Hebrew Level Test

What does the Hebrew word שלום mean?

Answer: Peace / hello

שלום (shalom) means peace and is the everyday greeting for hello.

Which word means 'water'?

Answer: מים

מים = water. לחם = bread, יין = wine, חלב = milk.

Which prefix means 'the' (the definite article)?

Answer: ה

The prefix ה (ha-) marks the definite article.

What does תודה mean?

Answer: Thank you

תודה (toda) means thank you.

Which word means 'yes'?

Answer: כן

כן = yes. לא = no, אולי = maybe, גם = also.

What does ספר mean?

Answer: Book

ספר (sefer) means book.

What is the plural of ספר ('book')?

Answer: ספרים

Most masculine nouns take the plural ending ים-, so ספר becomes ספרים (books).

Fill the gap: ___ דני ('I am Danny').

Answer: אני

אני = I. אתה = you (masc.), הוא = he, הם = they.

Which word is the number 'three'?

Answer: שלוש

שלוש = three. שתיים = two, ארבע = four, חמש = five.

What color is אדום?

Answer: Red

אדום (adom) means red.

What does בוקר טוב mean?

Answer: Good morning

בוקר טוב literally means good morning.

Choose the correct present tense: 'she eats'.

Answer: היא אוכלת

אוכלת is the feminine present of לאכול, so היא אוכלת = she eats. היא אוכל uses the masculine form, אכלה is past, לאכול is the infinitive.

What does בית mean?

Answer: House

בית (bayit) means house.

Choose the correct past tense: 'I wrote' (masc.).

Answer: כתבתי

כתבתי = I wrote (past). כותב = writing, אכתוב = I will write, לכתוב = to write.

How do you say 'my book'?

Answer: הספר שלי

שלי = my, so הספר שלי = my book.

Which word means 'to me'?

Answer: לי

לי = to me. לך = to you, לו = to him, לנו = to us.

Which question word means 'where'?

Answer: איפה

איפה = where. מתי = when, למה = why, מי = who.

Choose the past tense: 'we went'.

Answer: הלכנו

הלכנו = we went (past). הולכים = going, נלך = we will go, ללכת = to go.

Which word means 'with you' (masc. sing.)?

Answer: איתך

איתך = with you (masc. sing.). איתי = with me, איתו = with him, איתם = with them.

Choose the correct past tense: 'she saw'.

Answer: היא ראתה

ראתה = she saw (past). רואה is present (sees), תראה is future (will see), לראות is the infinitive.

What does משפחה mean?

Answer: Family

משפחה (mishpacha) means family.

Complete: אני ___ קפה ('I want coffee', masc.).

Answer: רוצה

רוצה is the present tense (I want). רצה is past (he wanted), ארצה is future, לרצות is the infinitive.

Complete: ___ אתה? ('Where are you from?').

Answer: מאיפה

מאיפה = from where. איפה = where, לאן = to where, מתי = when.

How do you say 'I have a dog'?

Answer: יש לי כלב

Possession uses יש ל-, so יש לי כלב = I have a dog.

Choose the correct agreement: 'a big house' (בית is masc.).

Answer: בית גדול

Adjectives agree in gender and number. בית is masculine singular, so it takes גדול.

What does אתמול mean?

Answer: Yesterday

אתמול = yesterday. מחר = tomorrow, היום = today, עכשיו = now.

Choose the correct future tense: 'she will come'.

Answer: היא תבוא

תבוא is the third-person feminine singular future of לבוא. באה is present, תבואי is second-person feminine, יבואו is third-person plural.

Which verb is in the hif'il (causative) binyan?

Answer: הדליק

הדליק (lit / turned on) is hif'il. דלק is qal past, נדלק is nif'al, דולק is qal present.

Which is the correct construct form for 'school' (literally house of book)?

Answer: בית ספר

בית ספר is the indefinite construct (smichut). The definite form is בית הספר.

Which verb is in the pi'el binyan (root ל-מ-ד), meaning 'teaches'?

Answer: מלמד

מלמד (teaches) is the pi'el present. לומד is qal present (learns), למד is qal past (learned), ילמד is qal future (will learn).

Which phrase means 'bigger' (the comparative of גדול)?

Answer: גדול יותר

גדול יותר (or יותר גדול) = bigger. הכי גדול = biggest, גדול מאוד = very big, פחות גדול = less big.

Choose the future tense: 'we will read'.

Answer: נקרא

נקרא = we will read (future). קראנו = we read (past), קוראים = reading, לקרוא = to read.

Complete: למדתי הרבה ___ להצליח במבחן ('I studied a lot in order to pass the exam').

Answer: כדי

כדי + infinitive = in order to. בגלל = because of, למרות = despite, אבל = but.

Complete: אני ___ ללכת עכשיו ('I need to go now', masc.).

Answer: צריך

צריך is the masculine singular form of need. צריכה is feminine, צריכים is masculine plural, צורך is the noun a need.

What does the expression בקלות mean?

Answer: Easily

בקלות = easily, from קל (easy).

Which is the correct reflexive (hitpa'el) form: 'I get dressed' (masc.)?

Answer: אני מתלבש

מתלבש is hitpa'el (to dress oneself). לובש is qal (to wear), הלבשתי is hif'il past (I dressed someone), אלביש is hif'il future.

Choose the future tense: 'I will take'.

Answer: אקח

אקח = I will take (future of לקחת). לקחתי = I took, לוקח = taking, לקחת = to take.

What does the word כדאי express in כדאי ללכת?

Answer: It is worthwhile

כדאי = it is worthwhile / a good idea, so כדאי ללכת = it is worth going.

Choose the nif'al (passive/middle) form: 'the door closed / was closed'.

Answer: הדלת נסגרה

נסגרה is nif'al past (got closed). סגרה is qal active (she closed), סוגרת is present, תסגור is future.

Complete: הוא איחר, ___ פספסנו את הסרט ('he was late, so that we missed the film').

Answer: כך ש

כך ש introduces a result clause (so that / with the result that). כדי ש = in order that (purpose), מפני ש = because (cause), עד ש = until.

Complete the conditional: לו הייתי יודע, הייתי ___ ('had I known, I would have come').

Answer: בא

After הייתי the verb takes the participle בא, giving הייתי בא = I would have come.

Which verb is in the pu'al (passive) binyan: 'it was photographed'?

Answer: צולם

צולם (tzulam, was photographed) is pu'al. צילם is pi'el active (photographed), מצלם is pi'el present, מצלמה is the noun camera.

Which form is huf'al (passive of hif'il): 'it was invited / brought in'?

Answer: הוזמן

הוזמן (was invited) is huf'al. הזמין is hif'il active (invited), הזמנה is the noun invitation, מזמין is hif'il present.

Complete: ___ הגשם, יצאנו לטייל ('despite the rain, we went out for a walk').

Answer: למרות

למרות = despite. בזכות = thanks to, במקום = instead of, לפני = before.

What does the phrase בדרך כלל mean?

Answer: Usually

בדרך כלל = usually / in general.

Choose the pi'el past: 'I received'.

Answer: קיבלתי

קיבלתי (from ק-ב-ל in pi'el) = I received. קבעתי = I set/scheduled, קברתי = I buried, קראתי = I read.

Which form is the hitpa'el present (root ר-ג-ל), meaning 'gets used to'?

Answer: מתרגל

Only מתרגל has the hitpa'el prefix מת. מרגיל and הרגיל are hif'il (accustoms someone), רגיל is the adjective usual.

Complete: ___ ירד גשם, נישאר בבית ('if it rains, we will stay home').

Answer: אם

אם introduces a real (open) condition. לו and אילו introduce counterfactual conditions.

Complete: לא ___ לבוא אתמול ('I could not come yesterday', masc.).

Answer: יכולתי

יכולתי = I could / was able (past), which the time word אתמול requires. אוכל = I will be able, יכול = can (present), יוכל = he will be able.

Which noun means 'meeting' (a planned appointment)?

Answer: פגישה

פגישה = meeting. פגיעה = a hit/injury, הפגנה = demonstration, פתיחה = opening.

What does the idiom יצא מדעתו mean?

Answer: Went out of his mind

יצא מדעתו literally means went out of his mind, i.e. went crazy.

Which word is the formal, higher-register word for 'but'?

Answer: אולם

אולם is the formal however/but. אבל is the everyday but.

Choose the correct preposition: זה תלוי ___ מזג האוויר ('it depends on the weather').

Answer: ב

תלוי takes ב, so תלוי במזג האוויר = depends on the weather.

What does the connector עם זאת mean?

Answer: Nevertheless

עם זאת = nevertheless / yet. It introduces a contrast in formal writing.

Which verb collocates with החלטה ('decision') in formal Hebrew, as in 'to make a decision'?

Answer: לקבל

In Hebrew you receive a decision: לקבל החלטה = to make a decision. The other verbs do not collocate here.

Complete: הוא פעל ___ אחריות ('he acted out of a sense of responsibility').

Answer: מתוך

מתוך here means out of / from a motive. בתוך = inside, לתוך / אל תוך = into.

Which verb collocates with ביקורת in formal Hebrew, to mean 'to level / direct criticism'?

Answer: למתוח

The set collocation is למתוח ביקורת (literally to stretch criticism) = to criticize. לעשות / לשים / לתפוס do not collocate with ביקורת here.

Which is the correct noun (shem peula) for the act of 'developing' (root פ-ת-ח, pi'el)?

Answer: פיתוח

פיתוח is the pi'el verbal noun (development). פתיחה = opening, התפתחות = development as a process (hitpa'el), פתח = an opening.

What does the connector אף על פי כן mean?

Answer: Nevertheless

אף על פי כן = nevertheless / even so, a formal concessive connector.

Choose the correct preposition: הוא התייחס ___ הבעיה ('he related to / addressed the problem').

Answer: ל

התייחס takes ל-, so התייחס לבעיה = addressed the problem.

What nuance does דווקא add, as in 'הוא דווקא הצליח'?

Answer: Contrary to expectation

דווקא signals that something happened contrary to expectation, here he actually did succeed.

What does the verb לממש mean?

Answer: To realize / actualize

לממש = to realize or actualize, as in לממש פוטנציאל (to realize potential).

What does the literary preposition חרף mean?

Answer: In spite of

חרף is a high-register word meaning in spite of / despite.

Which word means 'ostensibly / seemingly'?

Answer: לכאורה

לכאורה = ostensibly. לעולם = never/ever, לפיכך = therefore, לחלוטין = completely.

Which is the high-register, literary word for 'began'?

Answer: החל

החל is the formal/literary began. התחיל is the everyday word.

What does the literary connector אי לכך mean?

Answer: Therefore

אי לכך = therefore / hence, a formal connector.

What does the noun תהפוכות mean?

Answer: Upheavals / vicissitudes

תהפוכות = upheavals or twists of fate, a literary plural noun.

What does the idiom על קצה המזלג mean?

Answer: Briefly / in broad outline

על קצה המזלג (literally on the tip of the fork) means in brief / in broad outline, e.g. presenting a topic only superficially.

What does the preposition למען mean?

Answer: For the sake of

למען = for the sake of / on behalf of, a formal preposition.

What does the verb לזלזל ב mean?

Answer: To belittle / treat with contempt

לזלזל ב = to belittle or treat with disdain.

What does the idiom הטיפה המרה refer to?

Answer: Alcoholic drink

הטיפה המרה (literally the bitter drop) is a euphemism for alcohol/drink.

Which is the formal passive (pu'al): 'it was carried out / implemented' (root ב-צ-ע)?

Answer: בוצע

בוצע is the pu'al passive (was carried out). ביצע is pi'el active (carried out), מבצע = operation or performs, ביצוע = the noun execution.

What does the literary conjunction הגם ש mean?

Answer: Even though

הגם ש = even though / although, a formal concessive conjunction.

What does the phrase מכאן משתמע ש mean?

Answer: From this it is implied that

מכאן משתמע ש = from this it follows/is implied that, a formal inferential phrase.