How to say it in Hebrew
Tip #35

I am often asked ...

...how to say "reading" in Hebrew? Or "watching?" Or any other "-ing" form?
"I love reading!"
First of all - it is true! I do love reading. :) I also love watching movies and teaching Hebrew. :) But how do we express it in Hebrew?

We know for sure that there is no "-ing" form in Hebrew. When something is non-existent in a language, there must be another way to express it. And the first step towards finding it is to think - is there a way to express it in your language? Is there another way to say it in English?

In our case, there definitely is - we can easily substitute "-ing" with an infinitive! "I love reading = I love to read", "I love watching = I love to watch," etc.

So why not go ahead and use it in the Hebrew sentence? ;) אֲנִי אוֹהֶבֶת לִקְרֹא, לִרְאוּת סְרָטִים וּלְלַמֵּד עִבְרִית.
And it's working! This simple.

Let's look at more examples:
I love travelling, but I hate flying.אֲנִי אוֹהֶבֶת לְטַיֵּל, אֲבָל אֲנִי שׂוֹנֵאת לָטוּס.
No one likes washing dishes.
אַף אֶחָד לֹא אוֹהֵב לִשְׁטֹף כֵּלִים.
He stopped trying.הוּא הִפְסִיק לַנָּסוֹת.

And some more, where the transformation to infinitive is not that obvious*:
I should be going (~I should go ~I have to go) אֲנִי צָרִיךְ לָלֶכֶת.
He is not capable of understanding (He can't understand) הוּא לֹא מְסֻגָּל לְהָבִין.
I had to do some running around before I found it (I had to run). הָיִיתִי צָרִיךְ לַעֲשׂוֹת קְצָת סִיבוּבִים לִפְנֵי שֶׁמָּצָאתִי.
*You probably noticed it already - after verbs such as "can", "must", "should" (called "modal verbs" in grammar) we use an infinitive in Hebrew, and in many other languages as well. Actually, in English, too. ;) But we don't notice it. ;) That's because in English infinitives that go after modal verbs often lose their "to" part. ;)
"The reading speed"
However, that's not all there is to it! The "-ing" form doesn't always turn into the "to" form!

Consider these two sentences:
1) I hear birds singing.
2) I hear the singing nearby.
They seem to have the same "singing" word, but not really.

With the first, let's play the same substitution trick as before - "I hear birds singing" - can we say it differently? Yes, more or less - "I hear that\how the birds sing." So let's use it! it's just the present tense here - אֲנִי שׁוֹמֵעַ שֶׁהַצִּפּוֹרִים שָׁרִים.

More examples:
I see them jumping. אֲנִי רוֹאֶה שֶׁהֵם קוֹפְצִים.
I remember him telling... אֲנִי זוֹכֶרֶת שֶׁהוּא אָמַר...
I feel the earth shaking. אֲנִי מַרְגִּישׁ שֶׁהָאֲדָמָה רוֹעֶדֶת.

The second one, though, makes us think. "I hear the singing nearby" - it cannot be said differently. This is how it is. What do we do now? Let's pay attention to one detail - it's "the singing." it has the definite article. So it's like an object, like a noun (called "gerund" in grammar). Let's search for a noun in Hebrew to express it, then!
"I hear the singing nearby" - אֲנִי שׁוֹמֵעַ אֶת הַשִּׁירָה לְיָדִי.
(Doesn't sound very natural, but let it be, it's just an example.)

A better example would be:
And then the crying stopped. וְאָז הַבֶּכִי נִפְסָק.
He never showed any understanding of the subject. הוּא אַף פַּעַם לֹא גִּלָּה שׁוּם הֲבָנָה שֶׁל הָעִנְיָן.
My reading\listening\writing (skills) improved very fast. מְיֻמָּנֻיּוֹת הִקְרִיאָה\ שְׁמִיעָה\ כְּתִיבָה שֶׁלִּי הִשְׁתַּפְּרוּ מַהֵר מְאֹד.


And the very best example would be... my usual closing phrase!

"Happy Hebrew-learning!" - how would you translate it?

Give it a try, write me back with your suggestions!
Happy holidays (whatever you may be celebrating - it's holiday time now! ;) )
Yours,
Alisa
Tip #35
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