Cooking soup in Hebrew
The kitchen, two people making dinner in Hebrew. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «אני רעב. מה יש במטבח?» — I am hungry. What is there in the kitchen?; «יש תפוח אדמה, גזר ובצל.» — There are potatoes, carrots and an onion.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the kitchen, two people making dinner. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- אני רעב. מה יש במטבח?ани раэв. ма йеш ба-митбах?I am hungry. What is there in the kitchen?
- יש תפוח אדמה, גזר ובצל.йеш тапуах адама, гэзэр у-вацаль.There are potatoes, carrots and an onion.
- טוב. צריך הרבה מים?тов. царих харбэ маим?All right. Do we need a lot of water?
- בטח. הסיר על הכיריים.бэтах. ха-сир аль ха-кириим.Of course. The pot is on the stove.
- ומלח? ופלפל?у-мелях? у-пильпель?And the salt? And the pepper?
- הנה, ליד התבלינים.хинэ, леяд ха-тавлиним.Here, next to the spices.
- תודה! אפשר לטעום?тода! эфшар литъом?Thank you! Can I taste it?
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| אני רעב. מה יש במטבח? | ани раэв. ма йеш ба-митбах? | I am hungry. What is there in the kitchen? |
| יש תפוח אדמה, גזר ובצל. | йеш тапуах адама, гэзэр у-вацаль. | There are potatoes, carrots and an onion. |
| טוב. צריך הרבה מים? | тов. царих харбэ маим? | All right. Do we need a lot of water? |
| בטח. הסיר על הכיריים. | бэтах. ха-сир аль ха-кириим. | Of course. The pot is on the stove. |
| ומלח? ופלפל? | у-мелях? у-пильпель? | And the salt? And the pepper? |
| הנה, ליד התבלינים. | хинэ, леяд ха-тавлиним. | Here, next to the spices. |
| תודה! אפשר לטעום? | тода! эфшар литъом? | Thank you! Can I taste it? |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Hebrew in this situation?
“אני רעב. מה יש במטבח?” (ани раэв. ма йеш ба-митбах?) — I am hungry. What is there in the kitchen? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.