Tip #48

The Hebrew Hub -
all you need to learn Hebrew

How to say it in Hebrew
Tip #48

I am often asked ...

How do I say in Hebrew "I realized"?

Suddenly, I realized…

Often English-speakers are looking for this convenient word and cannot find it. And that's for a very simple reason… Guess what could it be? It's just that… we don't have this word! :D But we do want to express this feeling - it's a common thing to experience, "the realizing" of something. In such a case what we do is to think – what do we essentially mean when we say it? Is there another way to say it? In this specific case just "I suddenly understood" fits in perfectly – and that's exactly what we'd say in Hebrew
פִּתְאוֹם הֵבַנְתִּי

Examples
פִּתְאוֹם הֵבַנְתִּי שֶׁאֵין לִי אַרְנָק
I suddenly realized that I have no wallet
פִּתְאוֹם הֵבַנְתִּי שֶׁאֲנִי מַכִּיר אֶת הָאִישׁ הַהוּא שָׂם
I suddenly realized that I know that man there.
הָרֶגַע הָזָה שָׁבוּ אַתָּה פִּתְאוֹם מֵבִין שֶׁאַתָּה לַבַּד
That moment when you realize you are alone.

What can we do about it, מָה לַעֲשׂוֹת, languages are like that… some languages are richer on ways to express one thing and others are richer in ways to express something else.
To make up for it – let me teach you a word that Hebrew language has, and English doesn't!

Suddenly, I remembered…

Do you know the word מַסְפִּיק – enough?
Now, there is a verb made from this root, לְהַסְפִּיק. Guess, what could it mean?
If you say "to have enough," to be enough – you are right! But there is a more specific meaning. I can say: לֹא הִסְפַּקְתִּי לָאוֹטוֹבּוּס…
What exactly didn't I have enough at this moment? I hope you are answering – "time"! If yes – you've got it! The verb לְהַסְפִּיק in many cases implicitly is referred to time. So how would I translate our example sentence then? Well… we don't have this word in English, which was my whole point here… I'd say something like "I didn't make it to the bus…" which doesn't really convey the feeling of not having enough of something in order to "make it" – specifically – time.

And here is another Hebrew word for you that has nuances that English doesn't – the word "remember." It's exactly the mirror case of our first example – if in English we have a word to concisely say "to suddenly understand" – "to realize" - so in Hebrew we have a verb form to concisely say "suddenly remember"! It's not same as "remember" – לִזְכֹּר
Like in "I don't remember his name!" אֲנִי לֹא זוֹכֶרֶת אֶת הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלּוֹ!
It's like in "ah, yes, finally I remembered his name!" or "Ah, now I remember his name!" – סוף סוף נִזְכַּרְתִּי אֵיךְ קוֹרְאִים לוֹ.

Actually… we do have one word for it… "to recall"… But let's pretend we don't! ;)

More examples:
אֲנִי לֹא זוֹכֶרֶת לְאָן שַׂמְתִּי אֶת הַמַּפְתְּחוֹת… אה, נִזְכַּרְתִּי! הֵם בְּאַמְבַּטְיָה, לְיַד הַכִּיּוֹר!
I don't remember where I put the keys… ah, I remembered! They are in the bathroom, near the sink…
הוּא בַּקֹּשִׁי זוֹכֵר אֵיךְ קוֹרְאִים לִי וּפִתְאוֹם הוּא נִזְכַּר
לְבָרֵךְ אוֹתִי לְרֶגֶל יוֹם הַהֻלֶּדֶת שֶׁלִּי?!
He barely remembers my name and suddenly he remembers to wish me happy birthday?
אֲנִי לֹא בָּאֱמֶת זוֹכֶרֶת אֶת הָרֶגַע הַהוּא, אֲנִי חוֹשֶׁבֶת שֶׁאֲנִי פָּשׁוּט נִזְכֶּרֶת בַּתְּמוּנָה שֶׁל אוֹתוֹ רֶגַע שֶׁרָאִיתִי הַרְבֵּה פְּעָמִים.
I don't really remember that moment, I think that I am just remembering the picture of that moment that I saw many times.

This is it, more or less...

אוֹי, רֶגַע, נִזְכַּרְתִּי בְּעוֹד מַשֶּׁהוּ!
Oh, one sec, I just remembered something (else)...! לֹא, נָכוֹן, אֲנִי סָתַם צוֹחֶקֶת, הִסְפַּקְתִּי לַסֵּפֶר לָכֶם אֶת כֹּל מָה שֶׁרָצִיתִי.:)
No, not really, just kidding, I managed ("had enough time") to tell you all I wanted!
But don't you wonder now how could you possibly live without such a concise verb meaning "to have enough time to do something"?! Well, you know it now! ;)
Happy Hebrew-learning!
Alisa

Tip #48

video

Learn Hebrew on the go!

Subscribe to "Hebrew Tips"