Tip #45

The Hebrew Hub -
all you need to learn Hebrew

How to say it in Hebrew
Tip #45

I am often asked ...

...how do I start a sentence will something like "well..," "actually..,"

Enough complicated explanations - this week we are going to talk about something cool – and very practical! Let's talk about the "filler words" – that don't mean much but fill in the space while you are figuring out what to say – very important for language-learners to know!😊 They make you sound natural, on the one hand, and buy you some thinking time, on the other! For some of them – we do have good parallels in English, for some – we don't. ;)

"In the bone?!"

Let's start with the my favorite word - "actually" - BE-ETZEM. :) Why is it my favorite? Because of the very interesting root that it has! The "BE-" part, as you see, is a preposition "in." The ETZEM part is a noun, and a noun that has, actually (בעצם!) two meanings!
One – it means "a bone" – yes, a bone, like the bones we have in our body. Remember the Biblical "עֶצֶם מֵעֲצָמַי וּבָשָׂר מִבְּשָׂרִי לְזֹאת יִקָּרֵא אִשָּׁה כִּי מֵאִישׁ לֻקֳחָה זֹּאת" – that's what Adam says when Eve is created. :)

(*I have a video of this chapter in simple Hebrew, by the way – have you seen it? If not - here – Enjoy! 😉).

Now, to the second meaning.
Two – it means "self"! What can be more "self" than our bones, right? ;) And it's also part of such useful words as "myself," "yourself," "herself"! Just add the short for "I\you\her\..." and get בְּעַצְמִי - / בְּעַצְמְךָ - / בְּעַצְמוֹ - etc…
You see now why I like it.:)

Let's look at some examples with בָּעֶצֶם now:
.בְּעֶצֶם, רָצִיתִי לִכְתֹּב מַשֶּׁהוּ אַחֵר, אֲבָל חָשַׁבְתִּי שֶׁזֶּה חָשׁוּב אָז שִׁנִּיתִי אֶת דַּעְתִּיActually, I wanted to write something else, but I thought that it's important, so I changed my mind.
?לָמָּה, בְּעֶצֶם, אַתָּה לֹא קוֹנֶה בַּיִת כָּאן בַּיִּשּׁוּב -
- Why, actually, don't you buy a house here in the village?
.מָה, בְּעֶצֶם, קוֹרָה פֶּה?
What's happening here, actually?

"To tell you the truth..."

One expression similar to BE-ETZEM in its meaning is האמת. This one has a quite straightforward meaning – just instead of saying "to tell the truth" we are being more concise and say "the truth" - הָאֱמֶת - and you have it.:)

Examples:
הָאֱמֶת, הוּא לֹא חָבַר מַמָּשׁ, אָבֵל רָצִיתִי לָלֶכֶת דַּוְקָא אִתּוֹ.
To tell the truth, he is not really a friend, but I wanted to go with him, out of all people.
הָאֱמֶת, אֵין פֶּה עַל מָה לְדַבֵּר כָּל כָּךְ…
To tell the truth, there's no much to talk about.

Well, now what...

The last one is a word that has no translation! It came to Hebrew from Yiddish, exists in many Slavic languages, doesn't exist in English at all, welcome the – have you heard it already? – the NU word!
What does it mean? Nuuu…

Use it when in doubt.
Use it when you'd use "well…" in English.
Use it when you want to urge someone to do something (like "come on!)

NU, let the examples speak for themselves! :)
נו… לֹא יוֹדַעַת מָה לְהַגִּיד לְךָ… Well... I don't know what to tell you...
נו, מָתַי כְּבָר תִּהְיֶה מוּכָן? Hurry up, when will you be ready?
נו, לֹא יוֹדֵעַ… אֲנִי עוֹד צָרִיךְ לַחְשֹׁב.. Ehmm... I don't know... I still have to think...

And the last – bonus!
There are "fillers" in speaking that are not verbal - there are sound we make to gain some time, too! And here is a video about the most common "thinking sound" that Israelis make - the "eeeh" sound. :) It's all in Hebrew, even if you don't understand all of what is being said - the "eeeh"s speak for themselves. :) Here - סרטון על "אהההה"
NU, what else?
That's all I had to say for now!
See you next time, and - happy Hebrew-learning!
Alisa

Tip #45

video

Learn Hebrew on the go!

Subscribe to "Hebrew Tips"