Hebrew GreetingsEver ran across Hebrew speakers that you wanted to throw some Hebrew greetings at and you couldn’t? Israelis and Hebrew native speakers get very impressed when they find people trying to learn, or at least to communicate, in their native language. So learning some Hebrew greetings might be awesome.

To your surprise (if you do not know much about Hebrew already), the Hebrew language is much easier than you ever thought. The reason is probably the adjustments it has gone through in the past few decades that almost totally modernized it. Ready to learn your first Hebrew greetings? Let’s start with the common phrases in Hebrew. Shalom!

Hebrew Greetings

Hello

Hello, as you of course know, is “shalom” it literally means peace. This word peace is actually used in another phrase we will learn next, but let’s first start with “shalom”.

This is how it is written

שלום

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/shalom-in-hebrew1.mp3″ text=”Shalom in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

Learn to Write Shalom in Hebrew with Printable Worksheets

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Hebrew Greetings: How are you?

How are you?

We ask literally “what is your peace?” and this differs when you talk to a man, a woman, a group of men or a group of women. Let’s take them in depth.

  • To ask a man how he is:

מה שלומך?

ma shlomcha?

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/how-are-you-in-hebrew-male1.mp3″ text=”How are You (to male) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

  • To ask a woman how she is:

מה שלומך?

ma shlomech?

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/how-are-you-in-hebrew-female1.mp3″ text=”How are You (to female) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

A man or a woman would answer this question saying:

שלומי טוב

Shlomi tov

means literally “my piece is good”

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/i-am-fine-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”I’m fine (singular: male and female) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

or they would simply say

אני בסדר

ani bseder

means “I am alright”

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/i-am-alright-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”I’m alright (singular: male and female) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

  • To ask a group of men how they are:

מה שלומכם?

ma shlomchem?

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/how-are-you-plural-male-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”How are You (male plural) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

  • To ask a group of women how they are:

מה שלומכן?

ma shlomchen?

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/how-are-you-plural-female-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”How are You (female plural) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

These men or women would answer saying:

שלומנו טוב

shlomeino tov

means “our peace is good”

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/we-are-fine-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”We’re fine (plura, both male and female) in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

How Are You in Hebrew (Printable Worksheets)

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Hebrew Greetings: What's up in Hebrew

What’s up?

This is a common phrase being used more and more everyday. In Hebrew it says literally “what do we hear?” or “what do you tell us?”

מה נשמע?

ma nishma

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/whats-up-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”What’s up in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

Hebrew Greetings

Not very well

Another way of answering the “how are you” question is the answer “(I am/We are) not very well)

This would mean in Hebrew

לא כל כך טוב

lo kol kach tov

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/not-very-well-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”Not Very Well in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

Hebrew Greetings: Thank you in Hebrew

Thank you

Thank you in Hebrew is “todah”, you will often hear it in different styles, like:

תודה רבה: Todah Rabba: Thank you very much

תודה לך: Todah lecha: Thanks to you (said to a man)

תודה לך: Todah lach: Thanks to you (said to a woman)

Here I pronounced the word “todah” for you. I will make another page just for the word “thank you in Hebrew” and how to answer it properly.

תודה

Todah

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/thanks-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”Thanks in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

Hebrew Greetings: Goodbye in Hebrew

Goodbye:

Though “shalom” is used widely for goodbye in Hebrew, still there is another word that is more proper, lehitraot. Means something pretty much like “till I see you (again)”

להתראות

lehitraot

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/see-you-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”See You in Hebrew (Audio Pronunciation)”]

Hebrew Greeting for Hanukkah

Hebrew Greeting for Hanukkah

Hanukkah is simply Chanukah in Hebrew, with the famous rough CH sound (check pronunciation)..

To say “Happy Chanukkah” We would literally say in Hebrew “holiday Chanukkah happy” (noun comes before adjective in Hebrew.

Chag = חג = holiday

Sameach = שמח = happy

All together would be:

חג חנוכה שמח = Chag Chanukah Sameach

Chag Chanukah Sameach.

Check out here the Yiddish and Hebrew Greeting for Hanukkah page.

Hebrew Greeting for Rosh Hashanah

Hebrew Greeting for Rosh Hashanah

To green people on Rosh Hashanah (New year’s Eve), you simply wish them a good year or literally in Hebrew “year good”.

שנה טובה – Shana Tova

שנה = Shana = year

טובה = Tova =  good

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/happy-new-year-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”Happy New Year in Hebrew (audio pronunciation)”]

To find out more about the Hebrew greeting for Rosh Hashanah, visit this Happy New Year in Hebrew page.

hebrew birthday greetings

Hebrew Birthday Greetings

To greet someone in Hebrew on their birthday, you would literally wish them a “day birthday happy” instead of a happy birthday! Charming, isn’t it?

Here is how the magic happens:

יום = yom means “day”

הולדת = huledet means “birth”

שמח = sameach means “happy”

Together they would be “Yom huledet sameach”. Pronounced this way:

[wpaudio url=”http://www.israelhebrew.com/wp-content/uploads/happy-birthday-in-hebrew.mp3″ text=”Happy Birthday in Hebrew, Audio Pronunciation”]

Hebrew Greetings

Now feel free to use these Hebrew phrases you just learned, do not be embarrassed to show off your little Hebrew, specially around people who would appreciate it. Israelis and Hebrew speakers would be very impressed when you show them what you got!

You can also find more phrases around my website, like Happy birthday in Hebrew, Hebrew word for love (including the magical phrase “I love you” , and much more.

Oh, almost forgotten. Can you read the Hebrew alphabets? You can easily learn them using the free Hebrew worksheets I created just for you! You can also take your Hebrew to a whole new level using Pimsleur Hebrew, it is expensive, but it simply works.

everyday hebrew greetings

Daily Hebrew Greetings

Occasional Hebrew Greetings

occassional hebrew greetings

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