletter!
By clicking you agree to receive emails from The Hebrew Hub - because I need to send you the newsletter somehow :)